This group of six tiles was once part of the rich exterior decoration of a building in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The building is a monumental tomb and houses the grave of Buyanquli Khan (d.1359), a descendant of the great Mongol conqueror Chinggis (Genghis) Khan.

The tomb took the form of a square, domed building sheathed inside and out with tiles of this type. They were deeply carved with a variety of designs, including a number of lengthy inscriptions, and then covered with coloured glazes. This unusual type of tile work was in fashion for a relatively brief period in the 14th and early 15th centuries, and the tiles from this tomb are the most important surviving examples.

The extremely long frieze from which these six tiles came ran around the outer edge of the monumental entrance to the tomb. It contains an inscription in Arabic set against spiralling scrollwork with stylised leaves – a type of ornament known as arabesque. Most of the surface was covered with blue-green glaze, and white glaze was used to highlight the words.

The text was read from right to left. The first tile came immediately after one bearing the name of Buyanquli Khan and contains part of a prayer that God admit him to paradise. The other tiles are inscribed with a series of three short quotations from the Qur’an exhorting Muslims to prepare for the afterlife: ‘Verily the best of provisions is right conduct, and the hereafter is better and more enduring, so fear Me, O you who are wise!’