Publication Date
17th century
Publication Place
-
Al-Khalili Family Trust - Nasser D. Collection. Al-Khalili Islamic Art
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
252 × 197 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
TXT 239
Record ID
object;EPM;uk;Mus21;43;ar
Library Location
Al-Khalili Family Trust - Nasser D. Collection. Al-Khalili Islamic Art
Date
17th century
Notes
The oldest complete Ottoman banner in the Khalili collection is this banner with the central depiction of Zulfiqar's sword, represented by the dragon scales commonly seen in photographs of Ottoman banners. The inscription on this two-pronged sword bears Surah An-Nisa (4), verse 95 (the end) and 96. These are surrounded by outline medallions surrounding the names of Allah, Muhammad and the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, each with appropriate punctuation, and there is Surah Hud (11), part of verse 88. The date of the banner can be determined as seventeenth century on the basis of its close resemblance to the iconographic and technical forms of a number of military banners with a confident date in European collections. Many copies of the oldest banners were made in Istanbul at the beginning of the 19th century and can easily be identified by their inclusion of a small pictographic flag which is believed to represent the banner of the Prophet himself.
Sample Text
"Raya" within Discover the collections of Islamic art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;uk;Mus21;43;ar
