’ashab al-matalib

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.