Name of Object:

Mihrab

Location:

Cairo, Egypt

Holding Museum:

Museum of Islamic Art

About Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo

Original Owner:

‘Ulam al-Amiriyya, wife of the caliph, al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah

Date of Object:

Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century

Museum Inventory Number:

446

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Assembled wood; decorated in high relief and pierced.

Dimensions:

Height 210 cm, width 111 cm, depth 45 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Fatimid

Provenance:

Egypt.

Description:

A wooden mihrab with a rectangular section in the centre that is a curved niche. The facade of the mihrab is rectangular in form and at the centre it has a rectangular opening, crowned by a pointed arch. The facade is decorated with assembled hexagonal panels, which flank other panels, in the form of six-pointed stars. This design is considered to be the starting point for the use of the decorative component known as 'the star-shaped medallion', which became one of the most important decorative components in wooden objects during the Mamluk period. This mihrab is the earliest dated piece on which this decorative component appears. At the top of the facade, are two lines of inscription in floriated kufic script that reads: 'One of the things commissioned by the honourable, protected, and great personage, al-Amiriyya, whose service was undertaken by al-Qadi Abu al-Hasan Maknun and who is served now, by al-Amir al-Sadid 'Afif al-Dawla Abu al-Hasan Yumn al-Fa'izi al-Salihi, intended for the shrine of al-Sayyida Ruqayya, the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali'. From the inscription, it is understood that this mihrab was made by order of al-Sayyida 'Ulam al-Amiriyya (d. AH 535 / AD 1140), the wife of the caliph, al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah (r. 495–524 / AD 1101–30), for the tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya. The tomb was built in AH 527 / AD 1133, probably in Cairo. Qur'anic texts written in floriated kufic script, from 'al-Baqara' (2: 247), surround the rectangular facade of the mihrab and its niche.
Both sides of the mihrab, and the back, are decorated with panels carved with vegetal stems that emerge from vases, and three- and five-lobed vine leaves which surround large clusters of grapes. These decorations indicate the apex of beauty attained in the art of vegetal decoration at the end of the Fatimid period.

View Short Description

Patronage of religious institutions and providing them with furniture were not confined to men. Many women shared in this practice. This mihrab was commissioned by the Caliph's wife for the shrine of Sayyida Ruqayya, the daughter of the Fourth Righteous Caliph, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib.

How date and origin were established:

The mihrab was dated based on the inscription present in the higher reaches of its façade which state clearly that the mihrab was built for the tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya in 527 / 1133

How Object was obtained:

In 1297 / 1880, the Egyptian government began to collect together artefacts from the country's mosques and historic buildings and preserve them in al-Hakim Mosque. These later became the basis of the collection at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. This mihrab, which was transferred from the Sayyida Ruqayya Shrine, is considered to be one of the most important of these early acquisitions.

How provenance was established:

The inscription on the mihrab states that it was made for the tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya, the patron, who was the wife of the Fatimid Caliph who ruled in Cairo; it is very likely, therefore, that it was commissioned and made in Cairo.

Selected bibliography:

Dimmand, M. S., Al-Funun al-Islamiya [Islamic Arts], (trans. A. Issa), Cairo, 1958.
Fikri, A., Masajid al-Qahira wa Madarisuha [Mosques and Madrasas of Cairo], Vol. I, Cairo, 1958.
Hamdi, A., et al, Katalog Ma'rid al-fan al-islāmi fi misr [Catalogue of the Islamic Art Exhibition in Egypt], Cairo, 1969.
Hassan, Z. M., Funun al-Islam [Arts of Islam], Cairo, 1948.
Pauty, E., Bois sculptés d'églises coptes (époque fatimide), Cairo, 1930.

Citation of this web page:

Al-Sayyed Muhammad Khalifa Hammad "Mihrab" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;eg;Mus01;42;en

Prepared by: Al-Sayyed Muhammad Khalifa HammadAl-Sayyed Muhammad Khalifa Hammad

He holds a BA in Islamic Antiquities from the Faculty of Art, Cairo University and an MA in the same field from Assiut University. He has been working at the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, since 1974 and attended a training course at Vienna Museum in 1977. He has supervised sections of glass and manuscripts and, currently, coins. At the Museum he has participated in preparing exhibitions at home and abroad and has been a member of several inventory committees. From 1988 to 1999 he worked as a lecturer at Om al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and registered and organised the display of the acquisitions of the Civilisation Museum at the Shari'a and Islamic Studies Faculty at the University.

Copyedited by: Majd Musa
Translation by: Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: ET 74

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