Zaydi Tiraz Textile Fragment (Ikat)

This textile fragment is referred to as tiraz, which term is historically associated with a type of administrative inscription that marked objects signifying the authority of rulers and their administrators. This system, which existed in pre-Islamic Greco-Roman and Persian worlds, was common practice during the Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid periods. This fragment belongs to a group of textiles produced in Yemen during the Abbasid caliphate, woven with cotton threads that are tie-dyed to produce a multi-coloured and patterned fabric, called in Arabic ‘asb. The inspiration to produce such textiles in Yemen, and later on also in Egypt came originally from Indonesia where they were known as ikat. The variety of types and inscriptions demonstrates the wide ranging political and trade networks in the early Islamic world, across the Indian Ocean region and the Mediterranean.