Textile Fragment

dated 328 AH/939–40 CE

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 451

The inscription of this tiraz textile bears its place and date of manufacture, Damietta, Egypt in A.H. 328 (939–40 CE). Also included are the names of two Abbasid caliphs, both of whom were based in the capital of Baghdad in present-day Iraq. Because the caliphate stretched well beyond its capital city, governors were appointed to hold local rule over outer regions of the realm. In Egypt, a group of Turkic slave soldiers known as the Ikhshidids were appointed as local governors. Within forty years after this textile was completed, the Abbasids lost power over this region and the Fatimid caliphate made Cairo its capital.

Artwork Details

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Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

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References

Title: Textile Fragment
Date: dated 328 AH/939–40 CE
Geography: Made in Egypt, Damietta
Medium: Linen, silk; plain weave, embroidered
Dimensions: Textile: L. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm)
W. 29 1/2 in. (74.9 cm)
Mount: H. 21 in. (53.3 cm)
W. 33 5/8 in. (85.4 cm)
D. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
Classification: Textiles-Embroidered
Credit Line: Gift of George D. Pratt, 1929
Object Number: 29.179.13
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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