Browse Items (24 total)

Used for protection against illness, difficult childbirth, and the evil eye, this Ethiopian amulet scroll (Amharic, kitab; Arabic for 'book') was created by an ordained minister (Amharic, debtara) from pieces of parchment tailored to the height of…

This 18th-century register records the names and baptism dates of Indigenous children in the Mexico City parish of San Sebastian. In the colonial period, Catholic Church parishes kept separate record books for communities of Indigenous, African,…

This Burmese book of Buddhist scriptures (Kamawa-sa) includes selections written in Pali from the Tipitaka (literally, 'three baskets') of Therevada, the most ancient form of Buddhism. Costly and ornate Kamawa-sa were written on cloth or palm leaves…

Merchandise traded along the Silk Roads included jewels, spices, salt, tea, and - above all - silk, carried by caravans of camels able to endure the desert's heat and lack of water. The lustrous wool carpet design seen here is called shadda, a very…

Spiritual travel is experienced through sung prayer as well as through map image. This choir book or 'antiphoner' includes chants for the Christian Holy Week of Easter. So heavy that it can only be moved by two people, this enormous book would have…

The contents (Sanskrit text and Hindu iconography), materials (Islamic burnished paper and Indian textiles), and format (Islamic-style binding) of this manuscript containing the Hindu Bhagavad Gita all illuminate the fecund encounter of Persian and…

Persian, Indian, and European forms converge in this stunning painting of Alexander the Great (Persian, Eskandar). Seated in a pose that resembles that of the Mughal ruler Humayun, Eskandar wears a helmet engraved with the image of a horse - perhaps…

This Hebrew Bible was written and decorated in 1307 in Christian-ruled Toledo at a time when Jewish life in Spain was becoming increasingly difficult, culminating in the final expulsion of Jews as well as Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492.…

The lacquered cover of this Shahnameh manuscript showcases a dense pattern of grape-bearing vine scrolls, which continued to be an influential motif over the following centuries. This handwritten manuscript contains the Shahnameh (literally, 'Book of…

This fifteenth-century copy of an important textbook in Islamic law is intricately annotated with the notes of a legal expert (Arabic, faqih) in Egypt who likely was using the book as a teaching tool. The notes are mainly case studies and problems in…

The Mishneh Torah (not to be confused with the early medieval Mishnah that appears earlier in the exhibition) was composed by the philosopher and physician Maimonides (1138-1204). Born in Cordoba, Spain, Maimonides wrote his major works in Morocco…

This Jewish marriage contract (Hebrew, ketubah) details the groom's financial obligations to the bride in the event of divorce or widowhood. Both text and decorative object, designed to be displayed in the couple's home, it belonged to David ben…

The prayer book "Waymarks of Benefits" (Dala'il al-Khayrat), originally composed in fifteenth-century Morocco, was frequently copied from Senegal to Turkestan, at the western and eastern extremes of the Islamic world. It was the most popular…

This late copy of the Dala'il al-Khayrat was created in Morocco, where the work was originally composed four hundred years earlier. Thousands of others were produced throughout the Islamic world, making it the most popular devotional work after the…

This Buddhist prayer sheet is one among dozens of identical copies featuring the bodhisattva Guanshiyin of Great Compassion, commissioned in the city of Dunhuang in northwestern China during the summer Ghost Festival in the year 947 CE. Early in the…

"Glory to God" (subhan Allah) appears on the right-hand page as an ornate Arabic letter form upon a delicate floral background. The sweeping letter forms and particularly thin uprights show how the monumental thuluth script was adapted by Chinese…

Robe, Central Asia, 13th century, Silk, woven
AKM816

This luxurious robe tells four different stories. It shows the court of wise King Solomon, illustrating his marvellous ability to understand the languages of all creatures, followed by that of the Abbasid caliph Haroun al-Rashid, offering a…

"The pen is a key that opens the door to the necessities of life." These Ottoman tools of the scribe feature exquisite workmanship in steel and brass with precious inlays of gold, silver, ivory, and turquoise. The elegant execution of these tools -…

The oblong pages of this palm-leaf format (pothi) book contain powerful spells or mantras to treat illness, prevent disaster, and grant wellbeing. The five protective goddesses pictured here embody the five mantra collections that make up the text.…