-
This is an image of a shadow puppet of a battleship used during Islamic shadow plays. This puppet would have been used as a character within the narrative of a play, most likely telling a story with a moral in a public space.
-
This is a map showing what the Mamluk Sultanate looked like in 1330. It also shows the other major states in the region as well as the area of the previous Ayyubid Sultanate
-
Album page. This painting depicts a privileged merchant travelling to a coffeehouse in Safavid Iran.
-
This is a woven tapestry fragment with staggered rosettes and medallions. It is from the Umayyad time and it is meant to be a representation of paradise. It was used as a carpet or furnishing fabric.
-
“Procession of coffee sellers with a model of coffee cart during the Imperial circumcision festival” depicts the emergence of coffee as a significant item of consumption during the rule of Ottoman Sultan Murad III, and places the broader subject of coffee in the context of the circumcision ceremony of 1582. The rise of coffee as a social beverage is symbolized by illustrating coffee sellers processing through the Hippodrome during one of the most culturally significant Ottoman ceremonies. The piece is a part of Surname-i Hümayun, commissioned by Sultan Murad III, Prince Mehmed’s father, depicting the integration of all social classes in public ceremonies. The circumcision ceremony of 1582 glorified the Ottoman Empire and its rulers, establishing Ottoman identity within the context of other empires.
-
The Book of Curiosities is a two part book mapping (1) celestial matters and (2) regions of the Mediterranean and the globe. It is likely an incomplete copy of an 11th century work. The image is a rectangular map of the world included in the Book of Curiosities.