Textile Featuring Arabic Inscriptions

Unknown

12th century · Linen, silk; plain weave, tapestry weave · Islamic Art

While it might be difficult to reconstruct the original appearance of this fragmentary tapestry-woven textile, the decorative style places it within the corpus of surviving textiles of the late Fatimid period, which is characterized by the use of golden yellow and red to create complex braided designs as seen on the top. Also representative of this late period is the shift towards the use of stylized inscriptions rendered in a cursive script. Although truncated, the Arabic inscription in the four bands on the right begins with, "In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate, There is no God but God;" while the two bottom lines contain a repetition of the phrase, "Victory is from God."

Artist

Unknown

Date

12th century

Medium

Linen, silk; plain weave, tapestry weave

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1929