From 254 AH/868 CE to 292/905, the Tulunid dynasty governed Egypt and parts of geographic Syria. Coming from the ranks of the Central Asian Turkish Guard who formed the backbone of the `Abbasid military and administration in Baghdad and Samarra, Ahmad ibn Tulun, founder of the Tulunid dynasty, was appointed resident governor of Egypt in 254. Over the next forty years, the Tulunid family governed Egypt and Syria, acting mostly outside of the framework of the `Abbasid Caliphate which had initially appointed them.
The purpose of this project is an attempt to better understand and demonstrate how numismatic evidence can be used to study the conflict between the Tulunid dynasty and the `Abbasid Caliphate. The scope of this project will be the lands under Tulunid control (Egypt and Syria) and areas immediately around the Tulunid domain (Iraq, the Thughur (Arab-Byzantine frontier), the Arabian Peninsula) during the reigns of the first two Tulunid leaders Ahmad ibn Tulun and Khumarawayh during which the Tulunid dynasty was at its peak.
This project which was initiated as part of the seminar Maps and Timelines in Play to Resolve Conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean: Italy to Israel led by Professor Emerita Ann E. Larimore at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in the Winter of 2005.
Questions, comments, and concerns may be addressed to rhaug@umich.edu