Name of Object:

Fragment of a commemorative plaque

Location:

Raqqada, Kairouan, Tunisia

Holding Museum:

Museum of Islamic Art

About Museum of Islamic Art, Raqqada.

Date of Object:

Hegira 437 / AD 1046

Museum Inventory Number:

MR 003

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Carved and incised marble.

Dimensions:

Length 284 cm, height 110 cm, thickness 21 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Fatimid-Zirid

Provenance:

Sabra al-Mansuriyya.

Description:

A fragment of a large rectangular mural plaque originally composed of six blocks of different sizes. Only four remain. The incised surface carries a text of five lines carved in relief in a floral kufic style with grooves and chamfered ends.
This inscription is one of the most beautiful epigraphic works of the Zirid era. Its lettering is perfectly balanced, outlined with grooves and surrounded with arabesques (spiral fleurons) and various kinds of palm-leaf motifs (plain or heart-shaped).
The text is of great historic importance. The name of the town, Madinat Izz al-Islam (Town to the Glory of Islam), fortified on the order of al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, is a place-name appearing on the dinars that the same prince minted as from AH 439 / AD 1048. It replaced the old Fatimid name of the town, Sabra al-Mansuriyya, which figured on earlier dinars, and ushered in a new era of confrontation with the Fatimid caliphs of Cairo.
The demonstrative hadhi-hi (this is) preceding the name of the town suggests that this plaque was originally fixed to the external façade of the ramparts or perhaps over one of the five city gates mentioned by the Andalusian geologist al-Bakri.

Inscribed with a text in kufic script, this piece is considered to be one of the most beautiful examples of epigraphic work from the Zirid period. The inscription tells of the existence of Madinat Izz al-Islam, a town fortified on the orders of al-Mu'izz ibn Badis and previously known as Sabra al-Mansuriyya.

How date and origin were established:

The date is mentioned in the part of the inscription referring to the completion date of the ramparts of Sabra al-Mansuriyya in 437 / 1046.

How Object was obtained:

During the restoration work on the side door of the Bab Tunis in 1996 the four fragments of the commemorative plaque were acquired by the Raqqada Museum. After the extension of the museum this plaque was included among the objects chosen to create a room dedicated to Arab epigraphy.

How provenance was established:

The plaque was not actually found at Sabra al-Mansuriyya but the fortifications are mentioned in the text and so is the new town name, Madinat Izz al-Islam (Town to the Glory of Islam). The four blocks were re-used during the 18th century as piers in the side door of the Bab Tunis in Kairouan. In 1998 they were taken down and stored at the Raqqada Museum. Made from local stone, the plaque was probably carved in situ by Ifrqiyan masons in the service of the Zirid prince, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis.

Selected bibliography:

Roy, B. and Poinssot, P., Inscriptions arabes de Kairouan, vol. II, fasc. 1, Paris, 1950, no. 42.

Citation of this web page:

Mourad Rammah "Fragment of a commemorative plaque" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01;33;en

Prepared by: Mourad RammahMourad Rammah

Né en 1953 à Kairouan, docteur en archéologie islamique, Mourad Rammah est le conservateur de la médina de Kairouan. Lauréat du prix Agha Khan d'architecture, il publie divers articles sur l'histoire de l'archéologie médiévale islamique en Tunisie et participe à différentes expositions sur l'architecture islamique. De 1982 à 1994, il est en charge du département de muséographie du Centre des arts et des civilisations islamiques. Mourad Rammah est également directeur du Centre des manuscrits de Kairouan.
Copyedited by: Margot Cortez
Translation by: David Ash
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: TN 56