This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Prayer chain

Location:

Vienna, Austria

Holding Museum:

Weltmuseum Wien

About Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna

Date of Object:

Before 1914

Museum Inventory Number:

90.692

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Glass beads, cotton string, silk tassel

Dimensions:

Length without tassel: 39.4cm

Provenance:

Tunisia, Sfax

Description:

Islamic prayer beads (misbaḥa) consist of three sections of beads separated from each other by two larger marker beads (imām) for easier counting. The last bead, which is usually a much larger piece in the shape of a bottle neck, is called "minaret imam" (yad) and stands for the greatest and secret hundredth name of Allah. The misbaḥa is meant for reciting prayers, praising Allah, and as a talisman.

How date and origin were established:

Entry in the general inventory and archival documents.

How Object was obtained:

Catalog entry: "Collected and donated by the banker Alfred Weidholz (Vienna), 1914."

How provenance was established:

Entry in the general inventory book.

Selected bibliography:

Steinmann, Axel, Blickfänge. Schmuck aus Nordafrika, exhibition catalogue, Vienna: Museum für Völkerkunde, 1995: fig. 27.

Citation of this web page:

 "Prayer chain" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;at;Mus23;13;en

MWNF Working Number: AT3 13