Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Zengid dynasty" in English language version.
A case in point is the Ayyubid enamelled beaker known as the Palmer Cup
But who was the "Nur al - Din Atabeg" featured on the obverse side of most coins of this type , and why was he also recognized? He is not further identified on the coins , but the most logical candidate would appear to be Nur al - Din Arslan Shah I , the Zengid Atabeg of Mosul ( 589-607 / 1193-1210 ) , the only atabeg with the laqab Nur al - Din known to have been active at that time . This identification was first advanced by Mitchiner in 1977 and was repeated by Hennequin in the Paris catalog.
But who was the "Nur al-Din Atabeg" featured on the obverse side of most coins of this type, and why was he also recognized? He is Nur al-Din Arslan Shah I, the Zengid Atabeg of Mosul (1193-1210), which was discovered by Mitchiner in 1977. Why the Artuqid Yuluq Arslan of Mardin should put his rival's name on his coins is not altogether clear
Mosul appears to have been one of the main centres of illustrated manuscript production in the Middle East during the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries,252 alongside other major cities such as Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo. A volume of al-Sufi's Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib alThabita ('Treatise on the Constellations'), copied by a certain Farah ibn cAbd Allah alHabashi, was produced in Mosul in 1233. Manuscripts ascribed to the city, or to the Jazira more broadly, include two copies of the Kitab al-Diryaq ('Book of the Theriac', usually called 'Book of Antidotes'), a medical treatise on antidotes used as a remedy against snake venom. Badr al-Din Lu'lu', who is known to have commissioned several literary texts, may also have been actively engaged in sponsoring manuscript illuminations. It is commonly assumed that an originally 20-volume set of the Kitab al-Aghani ('Book of Songs') was made for Lu'lu' in the period between 1217 and 1219. Some of the frontispieces depict a ruler wearing an armband that is inscribed with his name.
Patton argues that in addition to Badr al-Din Lu'lu''s ordering and sponsoring the foundation of numerous social and religious institutions in Mosul, his energetic patronage of the arts was probably part of a conscious policy aimed at securing the loyalty of the city's population and ensuring that they would not turn their backs on him in favour of one of his opponents. This egalitarian treatment of the Muslim Sunnis and Shiis should certainly beseen in this light, but also his comparatively tolerant attitude towards Mosul's large Christian community. As Patton argues, 'Lu'lu''s skill at maintaining the support of all groups while especially favouring none is a remarkable achievement which explains not only the duration of his reign, but probably the great efflorescence of the arts in his reign as well. After the death of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' in 1259, however, the prosperous period and cultural bloom in the Mosul area soon came to an end.
The Ayyubids and Mamluks, who succeeded the Fatimids in Egypt and Syria, retained the association of yellow with the ruler. Salah al-Din (Saladin), the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, carried a yellow flag emblazoned with an eagle, supposedly inherited from the Zangid dynasty, whose protégé he had been. Yellow was likewise the Mamluk sultan's official color, and Mamluk sultanic banners were yellow.
That these patterns do not merely represent ceramic conventions is clear from the rendering of garments in fragmentary wall paintings and in illustrations from the copy of Varqa wa Golšāh already mentioned, as well as in frontispieces to the volumes of Abu'l-Faraj Eṣfahānī's Ketāb al-aḡānī dated 614-16/1217-19 and to two copies of Ketāb al-deryāq (Book of antidotes) by Pseudo-Galen, dated 596/1199 and ascribed to the second quarter of the 7th/13th century respectively (Survey of Persian Art V, pl. 554A-B; Ateş, pls. 1/3, 6/16, 18; D. S. Rice, 1953, figs. 14-19; Ettinghausen, 1962, pp. 65, 85, 91). The last three manuscripts, all of them attributed to northern Mesopotamia, show that the stiff coat with diagonal closing and arm bands was also worn in that region from the end of the 6th/12th century.
Nevertheless, the most distinctive feature of late Saljuq and post-Saljuq male dress was the popularity of patterned textiles for these garments. (...) That these patterns do not merely represent ceramic conventions is clear from the rendering of garments in fragmentary wall paintings and in illustrations from the copy of Varqa wa Golšāh already mentioned, as well as in frontispieces to the volumes of Abu'l-Faraj Eṣfahānī's Ketāb al-aḡānī dated 614-16/1217-19 and to two copies of Ketāb al-deryāq (Book of antidotes) by Pseudo-Galen, dated 596/1199 and ascribed to the second quarter of the 7th/13th century respectively (Survey of Persian Art V, pl. 554A-B; Ateş, pls. 1/3, 6/16, 18; D. S. Rice, 1953, figs. 14-19; Ettinghausen, 1962, pp. 65, 85, 91). The last three manuscripts, all of them attributed to northern Mesopotamia, show that the stiff coat with diagonal closing and arm bands was also worn in that region from the end of the 6th/12th century.
