The Muslim West
Funerary Steles: Memorials in Stone
Tombstones, geographical and social differences.
A wide variety of tombstones appeared at different times and in different places reflecting regional differences: the cipo appeared in Ifriqiya (Tunisia) in the 3rd / 9th century, although they have also been found in Andalusia around Toledo; the maqabriyya was used in Andalusian and Maghrebi cemeteries from the time of the Almoravids; and circular steles were common from the 8th / 14th century in towns with large ceramic industries, such as Malaga, Granada and Murcia.
Memorial stone

Hegira 447 / AD 1055
Taifa kingdom of Toledo, dynasty of Banu Dhi'l-Nun (Dhu'l-Nunids)
National Archaeological Museum
Madrid, Spain
The cipo, a cylindrical or semi-cylindrical stele, would have been placed at the head of the grave of an important person. It was the most monumental stele used in the Muslim West.