Two Fragments of a Minbar (MMA 34.150.1, .2)

These two fragments once belonged to a minbar (pulpit), a raised platform from which announcements and khutba (Friday sermons) to the Muslim community are addressed. Minbars are often made of wood or stone and are frequently the largest, if not the only, piece of mosque furniture. As wood can succumb to fire, insects, and rot, early wood minbar fragments rarely survive and only a few are known. The earliest surviving example is in the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, brought there from Baghdad by the Aghlabid amir Abu Ibrahim Amad (r. 856–63).[2] In Iran the oldest minbar is from the Jami’ Mosque of Shushtar and is dated A.H. 445/A.D. 1053.[3] Therefore, these fragments are not only among the very few extant minbar pieces of their period but also the only survivors of the two known minbars built in this style.

The fragments come from a mosque at Yazd, in central Iran, and belong to a period from which few Iranian examples are known.[4] While most minbars, like that of Kılıç Arslan II, dated A.H. 550/A.D. 1155 (fig. 103 in this volume), have diagonal side panels, this one consisted of vertical panels fastened together with mortise-and-tenon joints to support each step. The horizontal fragment (34.150.1) crowned the upper part of the minbar, where the imam would sit, and the vertical fragment (34.150.2) formed the lower side section, possibly carrying the fourth step.(5)

The horizontal fragment consists of three wood panels assembled with butt joints. A foundation inscription states that the minbar was commissioned in A.H. 546/A.D 1151 by Abu Bakr b. Muhammad in the time of ‘Ala’ al-Dawla Garshasp, a governor of Yazd under the Seljuqs. The angularity of the letters and the deeply carved foliate scrolls are typical of the archaic styles of late tenth- and eleventh-century carved tombstones, mihrabs (prayer niches), and minbars.[6]

The vertical fragment is composed of six pieces of wood, three of which contain Qur’anic verses from sura 67, “al-Mulk” (The Dominion).[7]Because the inscription starts from the middle of the sura and runs counter-clockwise along the uprights, as well as the top crosspiece, it is likely that the other vertical pieces (now lost) were carved with the remainder of the sura, adorning the entire structure with sacred verses. As a central axis between the two upper crosspieces, two lines of vertically arranged hexagonal forms create a repeating pattern of six-pointed stars in negative space. While this decoration is missing in the lower sections, likely the same or a similar pattern would have filled those spaces, too. Both horizontal and vertical fragments contain traces of red, indigo, and white pigments on the surface, suggesting that they were once painted to highlight their inscriptions and ornaments. The mortise-and-tenon joints on the horizontal fragment suggest that, although the minbar was composed of multiple small pieces of wood, they were assembled to form a solid structure.

Minbars had both functional and symbolic importance for the Great Seljuqs and their relationship with the urban environment. Abu Bakr, who commissioned this minbar, was a local authority under ‘Ala’ al-Dawla Garshasp and was related by marriage to the reigning sultan, Sanjar.[8] While the religious function of the minbar was to deliver the khutba and blessings for the sultan, this one also symbolized Abu Bakr and emphasized his piety and political power.

Pinar Gokpinar-Gnepp in [Canby, Beyazit, and Rugiadi 2016]

Footnotes:

2. Creswell, Keppel. Early Muslim Architecture. Vol. 2. Oxford, 1940, pp. 317–19, pls. 89, 90.

3. Meshkati, N. A List of the Historical Sites and Ancient Monuments of Iran. Translated by H. A. Pessyan. Tehran, 1974, p. 109, and Pedersen, J., J. Golmohammadi, J. Burton-Page, and G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville. “Minbar.” In EI2 1960–2009, vol. 7 (1990), pp. 73–80, pls. 12–15. 1990.

4. Pedersen et al. 1990 (reference in note 3 above).

5. A very similar wood construction can be found in the masjid-i jami’ Nadushan, in Yazd. Although it was published in Afshar, Iraj. Yadgarha-yi Yazd. Tehran, 1975, its current location and status are unknown. See also Ghouchani, Abdullah. Research on Inscriptions of Architectural Structures of Yazd/Barrasi-i katibaha-yi binaha-yi Yazd. Tehran, 2004. Technical analyses of these two fragments were carried out at The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Pinar Gokpinar-Gnepp, formerly Hagop Kevorkian Fellow, Department of Islamic Art, Daniel Hausdorf, Associate Conservator, and Mechthild Baumeister, Conservator, Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation. Ronald Street, Senior Manager, Imaging, Molding, and Prototyping, is responsible for all 3D modeling.

6. See, for instance, a twelfth-century tombstone in the Metropolitan Museum (33.118).

7. The inscription starts from the second half of Qur’an 67:3, continues through 67:4, and ends at the first half of 67:5. Some of the missing verses may originally have been carved on the lower crosspiece. For more information on the inscription, see Ghouchani 2004 (reference in note 5 above).

