References about Islamic weights: (In order of usefulness--not alphabetically by author.)
[WWOCM] Holland, Lionel (2009). WWOCM Chapter 8. "Islamic Bronze" 2009. [11 unnumbered pages. The best source I know of. Other chapters below.] Available on Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/3596498/WWOCM_Ch_8_Islamic_Bronze
Holland, Lionel (1986). "Islamic Bronze Weights from Caesarea Maritima," ANSMN 31 (1986) 171-201 and plates 33-36.
https://www.academia.edu/3542895/Islamic_Bronze_Weights_from_Caesarea_Maritima [Page 182 gives the numbers of each type]
[This important artcle has photographs of 15 dirham polyhedral weights (including 4 cubes), 9 barrel wieghts, and 7 "discoid" weights. In addition, it illustrates 4 flat weights without legends, 84 dirham-standard fractional weights with legends, and 11 small discoid dinar-standard weights. In the long list 55 weights are noted as inscribed "'Imran", but only one of those is illustrated (#365. That incription is not on any of the weights on this site). None of the other 85 (dirmam) and 11 (dinar) illustrated flat fractional weights with other inscriptions are translated. Most are very crowded and very hard read. Often too much inscription is missing. They seem much like the weights on the flat weights page of this site.) In the list are are 55 weights that cluster around 0.46 grams--half of the lowest denomination on this site. I expect they have one punch mark on the reverse (#598 does), but that is never noted and only 3 flat-weight illustrations show the reverses. Another 25 flat weights cluster around 0.23 grams, one-twelfth of a dirham, which is even smaller. They are tiny and of the 4 illustrated only bits of legends are on the flans which are much too small.]
Goodwin, Tony. "Medieval Islamic Copper-Alloy Money Weights from Bilām d al-Sham" in INR 7 (2012) pages 167-180. 25 weights pictured throughout and another 23 on plates. About half are these types of polyhedral weights. Available from Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/23458901/Medieval_Islamic_Copper_Alloy_Money_Weights_from_Bilad_al_Sham
Holland, Lionel (2009). Weights and Weight-like Objects from Caesarea Maritima (WWOCM) 2009. Chapters 1, 2, 3. Available on Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/3596231/Weights_and_Weight_like_Objects_from_Caesarea_Maritima_WWOCM_Chapters_1_2_3
Balog, Paul (1970). "Islamic Bronze Weights from Egypt," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 1970, pp. 233-255, available on Jstor: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3595979 [27 images, mostly of barrel-shaped weights. The imporantance is that they are inscribed (many weights are not) and attributed. The legends are given in modern Arabic, but not translated, although the attribution to a particular ruler presumably comes from his name being inscribed on the weight.]
Schultz, Warren and Haim Gitler (2000a). "A Mamluk bronze weight in the Israel Museum, with further comments on this rare metrological species," AJN 12 (2000) 205-214 and plates 27 and 28. [A 5.94-gram (2 dirham) square weight with a lion on each side. Very few (2, as of this article's date) metal Mamluke weights have been published. Some published as Mamluk are misidentified and not actually Mamluk. Metal Mamluke weights are completley unknown from Egypt; Mamluk weights from Egypt are all glass. Schultz thinks they were used to weigh precious-metal coins (among other things) which were of irregular weights at the time.] The article is available on his Academia.edu page: https://www.academia.edu/81495644/A_Mamluk_Bronze_Weight_in_Israel_Museum
Schultz, Warren (2003). "Mamluk Metrology and the Numismatic Evidence," Al-Masaq, Vol. IS, No. I, March 2003, pages 59-75. [No images of weights. "the earliest truly Islamic coinage, established after the reforms of the Umayyad caliph 'Abd al-Malik b. Manvan (65-85/1685-1705), consisted of silver dirhams of an ideal weight (also called a dirham) equivalent in modern terms to 2.97 grams, and gold dinars struck to a mithqal weight unit equal to 4.25 grams.' However the terms dirham, dinar and mithqal, were subsequently applied to coins and weight units that often were very different from this "classical" case." He notes [p. 60] that Mamluk records and literature do not help with weights and "anyone interested in the smaller metrological units of the Mamluks [AD 1250-1517] must turn to the surviving numismatic evidence." "When gold dinars vary in weight from 2 to 20 grams, and silver dirhams from less than one to more than 6 grams, it is difficult to argue that these [Mamluk] precious metal coins were manufactured to a weight standard." [p. 61] "It is known from the contemporary literary evidence that the Mamluks utilized weight units called the dirham and the mithqal in their monetary system. ... the coins and weight-like objects examined above indicate that the values of these units in Mamluk Egypt were slightly higher than the "classical" values of 2.97 and 4.25 grams, respectively. The scanty evidence of the bronze weights, however, suggests that at least for the dirham, the Syrian weight amount was slightly lower than the Egyptian." [p. 69, 72] It is on his Academia.edu page:
https://www.academia.edu/77174201/Maml%C5%ABk_Metrology_and_the_Numismatic_Evidence
Schultz, Warren (2000). Medieval Coins and Monies of Account: The Case of Large-Flan Mamluk dinars," The Bulletin of Middle East Medievalists, 12.2 October 2000, pages 29-33. [The dinar as a money of account had a certain particular theoretical mass, whereas dinars as coins had wildly irregular masses. "It has long been accepted that these Mamluk dinars circulated by weight. When one or more of these coins changed hands they would have been weighed, since a heavier coin was undoubtedly worth more than a lighter one. ... The Mamluk sources reveal that the basic unit of this money of account was the mithqal. The mithgal, of course, was a well known weight unit in many regions of the medieval Islamic world, and was often associated with coins and other items of high value. What seems ot be less widely known, however, is that the value of the mithgal, often cited as a universal 4.25 grams, in fact varied from place to place and time to time. ... The value of the Mamluk mithgal was likely in the range of 4.25 to 4.30 grams. "
Tekin, Oğuz (2016). "Balance Weights in the Collection of the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara" 2016, pages 211-222.
