Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

and a central band of plaiting with medal-
lions containing figures of birds or hares.
The writing style had undergone a progres-
sive deformation in late Fatimid times and
the inscriptions on the textiles are obvious
proof of this. Indeed, a transitory form of
calligraphy had appeared at this time, fea-
turing all the characteristics of Qufic writ-
ing, but more rounded and with cursive
characters already portending the nashki
script.4)
The Naqlun textile has seven bands of
decoration. The central band, the widest

at 3-5 cm, features a plaited ornament
with medallions filled with figures of
hares. Flanking it on either side are two
bands of a wavy ornament separated by
a band with Arabic writing. The overall
impression is that of horror vacui. The anal-
ogous textiles are held by the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo,5) the Bouvier collection
in Geneva,6) the Abegg de Riggisberg
Foundation,7’ the Royal Ontario Museum
in Toronto,8) 9 10 the David Collection in
Copenhagen9) and a collection in
London.10)


Fig. 3. Shroud (Nd. 99411)
(Photo W. Godlewski)

4) M.C. Bruwier (ed.), Egyptiennes etoffes coptes du Nil (Mariemont 1997), 219-
5> Islamic Art in Egypt, 969-1517 (Cairo 1969), cat. 246.
Tissus d'Egypte. Temoins du monde arabe. VUIe-XVe siecles (Geneva-Paris 1993), 259, cat. 158.
7> K. Otavsky, Muhammad Abbas Muhammad Salim, Mittelalterliche Textilien I. Agypten, Persien und Mesopotamien,
Spanien und Nordafrika (Riggisberg 1995), 92, cat. 53.
8> L. Golombek, V. Gervers, Tiraz Fabrics in the Royal Ontario Museum, in: Studies in Textile History. In Memory, of
Harold B. Burnham (Toronto 1977), 118, cat. 23.
9) Kj. Von Folsach, Islamic Art. The David Collection (Copenhagen 1990), fig. 393.
10) P.L. Baker, Islamic Textiles (London 1995), 58.

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