’ashab al-matalib
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Definition of "’ashab al-matalib"
An institution of eighth century Egypt, guilds which worked in close collaboration with the official mint (dar al-sikkah) to uncover hoarded wealth of tombs and funeraries. One-fifth of such discoveries was credited to the bait al-mal as khumus. The hoarded gold from the tombs of Pharaohs was largely brought to circulation by the efforts of such guilds.