Kiswa

Categorized as Terms

Kiswa

Richard McGregor

Related Terms:

  • Bab (gate)
  • Ihram (state of ritual purity during the Hajj)
  • Kaʿba (the most sacred structure in Islam)
  • Mahmal (elaborately decorated litter sent to the pilgrimage to Mecca)

Related Khamseen Videos:

Sabiha Göloğlu, “Touching Mecca & Medina: The Dalā’il al-Khayrāt and Devotional Practices,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 28 August 2020.

Richard McGregor, “Hajj Materials and Rites from Egypt,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 9 February 2021.

References:

Al-Azraqi, Ibn Ahmad. Akhbar Makka wa ma ja’a fi-ha min al-athar. 2 vols. Mecca: Dar al-Thaqafa, 1994.

Golombek, Lisa. “The Draped Universe of Islam.” In Content and Context of Visual Arts in the Islamic World, edited by Priscilla Parsons Soucek, 25–49. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988.

Tezkan, Hülya. Sacred Covers of Islam’s Holy Shrines, with Samples from Topkapi Palace. Istanbul: MASA, 2017.

McGregor, Richard. Islam and the Devotional Object: Seeing Religion in Egypt and Syria. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Al-Mojan, Mohammad. “The Textiles Made for the Prophet’s Mosque at Medina.” In The Hajj: Collected Essays, edited by Venetia Porter and Liana Saif, translated by Liana Saif, 184–94. London: The British Museum Press, 2013. 

Porter, Venetia. “Textiles of Mecca and Medina.” In Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, edited by Venetia Porter, 256–265. London: British Museum Press, 2012.

Worksheet:

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Citation:

Richard McGregor, “Kiswa,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 3 May 2022.

Richard McGregor is Associate Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. His primary field of research is medieval Egypt and Syria, with a focus on religious thought, ritual, and Sufism. His most recent book, Islam and the Devotional Object: Seeing Religion in Egypt and Syria (2020), explores the lives of a series of religious objects. He also works on the devotional gaze, in theory and historical Islamic practice.