Fragmentary Ottoman Cenotaph Cover with Qur'anic Verses

Description This cenotaph cover bears calligraphic Qur'anic verses and the shahada of Islam: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." It would have been used as a cover for a sanduka, a coffin-shaped stone indicating the burial place of an important person. The chevron (zigzag) design was frequently used on kiswa covers commissioned by Ottoman sultans and sent to Mecca every year to adorn the Ka"ba. A square building located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Ka"ba, which means cube in Arabic, is elegantly draped in a silk and cotton veil and is the holiest shrine in Islam.

Conservation

Distorations and creases were relaxed using local humidification and flattening.

Date	Description	Narrative
7/08/2015	Examination	examined for exhibition; stabilized; tears repaired
7/08/2015	Treatment	other; stabilized

Provenance Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters