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Lot Essay
Inscriptions:
Across the top: part of Qur'an sura 22 verse 26
Below in the tympanum of the arch: part of Qur'an 2:260
In the large cartouche: part of Qur'an 3:97
On the sides of the lowest cartouche: names of Hasan and Husayn
In the cartouche also: ...ibn al-sultan ahmad khan khallada allah khilafatahu wa-'ayyada b'il-'adl saltanatahu ila intiha' al-zaman wa-nihayat al-dawran sana 1299 '...son of al-Sultan Ahmad Khan, may God perpetuate his caliphate and support his sultanate with justice until the end of time and the finish of the age, year 1299 (1881-2).'
The Maqam Ibrahim marks the spot were Ibrahim is reputed to have stood while constructing the Kaaba. Originally adjacent to it, it was moved to a spot 10m distant following the conquest of Mecca in AH 8/629-30 AD, before being covered by the caliph al-Mahdi and then embellished by his successors. Like the Ka’ba itself, the Maqam Ibrahim has historically been covered with textile panels embroidered with Qu’ranic verses, the annual replacement of which was a duty which from 1517 fell to the Ottoman Sultans. The verses on this particular kiswa are taken from parts of the Qur’an which discuss the importance of Ibrahim and Ishmael, as well as the importance of Hajj as a duty on all Muslims.
Several maqam Ibrahim covers from various periods survive in the Topkapi palace museum, including one with identical inscriptions dated to AH 1306/1888 AD (H. Tezcan, Sacred Covers of Islam’s Holy Shrines, Istanbul. 2017, p. 304). An apparent difference between these two textiles is that the example which Tezcan records has polychrome backing within the cartouches: however, on close inspection it is apparent that traces of this remain on the present lot, but that they have either been removed or corroded. In the Khalili collection there is a complete four-panel kiswa dated AH 1268/1851-52 AD with very similar decoration (various authors, The Khalili Collections [online], “A Complete Kiswah for the Maqam Ibrahim”). Another example, dated to AH 1334/1915-16 AD sold in these rooms, 10th October 2000, lot 25.
Across the top: part of Qur'an sura 22 verse 26
Below in the tympanum of the arch: part of Qur'an 2:260
In the large cartouche: part of Qur'an 3:97
On the sides of the lowest cartouche: names of Hasan and Husayn
In the cartouche also: ...ibn al-sultan ahmad khan khallada allah khilafatahu wa-'ayyada b'il-'adl saltanatahu ila intiha' al-zaman wa-nihayat al-dawran sana 1299 '...son of al-Sultan Ahmad Khan, may God perpetuate his caliphate and support his sultanate with justice until the end of time and the finish of the age, year 1299 (1881-2).'
The Maqam Ibrahim marks the spot were Ibrahim is reputed to have stood while constructing the Kaaba. Originally adjacent to it, it was moved to a spot 10m distant following the conquest of Mecca in AH 8/629-30 AD, before being covered by the caliph al-Mahdi and then embellished by his successors. Like the Ka’ba itself, the Maqam Ibrahim has historically been covered with textile panels embroidered with Qu’ranic verses, the annual replacement of which was a duty which from 1517 fell to the Ottoman Sultans. The verses on this particular kiswa are taken from parts of the Qur’an which discuss the importance of Ibrahim and Ishmael, as well as the importance of Hajj as a duty on all Muslims.
Several maqam Ibrahim covers from various periods survive in the Topkapi palace museum, including one with identical inscriptions dated to AH 1306/1888 AD (H. Tezcan, Sacred Covers of Islam’s Holy Shrines, Istanbul. 2017, p. 304). An apparent difference between these two textiles is that the example which Tezcan records has polychrome backing within the cartouches: however, on close inspection it is apparent that traces of this remain on the present lot, but that they have either been removed or corroded. In the Khalili collection there is a complete four-panel kiswa dated AH 1268/1851-52 AD with very similar decoration (various authors, The Khalili Collections [online], “A Complete Kiswah for the Maqam Ibrahim”). Another example, dated to AH 1334/1915-16 AD sold in these rooms, 10th October 2000, lot 25.