Name of Object:

Rosette shaped part of the minbar of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Location:

Vienna, Austria

Holding Institution:

MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art

 About MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna

Date of Object:

1296; exhibited at Paris World Trade Exhibition in 1867

Inventory Number:

Or 3405

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Carved and inlayed wood

Provenance:

Egypt, Cairo

Description:

The mosque of Ibn Tulun was built in Cairo in the 9th century AD, and was restored and renovated during the reign of the Mamluk Sultan Hosam al-Din Lajin in 1296. One of the most important items of the equipment of a mosque is the minbar – originally a raised seat – used as a pulpit, but having also a symbolic meaning as the "Throne of Muhammad". The minbar was decorated with stone or wood inlays.

The minbar of the mosque of Ibn Tulun was one of the most precious. Its wooden decoration was exhibited at the World Trade Exhibition of 1867 in Paris as one of Egypt’s most significant craft works. After that, important pieces of the minbar reached numerous European collections.

Citation of this web page:

"Rosette shaped part of the minbar of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;at;118;en

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Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: AT 120