One of the few surviving examples of tenth- to twelfth-century tombstones from Yazd (a city southeast of Isfahan in central Iran) in museum collections, this piece is carved from beige (gandumi) marble and contains a central prayer niche framed by Qur’anic inscriptions.[1] The outer border, which is the widest, contains verses from Surat al-Fussilat (Sura 41:30) while the inner border contains verses from Surat al-Imran (Sura 3:18). Two registers between the inner and the outer borders on the top and bottom feature the shahada (the profession of the faith) and the signature of the carver, "Ahmad son of Muhammad Astak."[2]

The central panel includes an arched prayer niche with the name of the deceased, Abu Sa‘d son of Muhammad son of Ahmad son of al-Hasan Karwaih, and his death date, A.H. Muharram 545/April–May 1150 A.D. Traces of red and black paint suggest that segments of the tombstone were originally painted, perhaps to highlight the inscriptions.[3] The upper part of the niche is decorated with curvilinear vegetal motifs with spiral ends.

Most significant for this tombstone is its prayer niche (mihrab). The evolution of mihrabs — and the relationship between contemporaneous mihrabs and these tombstones — has engendered much discussion among scholars. Although similar mihrab designs were used in the local production of Asia Minor, Spain, and North Africa, the complexity of Iranian examples, which bear several bands of inscriptions, sets them apart them from tombstones of other regions.[4]

A very similar style of kufic script and vegetal designs can be seen on two fragments from a twelfth-century minbar in the Museum’s collection (nos. 34.150.1, .2), suggesting that this form of kufic was prevalent in Iran in the twelfth century and was used across media in Seljuq art.[5] Another, almost identical twelfth-century tombstone in situ in Yazd dates to nine years before the Metropolitan’s example[6] and is signed by the same carver, Ahmad son of Muhammad. Other examples in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,[7] the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts,[8] and the Cleveland Museum of Art[9] have a similar composition, surface ornament, and style of script. Ideally, further paleographic studies will identify other objects produced by thesame stone carver in Yazd.

Abdullah Ghouchani and Ayse Pinar Gokpinar in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]

Footnotes:

1. These beige-colored gandumi stones and similar tombstones are found in Maibud, Tabas, Qaznaviyya, and Bafq in the Yazd region. For a survey of tombstones in Yazd and more information on this type of composition, see Afshar, Iraj. Yadgarha-yi Yazd. Tehran, 1969, and Afshar, Iraj. "Two Twelfth-Century Gravestones of Yazd in Mashad and Washington." Studia Iranica 2, no. 2 (1973), pp. 203–11, pl. 42.

2. For more information on the inscription, see Wiet 1933, p. 27, no. 22.

3. Technical examinations determined the traces of red (iron oxide) and black (amorphous carbon-based black).

4. Fehervari 1972, p. 241; Whelan, Estelle. "The Origins of the Mihrab Mujawwaf: A Reinterpretation." International Journal of Middle East Studies 18, no. 2 (May 1986), pp. 205–23; Khoury, Nuha N. N. "The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture." Muqarnas 9 (1992), pp. 11–28; Khoury, Nuha N. N. "The Mihrab: From Text to Form." International Journal of Middle East Studies 30, no. 1 (February 1998), pp. 1–27; Blair and Bloom 1991, p. 96, no. 32.

5. For more information, see Dimand 1944, pp. 91–97.

6. The tombstone is published in Pope 1938, vol. 5, pt. 1, pl. 519E.

7. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (no. 31.711), published in "Acquisitions [MFA]" 1931, p. 95.

8. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (no. 1963.18), published in Blair and Bloom 1991, p. 79, fig. 14.

9. Cleveland Museum of Art (no. 1950.9), published in Ferber 1975, fig. 18. The tombstone is dated A.H. 545/1150 A.D., and the inner inscription from Qur’an 41:30 is the same as the outer inscription of the Metropolitan’s tombstone.

Signature: Signature in Arabic in kufic script on band at bottom (between borders):
عمل احمد بن محمد استك
Work of Ahmad son of Muhammad Astak

Inscription: English translations of the Qur’an are taken from Arthur J. Arberry’s "The Koran Interpreted" (New York, 1966).

Inscription in Arabic in kufic script on outer border:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم إن الذین قالوا ربنا الله/ ثم إستقاموا تتنزل علیهم
الملائکة ألا تخافوا و لا تحزنوا و أبشروا بالجنة التي کنتم [توعدون]
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Those who have said, “Our Lord is God,” then have gone straight,
upon them the angels descend, saying, “Fear not, neither sorrow;
rejoice in Paradise that you were promised.” (Qur’an 41:30)

Inscription in Arabic in thuluth script on inner border:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم شهد الله أنه لا إله إلا هو/ و الملائکة و أولوا
العلم قائماً بالقسط لا إله إلا هو العزیز الحكيم
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
God bears witness that there is no God but He — and the angels,
and men possessed of knowledge — upholding justice; there is no god but He,
the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. (Qur’an 3:18)

Inscription in Arabic in kufic script on band at top (between borders):
لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله
There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

Inscription in Arabic in kufic script on central panel:
هذا قبر/ ابي سعد بن/ محمد بن احمد/ بن الحسن کارویه توفي/ في
محرم سنة/ خمس و اربعین/ و خمس مائة
This is the grave of Abu Sa‘d son of Muhammad son of Ahmad
son of al-Hasan Karwaih, he died in the month of Muharram
of the year five hundred and forty five.

(Abdullah Ghouchani, 2011)

[ A. Rabenou, Paris, by 1931–33; sold to MMA]

Cairo. Musée Arabe Du Caire. "L'Exposition Persane de 1931," 1931, no. 22.

London. Burlington House. "International Exhibition of Persian Art," January 7, 1931–February 28, 1931, no. 56.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Hosts of Heaven," December 19–January 21, 1973.

Wilson, Arnold T. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art. 3rd. ed. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1931. no. 56, p. 44.

"7th January to 28th February, 1931." In Persian Art : An Illustrated Souvenir of the Exhibition of Persian Art at Burlington House London, 1931. 2nd ed. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1931. no. 56, p. 34, ill.

Wiet, Gaston. L'Exposition Persane de 1931, Cairo. Cairo, 1933. no. 22, pp. 27–28.

Dimand, Maurice S. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 29 (1934). pp. 135–36, ill. (b/w).

Harari, Ralph, and Richard Ettinghausen. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, edited by Arthur Upham Pope. vol. I–VI. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1938.

Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944.

Fehérvári, Géza. "Tombstone or Mihrab? A Speculation." Islamic Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1972). p. 247, ill. fig. 4 (b/w).

Ferber, Stanley. "a Loan Exhibition at the University Art Gallery April 6–May 4, 1975." In Islam and the Medieval West. Binghamton, 1975.

Welch, Stuart Cary. The Islamic World. vol. 11. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. p. 79, ill. fig. 58 (color).

Denny, Walter B., A. Kevin Reinhart, and Gene R. Garthwaite. Images of Paradise in Islamic Art, edited by Sheila Blair, and Jonathan M. Bloom. Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 1991.

Ekhtiar, Maryam, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby, and Navina Haidar, ed. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 64, pp. 87, 104–5, ill. p. 104 (color).