Browse Items (101 total)

Beautiful but fragile textiles are among the rarest items to survive from the medieval Silk Roads. Often only a few fragments remain, such as the hem of a sleeve or collar, as in the delicate tapestry-woven script (Arabic tiraz, derived from the…

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…

"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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

These delicate tapestry-woven textile armbands with inscriptions (Arabic, tiraz) rendered in golden Kufic script lettering would have adorned the wearer's body in a luxurious echo of the regal blue and gold parchment Qur'ans produced during the…

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…

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…

This hand-coloured woodblock print shows a group of women of the upper class in a scene of collective reading, gathered around a reading stand, while another woman at right brings in more books. The women are likely reading poetry or popular…

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.…

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…

Robe, Central Asia, 13th century, Silk, woven
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This magnificent Qur'an was copied in 1847 on a narrow paper scroll that is more than five metres (sixteen feet) long. Its tiny 'dust' script (ghubar) is a miniature form of naskh that was originally developed for the minute messages conveyed by…

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.…

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,…

A map of the Silk Roads created for the Aga Khan Museum Exhibit, Hidden Stories: Books on the Silk Roads. The map shows the physical geography of the areas traversed by the Silk Roads trade routes.

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This intimate scene depicts the doomed lovers Layli and Majnun, as Qais--later called 'the mad one' (Persian, majnun) due to his extravagant passion--meets Layli for the first time in their shared schoolroom. The highly detailed painting depicts…