Staying in Mosul until the death of Sultān Muhammad Tapar in 1118, Zangi then entered the service of the Sultān's son and the new Seljuk ruler Mahmūd (1118-1119), remaining loyal to him to the end. With the new era introduced with the defeat of Sultān Mahmūd in the Sāveh battle he engaged his uncle Sanjar in 1119, which opened the way for Sanjar (1119-1157) to accede to the throne of Great Seljuk Empire, Mahmūd was assigned to the Iraqi Seljuk Sultānate (1119-1131), continuing his rule there. In 1124, Sultān Mahmūd granted the city of Wasit to Imad al-Din Zangi as a ıqta, and conferred him the Military Governorship of Basra together with Baghdad and Iraq in 1127. The reason behind such assignments was to attempt to impede Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid (1118-1135) who then wished to build a worldwide dominance. Indeed, the efforts of Zangi in the fight of Mahmūd, whom Sanjar urgently sent to Baghdad, against the Caliph ensured the Sultān became victorious, and he contributed to the efforts in damaging the sole authority and dominance claims of the Caliph. Following the deaths of Mosul Governor Aq-Sunqur el-Porsuqi and his successor and son Mas'ud in the same year in 1127, Zangi was appointed Governor of Mosul. He was also in charge of al-Jazeera and Northern Syria, and Sultān Mahmūd approved him being assigned as the Atabeg of his two sons, Farrukh shah and Alparsalan. Thus the Atabegdom of Mosul was formed.
The rise of the Zangids halted the Artuqids' expansionist plans, and they had to become vassals of Nur al-Din. Then the Ayyubids whittled their power down further, and they lost Hisn Kayfa, Amid and Mayyafariqin to them. In the early thirteenth century, they were for a time vassals of the Rum Seljuqs and of the Khwarazm Shah Jalal al-Dln Mengiibirti. Eventually, only the Mardln line survived, with Qara Arslan submitting to the Mongol II Khan Hulegu.
Two sieges of Mosul (1182, 1185) failed, and Saladin had to be content with Izz al-Din's promise to send troops for the war against the infidels upon demand. Though reduced almost to a client-state, Mosul remained a Zengid city, due both to Izz al-Din Masud's stubborn resistance and to a near fatal illness in autumn 1185 which forced Saladin to break off his campaign. However, after twelve years of unremitting struggle, Saladin had fulfilled his ambition to reconstitute Nur al-Din's empire.
The Islamic world witnessed, in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries, an explosion of figural art. (...) The making of it is forbidden under every circumstance, because it implies a likeness to the creative activity of God
Contrary to information still found in some non-academic publications, the bridge which either spanned or was intended to span the river Tigris a few kilometers downstream from what is now the Turkish frontier town of Cizre is not a Roman construction. Nor is there real evidence that any pre-Islamic bridge was ever built at this location. Arabic historical sources make clear that the existing, largely ruined or perhaps never completed bridge dates from between 541 AH (1146/7 AD) and 559 AH (1163/4 AD) 1163 AD. It was constructed on the orders of, or sponsored by Ǧamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Iṣfahānī Ibn ʿAlī Ibn Abī Manṣūr, the wazīr or chief minister of Quṭb al-Dīn Mawdūd Ibn Zangī, the Zangid ruler of Mosul.
Staying in Mosul until the death of Sultān Muhammad Tapar in 1118, Zangi then entered the service of the Sultān's son and the new Seljuk ruler Mahmūd (1118-1119), remaining loyal to him to the end. With the new era introduced with the defeat of Sultān Mahmūd in the Sāveh battle he engaged his uncle Sanjar in 1119, which opened the way for Sanjar (1119-1157) to accede to the throne of Great Seljuk Empire, Mahmūd was assigned to the Iraqi Seljuk Sultānate (1119-1131), continuing his rule there. In 1124, Sultān Mahmūd granted the city of Wasit to Imad al-Din Zangi as a ıqta, and conferred him the Military Governorship of Basra together with Baghdad and Iraq in 1127. The reason behind such assignments was to attempt to impede Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid (1118-1135) who then wished to build a worldwide dominance. Indeed, the efforts of Zangi in the fight of Mahmūd, whom Sanjar urgently sent to Baghdad, against the Caliph ensured the Sultān became victorious, and he contributed to the efforts in damaging the sole authority and dominance claims of the Caliph. Following the deaths of Mosul Governor Aq-Sunqur el-Porsuqi and his successor and son Mas'ud in the same year in 1127, Zangi was appointed Governor of Mosul. He was also in charge of al-Jazeera and Northern Syria, and Sultān Mahmūd approved him being assigned as the Atabeg of his two sons, Farrukh shah and Alparsalan. Thus the Atabegdom of Mosul was formed.