https://doi.org/10.4000/anatoliaantiqua.383
Photos, masses, and descriptions of 74 weights (none with legible Arabic inscriptions and no fractional weights--that is, none less than 1 dirham or 1 dinar) found, at least acquired, in the region of Ankara. Photos #19-74 are of the types on this website and illustrated, with findspot given where known (most are not). Unfortunately, the photograph numbers on the four plates do not correspond to their description numbers; text numbers are three higher than the photo numbers, so, for example, photo #23 corresponds to text #26.
Photos #30-#38 and #42-#43 are flat squares without legends. #39-#40 are discoid. #41 and #44-#50 are cubes. #51-#61 are polyhedra. Photos #62-#63 are truncated cubes with triangular and square facets (#65 and #66 in the text). #64-#74 are squat octagons.
Very near the end there are these links to useful enlargments of the plates:
https://journals.openedition.org/anatoliaantiqua/docannexe/image/383/img-1.jpg
https://journals.openedition.org/anatoliaantiqua/docannexe/image/383/img-2.jpg
https://journals.openedition.org/anatoliaantiqua/docannexe/image/383/img-3.jpg
https://journals.openedition.org/anatoliaantiqua/docannexe/image/383/img-4.jpg
Some discoid weights are given awkward dirham denominations when they are clearly simple multiples of dinars (mithqals). #42 in the text (photo #39) is misidentified. "Bronze, 20.54 g, 20 x 9 mm. Thick discoid in form. Four bird’s eye motifs on both sides. Although its mass is somewhat low, it may be an eight-dirham weight (dirham of 2.57 g)." As a discoid shape, we know it is really a 5-dinar weight of 4.11 grams per dinar.
Text #62 says "14.50 grams, 2.0 grams/dirham" with a typo. It is really 2.90 grams/dirham.
Photo #26 corresponds to text #29 and is said to be barrel-shaped, but it is so squat we would call it discoid. It is correctly identified as on the dinar/mithqal standard.
Photo #18 (text #21 discoid and 4.20 grams) and Photo #19 (text #22, discoid of 4.12 grams) are misidentified as Byzantine of one nomisma when they are really Islamic of one-dinar/mithqal.
Hendin, David. Ancient Scale Weights. Hardcover. 239 pages. These polygonal Islamic weights are on pages 225-233, #411-457. [Almost all of his information on polyhedral weights cites Holland, but Hendin has other shapes, too.]
Minor, but relevant.
Aljabr, Hessa (2020). " Weights and measures in the Hijaz [western Saudi Arabia bordering the Red Sea] during the Abbasid period 132-334H/749-945 A.D: An overview" Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 2020. Vol. 11 No. 7, pp. 1417-1425. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIABR-03-2019-0049 [unnumbered pages]
"Weights in the Hijaz are consistent with other weights used in many Islamic countries, but sometimes there were dissimilarities in weights between one city and another (Hinz, 1970)."
"When it comes to weighing goods, the dirham and the mithqal are differentiated from the silver dirham and the golden dinar, which were used as units of currency and cash. The mithqal equals 4.24 g, the dirham is equal, according to Hanafiah, to 3.125 g, and for the three Imams, it is equal to 2.975 g."
Kletter, Raz (2005). "Early Islamic bronze weights from Ramla," 'Atiqot 49, 2005, pages 117-119. [Four photographed weights from Ramla in Israel. "Dating to the ninth-tenth centuries CE is certain." A "spheroid-shaped" polyhedral weight looking much like the 5-dirham weights, but given as 8.46 grams and reduced to 8.14 grams "after conservation treatment." A square weight with a circular impression with an inscription of 5.83 grams reduced to 5.63 grams "after treatment." A small discoid with no inscription of 2.08 grams reduced to 1.85 grams "after treatment." A small square with no inscription of 1.48 grams reduced to 1.18 grams "after treatment." [I doubt the weight of the spheroid, and wonder what sort of "treatment" would have reduced weights so very much. The value of the article is in confirming that weights visually like those on these webpages were found at Ramla. All the discussion of weight standards, etc. is derivative from Holland, Balog, Miles, etc.]
