Fatimid Inscribed Wooden Panel

This panel is part of a group of three panels (QM.2016.0099, QM.2016.0100 and QM.2016.0101) that originally formed a decorative frieze in a mosque or a madrasa. When assembled together, the inscription in foliated Kufic script is composed of a section of Sura Taha, verses 8 and 10, which relate to Musa and the large fire he saw in the blessed tree of the Valley of Tuwa, from which God informed him he was chosen as a Prophet. The interlaced vine leaves around the letters and the style of Kufic script are characteristic of compositions from the Fatimid period, which are found on either stonework or woodwork. An earlier example with bold and angular Kufic script in the David collection (Inv. no. 1/2002) indicates the use of Qur’anic inscriptions in the Ibn Tulun mosque.