Talisman
10th century-16th century (made)
In the medieval Middle East, rock crystal and other precious and semi-precious stones were considered to have properties which we would now think of as magical or supernatural. Because of its clarity, rock crystal was believed to have affinities with air and water and was sometimes associated with rain. The inscriptions on this item, which include the name of the prophet Solomon, show that it had a talismanic function of some sort.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Carved rock crystal |
Brief description | Rock crystal sphere with talismanic inscriptions in Arabic, including some in 'linear Kufic' script, Middle East, 10th-16th century. |
Physical description | Carved rock crystal sphere inscribed in Arabic, including talismanic texts in 'linear Kufic' script, on one side. |
Dimensions |
|
Marks and inscriptions | (Inscribed with three lines of text in Arabic, written in a Kufic style (A, B, C on image), which are framed by four lines of 'linear Kufic' script (D, E, F, G on image). Lines A, B and C consist of one word repeated three times. The word in line A is the name Sulayman (Solomon), written in scriptio defectiva, in positive (as opposed to reversed, as on a seal).
See image for transcription by Tim Stanley.) |
Gallery label |
|
Credit line | Bequeathed by Mr and Mrs Ernest Schwaiger |
Object history | For comparable objects, see Venetia Porter, "Stones to Bring Rain? Magical Inscriptions in Linear Kufic on Rock Crystal Amulet-seals", in Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom (eds), Rivers of Paradise: Water in Islamic Art and Culture, New Haven and London, 2009, pp.131-159. |
Summary | In the medieval Middle East, rock crystal and other precious and semi-precious stones were considered to have properties which we would now think of as magical or supernatural. Because of its clarity, rock crystal was believed to have affinities with air and water and was sometimes associated with rain. The inscriptions on this item, which include the name of the prophet Solomon, show that it had a talismanic function of some sort. |
Collection | |
Accession number | ME.2-2002 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
Record created | April 25, 2006 |
Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest