Tiraz Fragment
This linen fabric is inscribed with a repeating inscription, al-Mulk L’illah, “Sovereignty is Allah’s”, block printed in a black outline, which was then gilded. The kufic script employed is a simple geometric one, except for the floriated flourish in the last letter of al-Mulk. The simple fabric and technique employed, as well as the lack of a name implies that this fabric was produced for general sale in a market. Many such fabrics were eventually found in a burial context, as their inscriptions were believed to convey baraka (blessing) through the sustained contact between the deceased and the textile.
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