Miles, George (1964). "On the Varieties and Accuracy of Eighth Century Arab Coin Weights." 1964. EI 7:78*– 87*. [I have not seen this, but Kletter says Miles says the dirham standard was 2.97 grams.]
Schultz, Warren (2000b). “Islamic Bronze Weights from the Vicinity of Aleppo [Syria].” Al-Sikka: Online Journal of the Islamic Coins Group 2.3 (2000). ISSN 1496-4414. [5 polyhedral and two flats weights illustrated, none with inscriptions. 29.05, 14.15, 14.24, 14.34 (all much like the 10- and 5-dirham polyhedral pieces on these pages) and flat weights with bird's eyes of 2.84 and 2.93 grams. It is on his Academia.edu page: https://www.academia.edu/81567273/Islamic_Bronze_Weights_from_the_Vicinity_of_Aleppo]
Schultz, Warren (2015). "Additional Examples of Medieval Islamic Copper Alloy Weights," Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society, 212, Winter 2015, pages 5-6. [Seven weights illustrated, six bricks (one with the inscription "'Imrān") and one discoid. Weights and dimensions of 20 more bricks given. It is on his Academia.edu page: https://www.academia.edu/81567273/Islamic_Bronze_Weights_from_the_Vicinity_of_Aleppo ]
Tekin, Oğuz (2015). "Ancient and Islamic weights in the Burdur Museum," Pisidian Essays in Honour of Hacı Ali Ekinci, edited by Metin, et al. 2015, pages 135-145. The museum is in southern ancient Pisidia and has local finds. The eleven pages include 3 pages of plates with 38 weights illustrated, of which #34-37 are relevant and Islamic. #33 is a cut-down Seljuq coin and the others are Byzantine or Roman. #34 is a big octagon of 84.67 grams misidentified at a possible 30-dirham piece when it is a 20-dinar piece of 4.23 grams per dinar. #35 and #36 are polyhedraons with bird's eyes. #35 is a "10-dirham" piece of 28.56 grams (2.86 grams/dirham) and #36 is given as 20.18 grams, 17 by 12 mm, and "7-dirham" piece which seems highly unlikely to me. It is hard to tell the shape from the photo, but it looks squat and I think it is really a 5-dinar piece (4.04 grams per dinar). #37 is very large and "cuboid-octahedral in form; it measures 45 mm (at its largest points) and it weighs 303.53 g. On the large square facets, rosette with eight leaves within double square frame and on the small triangular facets, rosette with three leaves. It is a one-hundred dirham (dirham of 3.03 g). Bought in 1982; find place, uncertain." #37 is larger and more decorated than any weights on this website.
Christ, Georg (2021). "Weights, measures, monies: Venetian trade in Mamluk Alexandria within an imperial framework" Weight and Value, volume II, 2021. I have the pdf, but a web search for my citation did not find it on the web. [15th C., later than the weights on this website, but the standards are not thought to have changed much. He gives 4.23 grams/dinar. 2.97 grams/dirham.]
On-line resources:
An large online database of ancient and Byzantine weights, "Pondera online": https://pondera.uclouvain.be/ [Apparently this intends to be a major site, but it has no useful commentary yet.]
"Balance Weights in the Collection of the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara" by Oğuz Tekin
https://journals.openedition.org/anatoliaantiqua/383?lang=en [Many of the illustrated polyhedral weights were found at Osmanyie at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea.]
A collection of weights (not all polyhedral) from Caesarea Maritina (with a lot of overlap with Holland (1986), but better photos):
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5252
Miles, George C. Early Arabic Glass Weights and Stamps, a supplement, ANSMNM #120. 1951. Cardcover. [Discusses only early glass weights, some of which explicitly mention pharmaceutical products.]
References of lesser relevance.
Rebsrock, Ulrich. "Weights and Measures in Islam," in Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-Western cultures. 2008, pages 2255-2267. Available at Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/26399908/Weights_and_Measures_in_Islam?email_work_card=title
[No discussion of these polygonal weights. This is about the relationships between named units, not the physical artifacts. Most weights discussed theoretically are for dinars, that is, gold, not silver dirhams. The measures were different in different parts of the Islamic world. Maybe the locations and time-periods of these polygonal weights could be inferred if we knew the silver weight standards in various locations at various times.]
Bendall, Simon. Byzantine Weights: An Introduction. 68 pages. Paperback pamphlet. [This work does not consider Islamic polygonal weights]
Schultz, Warren (2012) "Recent Work on the Monetary and Metrological History of Egypt, 868–1517 C.E." JAOS 132 4. Pages 675-680. [A survey of recent books and articles on Islamic coinage of Egypt, including Mamluks, Ayyubids, Fatimids, Ikhshidids, and Tulunids. "Fāṭimid silver is extremely rare....Fāṭimid copper, for all intents and purposes, does not exist." [p. 667]
Go to the main page on Islamic polyhedral weights.
Go to the page on Islamic flat weights with legends.
Go to the main Table of Contents for this whole educational site.
