Mosque Lamp

This mosque lamp is made of hammered brass, decorated entirely with a pierced, openwork pattern inlaid with silver and a black compound, most of which has since worn. Formed of a spherical body (attributed to the Ottoman period) and cylindrical, flaring neck (confidently dated to Baybar’s reign), the shape of this metal lamp closely follows those made in glass, which were widely used in Mamluk Egypt and Syria to decorate mosques, mausoleums and madrasas. This lamp was commissioned for the Mamluk ruler al-Malik al-Zahir Baybars (620 - 675 AH/1223 – 1277 CE), and was made for his mausoleum, constructed in Damascus in 675 AH/1277 CE; the inscription carries the words that plead God to sanctify the sultan's spirit and illumine his tomb. Bold, thuluth inscriptions run around the lamp's body and neck, interspersed with roundels and multi-lobed rosettes set against a background of densely decorated arabesques. Originally handles, a foot and tray would have accompanied this lamp, which when filled with oil and suspended, would have projected the inscriptions and patterns across the mausoleum it was intended to illuminate.