Standard Head

Unknown

ca. 1500–1511 · Steel, iron · Arms and Armor

Ensigns like this one often served as finials for standards, which were carried like flags to identify army units on the battlefield and in military reviews before the sultan. This ensign bears a Koranic inscription and the name of a Syrian emir, Sayfī al-Dīn Tarabāy, who is recorded to have commissioned a mausoleum in Cairo in 1503–4. This is probably one of the many ensigns that were taken as booty by the Ottomans when they defeated the Mamluks in 1517.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1500–1511

Medium

Steel, iron

Culture

Egyptian or Syrian

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935