Tiraz textile fragment. Egypt. Mamluk Dynasty. 14th century. Silk double weave. 981.207.
Textile fragment. Egypt. Mamluk Dynasty. 14th-15th century? Cotton tabby with appliqued inscription of red cotton tabby; above and below guards of blue cotton tabby cut on the bias. 978.76.291 Abemayor Collection given in memory of Dr. Veronika Gervers, Associate Curator, Textile Department (1968-1979) by Albert and Federico Friedberg. Certified by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.
Fellowship Year: 1998
Project Title: The Role of Textiles in Mamluk Ceremonial
The Role of Textiles in Mamluk Ceremonial
The Mamluks, a Muslim dynasty of manumitted military slaves, ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1517. While Mamluk ceremonial has been of some interest to medieval historians, its material aspects have only been touched on by historians of Islamic art. Textiles were particularly effective symbols of social position in status-conscious Cairo, where official ceremonial buttressed the political claims of the military elite..She sought to examine the ROM’s 109 textile fragments attributed to the Mamluk dynasty through a socio-cultural lens, rather than a strictly art historical lens, by accompanying her object study of the textiles’ styles and inscriptions with interpretation of relevant extant written sources.
About the Fellow:
Prof. Dr. Bethany Walker is currently the Chair of Mamluk Studies/Research Professor and Co-Director at the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg of Mamluk Studies and the Director of the Research Unit in Islamic Archaeology, both at the Department of Islamic Studies, University of Bonn
Prof. Dr. Bethany Walker is currently the Chair of Mamluk Studies/Research Professor and Co-Director at the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg of Mamluk Studies and the Director of the Research Unit in Islamic Archaeology, both at the Department of Islamic Studies, University of Bonn