Jewelry in Islamic Lands Elizabeth Dospěl Williams Synopsis: This presentation explores precious metal jewelry – including rings, bracelets, earrings, and other ornaments – from the Byzantine and early Islamic Middle East. It considers attitudes towards wealth, the role of dress in conveying gender, religious identity, and social status, notions of power and authority, and the…
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A Miniature Qur’an and its Silver Case
A Miniature Qur’an and its Silver Case Christiane Gruber Synopsis: The Special Collections Research Center at University of Michigan Library holds an 18th– or 19th-century miniature manuscript of the Qur’an and its accompanying silver case. Both fit snugly in the palm of a hand as well as within a pocket, thus maximizing physical intimacy and…
Ceramic Breastfeeding Figures from Iran and Syria
Ceramic Breastfeeding Figures from Iran and Syria Melanie Gibson Synopsis: In the 12th and 13th centuries, the cities of Kashan in Iran and Raqqa in Syria were sophisticated manufacturing centers of luxury pottery producing a wide range of types, including―for the first time in Islamic ceramic history―three-dimensional human figures. One of the more unusual forms…
Images of the Virgin Mary in Mughal Art
Images of the Virgin Mary in Mughal Art Mika Natif Synopsis: The Virgin Mary (Maryam) became a popular image among the Mughal ruling elite from the late 16th to the mid-17th century. Her depiction appears in single-page pictures set in albums, on wall paintings in Mughal palaces, and within illustrated manuscripts. This presentation focuses on…
Madrasat al-Firdaws in Aleppo
Madrasat al-Firdaws in Aleppo Yasser Tabbaa Synopsis: Founded in 632/1235 by the Regent Queen Dayfa Khatun, the Madrasat al-Firdaws impresses us today by its female patronage, architectural merits, and by its long and unique inscriptions. Its eleven domes and magnificent mihrab emulate similar features in the earlier Shi‘i Mashhad al-Husayn while its exterior iwan, once…
Mongol Women’s Court Dress
Mongol Women’s Court Dress Eiren Shea Synopsis: This talk discusses Mongol women’s court dress, the formal attire worn by elite Mongol women across the Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries. It focuses in particular on the form of the tall hat worn by elite married women, the boqta, and the wide court robe. Through…
Tree of Pearls: Shajar al-Durr and her Architectural Patronage
Tree of Pearls: Shajar al-Durr and her Architectural Patronage D. Fairchild Ruggles Synopsis: In the mid-thirteenth century, Shajar al-Durr—or “Tree of Pearls”—rose from slavery to become the first female sultan of Egypt, and ultimately the first in what would become the Mamluk line of sultans. With wealth and political power, she built innovative tombs for…
Djingareyber Mosque of Timbuktu: Expression and Innovation at the Saharan Crossroads
Djingareyber Mosque of Timbuktu: Expression and Innovation at the Saharan Crossroads Ashley Miller Synopsis: This presentation examines the history and meaning of Djingareyber Mosque, the Great Mosque of Timbuktu in Mali. Constructed beginning in the fourteenth century under the patronage of Mansa Musa (ruler of the Mali empire from 1312 to 1337), the mosque was…
The History of the Blazon in the Mamluk Period
The History of the Blazon in the Mamluk Period Filiz Çakır Phillip Synopsis: A blazon is defined as a coat of arms or armorial bearings. Well-known blazons are often of European origins. It is lesser known that emblems and blazons were also used in the premodern Islamic world. The Artuqids, Anatolian Seljuks, Ayyubids, Rasulids, Nasrids,…
A Legacy of Female Power: Representations of Queen Humayun Shah from the Deccan’s Ahmadnagar Sultanate
A Legacy of Female Power: Representations of Queen Humayun Shah from the Deccan’s Ahmadnagar Sultanate Namrata B. Kanchan Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award 2023 Recipient Synopsis: This presentation explores the removal of Queen Humayun Shah (d. 1569 CE?) from paintings included in an illustrated copy of the masnavi (narrative poem) Ta‘rif-i Husain Shah created during…