Contrary to information still found in some non-academic publications, the bridge which either spanned or was intended to span the river Tigris a few kilometers downstream from what is now the Turkish frontier town of Cizre is not a Roman construction. Nor is there real evidence that any pre-Islamic bridge was ever built at this location. Arabic historical sources make clear that the existing, largely ruined or perhaps never completed bridge dates from between 541 AH (1146/7 AD) and 559 AH (1163/4 AD) 1163 AD. It was constructed on the orders of, or sponsored by Ǧamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Iṣfahānī Ibn ʿAlī Ibn Abī Manṣūr, the wazīr or chief minister of Quṭb al-Dīn Mawdūd Ibn Zangī, the Zangid ruler of Mosul.
The iconography of its figures is very similar to that on the Palmer Cup, in the design of their robes, in the headgear (sharbūsh) and in the way that walking figures are rendered, with one leg straight and the other slightly bent, with a slim foot slightly raised from the ground. Although the candlestick does not have a date, it is securely datable to the early 13th century, as it clearly belongs to a group of metalwork that has now been established as of that period and coming from the Mosul or North Jaziran area. These elements also confirm the early 13th-century date of the Palmer Cup and further support the region of provenance.
Mosul appears to have been one of the main centres of illustrated manuscript production in the Middle East during the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries,252 alongside other major cities such as Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo. A volume of al-Sufi's Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib alThabita ('Treatise on the Constellations'), copied by a certain Farah ibn cAbd Allah alHabashi, was produced in Mosul in 1233. Manuscripts ascribed to the city, or to the Jazira more broadly, include two copies of the Kitab al-Diryaq ('Book of the Theriac', usually called 'Book of Antidotes'), a medical treatise on antidotes used as a remedy against snake venom. Badr al-Din Lu'lu', who is known to have commissioned several literary texts, may also have been actively engaged in sponsoring manuscript illuminations. It is commonly assumed that an originally 20-volume set of the Kitab al-Aghani ('Book of Songs') was made for Lu'lu' in the period between 1217 and 1219. Some of the frontispieces depict a ruler wearing an armband that is inscribed with his name.
"5 A change for the better came with the death of Nur al-Din Zangi in 1174. In the case of Mosul, the conservative regime established there by Nur al-Din quickly collapsed and was eventually replaced by a more liberal and tolerant administration, which revoked the discriminatory measures against Christians." (...) "Despite the progressing Arabization and Islamization of all levels of Middle Eastern society, and the internal struggles for ecclesiastical power outlined above, the Syrian Orthodox Church, as an ecclesiastical organization, continued to grow under Muslim rule" (...) "Under Badr al-Din Lu'lu' (1211-1259), who was a remarkably tolerant and even-handed ruler, the local Christians regained much of their confidence and were even able to partake fully in what in hindsight proved to be Mosul's golden age. The same holds true for the Eastern Christian communities living in Syria under either Frankish or Ayyubid rule, especially during the relatively peaceful period which started around 1204, when a truce was signed between the Franks and the Ayyubids, and which lasted to the Mongol invasion of 1260".
Patton argues that in addition to Badr al-Din Lu'lu''s ordering and sponsoring the foundation of numerous social and religious institutions in Mosul, his energetic patronage of the arts was probably part of a conscious policy aimed at securing the loyalty of the city's population and ensuring that they would not turn their backs on him in favour of one of his opponents. This egalitarian treatment of the Muslim Sunnis and Shiis should certainly beseen in this light, but also his comparatively tolerant attitude towards Mosul's large Christian community. As Patton argues, 'Lu'lu''s skill at maintaining the support of all groups while especially favouring none is a remarkable achievement which explains not only the duration of his reign, but probably the great efflorescence of the arts in his reign as well. After the death of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' in 1259, however, the prosperous period and cultural bloom in the Mosul area soon came to an end.
Contrary to information still found in some non-academic publications, the bridge which either spanned or was intended to span the river Tigris a few kilometers downstream from what is now the Turkish frontier town of Cizre is not a Roman construction. Nor is there real evidence that any pre-Islamic bridge was ever built at this location. Arabic historical sources make clear that the existing, largely ruined or perhaps never completed bridge dates from between 541 AH (1146/7 AD) and 559 AH (1163/4 AD) 1163 AD. It was constructed on the orders of, or sponsored by Ǧamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Iṣfahānī Ibn ʿAlī Ibn Abī Manṣūr, the wazīr or chief minister of Quṭb al-Dīn Mawdūd Ibn Zangī, the Zangid ruler of Mosul.
