Publication Date
353 / 964
Publication Place
-
National Archaeological Museum
Subject
ivory; silver; template; leaky.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الارتفاع: 18 سم؛ القطر: 10.3 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
52113
Record ID
object;ISL;es;Mus01;14;ar
Library Location
National Archaeological Museum
Date
353 / 964
Notes
A round box with a very flat cone-shaped lid, crowned with an ovate pimple. The two elements are connected by a silver hinge, engraved and painted with black enamel. The object is trimmed into an elephant's tusk cylinder. The surfaces of the body and lid present a decoration dominated by stylized floral motifs of various shapes (twisted stems, flowers, conifers, and ten-petaled roses) and a fine relief carving of variegated stems and slanted leaves. This decoration also includes various very natural animals, facing each other or based on the form of a couple, such as royal peacocks, deer, and birds, all of which represent a new characteristic in Cordoban art of the period, but which will from then on become more common. On the lower edge of the lid, an inscription in graceful Kufic letters indicates the addressee and the date of execution: “May the peace of God be upon Imam Abdullah al-Hakim al-Mustansir Billah, Commander of the Faithful. This is what Dari al-Shabab was commissioned to do for Lady Umm Abd al-Rahman. In the year three hundred and fifty-three.” The box was bequeathed by Al-Hakam II to his concubine Zuwa, the mother of Emir Abd al-Rahman, who did not rise to power because he died young. The name Dari certainly refers to the donor, a slave of the caliph and a paiza worker at the beginning of Hisham II's reign, and executed by order of Al-Mansur. The primary material of the piece, elephant ivory, was imported, and is evidence of trade relations during the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba. The fund borrows its name from its source, the Zamora Cathedral, where it was used as a depository.
Sample Text
Ángela Franco “Zamora Box” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;es;Mus01;14;ar