Publication Date
9th century AH / 15th century AD
Publication Place
Egypt. -
Museum of Islamic Art
Subject
Paper with watercolor drawings and writing in black and red ink.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Physical Dimensions
الطول: 24 سم ؛ العرض: 16.5 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
18019
Record ID
object;ISL;eg;Mus01;34;ar
Library Location
Museum of Islamic Art
Date
9th century AH / 15th century AD
Notes
The fragment is a page from a manuscript on equestrian games written in Naskh script in black ink and its subject titles written in red. On this page there is a side heading that reads, “Chapter on breaking the pillar and getting rid of it.” At the top of the page appears a picture representing three Mamluk knights, two of whom are dueling with sticks, and each of them is wearing a dress that reaches to the knees and a head covering (cap), which historical sources refer to as “zamat.” The third person wears a turban and a long, narrow-sleeved dress, and leans on a stick as if he is watching the competitors, and appears to be their coach. The dresses that these people wear are red, black, and purple, and are decorated with stripes in various directions. The picture clearly shows the features of the Arab school of painting, which was the school that spread between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries AD in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa. This school was distinguished by local characteristics in each of these countries, although it was united by some general characteristics, the most important of which were the small number of people in the picture, the absence of a ground or frame for the picture, the use of bright colors, distance from realism, failure to take into account the rules of perspective and the third dimension, and interest in drawings of animals, especially horses. The Islamic Museum in Cairo possesses three pages of this manuscript. Studies conducted on the remains of the papers of this manuscript indicated that the antiquities dealer Issa Al-Maalouf, who kept the manuscript until 1928 AD, sold it in papers to several countries. The manuscript originally consisted of 184 pages, containing 16 drawings of army mobilization, and 46 color photographs to illustrate its topics. Unfortunately, the title of the manuscript or the name of its author could not be determined due to the loss of its first and last pages. The manuscript contains several chapters on the arts of war and equestrianism, including: riding and teaching a horse, archery, pin play, bow weights and knowing them, throwing a spear, playing with a shield on the ground and a horse, throwing a spear, throwing a spear, and throwing a crossbow. The manuscript also talked about the arts of cannon and gunpowder.
Sample Text
Salah Sayour “A page from a manuscript on equestrian games” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;eg;Mus01;34;ar
Bu sayfanın künyesi
Prepared by:Salah SAYOURSalah Ahmad Sayour holds a BA in Islamic Antiquities, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University (1973) and is currently studying for an MA in the same field. In 1979 he had a four-month scholarship at Austrian museums to study museology. Preparing exhibitions for the Museum of Islamic Art's collections in the Arab World Institute, Paris and curating exhibitions held in host museums in the USA and Paris augmented his experience leading to his appointment as head of several sections at the Museum. He has written several articles on Islamic painting and arts forPrism Magazinepublished by the Ministry in different languages and has participated in preparing scientific texts for the catalogues for the Museum's exhibitions at home and abroad.
Seçili bibliyografya
Al-Pasha, H., et al,al-Qāhira, tarikhuha, fūnunuha, Āthāruha [Cairo: its History, its Arts and its Monuments],Cairo, 1970.Atil, E.,Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks,Washington D.C., 1981.Farghali, Abu H. M.,Al-Taswir al-Islami: Nash'atahu wa mawqif al-Islam minhu wa usuluhu wa madarisuhu [Islamic Painting: Its Formation and Islam's Attitude Towards it, its Sources and Schools],Cairo, 1991.Hamdi, A.,et al, Ma'rid al-fan al-islāmi fi misr [Catalogue of the Islamic Art Exhibition in Egypt],Cairo, 1969.Ibn Iyas, Muhammad ibn Ahmad (d. 930 / 1524),Bada'i Zuhur fi Waqa'i al-Duhur [The Wonders of Flowers in Encounters Through the Ages],Cairo, 1894.Stierlin, H., and Stierlin, A.,Splendours of the Islamic World: Mamluk Art in Cairo (1250–1517),London, New York, 1997.