8. Ibn al-Athır, I.-D. The Chronicle of Ibn Al-Athır for the Crusading Period from Al-Kamil Fı’l-Ta’rıkh. Translated by D. S. Richards. Aldershot, Hampshire, 2006, p. 202.


Fragments of a Minbar 34.150.1 (cat. 65a) and 34.150.2 (cat. 65b)

These two wood fragments, which served both structural and decorative functions, belong to a minbar ( pulpit) from a mosque at Yazd in central Iran. The horizontal fragment (no. 34.150.2) once crowned the tall vertical panel on the back of the minbar where the imam would sit, while the vertical fragment (no. 34.150.1) formed the lower side section, possibly carrying the fourth step.[1] Both fragments are carved with Arabic inscriptions in kufic script.

The horizontal fragment contains the foundation inscription stating that the minbar was commissioned by Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad in the time of ‘Ala’ al-Din Garshasp, a governor of Yazd under the Seljuqs; it also bears the date A.H. 546/A.D. 1151. The angularity of the letters is typical of the archaic styles of late tenth- and eleventh-century Iranian carved tombstones, mihrabs ( prayer niches), and minbars. (For an example of tenth- to twelfth-century tombstones from Yazd with a similar style of calligraphy, see no. 33.118).[2] The deeply carved scrolling vegetal pattern seen here is also a characteristic feature of the tombstones of Yazd.

The vertical fragment is composed of six pieces of wood fastened with mortise-and-tenon joints. A Qur’anic inscription from Sura 67 (al-Mulk, "Dominion") runs along the uprights as well as the top crosspiece.[3] As a central axis between the two upper crosspieces, two lines of vertically arranged hexagonal forms create a repeating pattern of six-pointed stars in negative space. Both fragments contain traces of red, indigo, and white paint on the surface, suggesting that they were once painted to highlight inscriptions and ornament.[4]

Vegetal motifs on the two fragments are typical of those found on twelfth-century Iranian carved wood, although their origins can be traced to the ninth century. By the end of the eleventh century, this motif had evolved into a more naturalistic and curvilinear style with spiral ends, and by the twelfth century it came to include elaborate floral and geometric forms of vine scrolls, seen here in the two middle crosspieces of the vertical fragment.[5]

A tombstone in Farasha in Yazd[6] displays an almost identical scrolling vegetal design. This style of ornamentation is also found on a wood minbar of the Great Mosque of Abiyana, Isfahan province, Iran, dated 1073.[7] Similar vegetal motifs embellish Seljuq carved woodwork of Konya and Ankara in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,[8] suggesting the wide dissemination of these motifs during this period.

Abdullah Ghouchani and Ayse Pinar Gokpinar in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]

1. A very similar wooden construction can be found in the Nadushan Friday Mosque in Yazd. See Afshar, Iraj. Yadgarha-yi Yazd. Tehran, 1975; and Ghouchani, Abdullah. Research on Inscriptions of Architectural Structures of Yazd/Barrasi-i katibaha-yi binaha-yi Yazd. Tehran, 2004. Technical analyses of these two fragments were carried out by Daniel Hausdorf, Assistant Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation.

2. Another related piece in the Museum (acc. no. 34.152) is a tenth-century alabaster tombstone from Iran, carved in kufic script with the name Yusuf, the profession of faith, and prayers for the deceased.

3. The inscription starts from the second half of Qur’an 67:3, continues through 67:4, and ends at the first half of 67:5. Some of the missing verses may have originally been carved on the lower crosspiece. For more information on the inscription, see Ghouchani 2004 (reference in footnote 1).

4. Technical analysis was carried out by the Metropolitan Museum’s wood conservators Daniel Hausdorf and Mechthild Baumeister.

5. Ettinghausen et al 2001, p. 213, and also Chapters 2 and 4 of this catalogue: "Central Islamic Lands" and "Eastern Islamic Lands."

6. See Afshar, Iraj. "Two Twelfth-Century Gravestones of Yazd in Mashad and Washington." Studia Iranica 2, no. 2 (1973), pp. 203 – 11, pls. 41–43, pl. 42.

7. Also see an example in the David Collection, Copenhagen (no. 11/1977), attributed to eastern Iran and dated 1109. For bibliography, see Schimmel 1992; R. Ettinghausen in Miles 1952, pp. 76–81. Also see Afshar 1973 (reference in footnote 6).

8. The panel mounted above the main door of a minbar in a Seljuq mosque in Konya is dated to 1155, and the minbar of Arslanhane Mosque in Ankara is dated to 1290.

Inscription: English translations of the Qur’an are taken from Arthur J. Arberry’s "The Koran Interpreted" (New York, 1996).

Inscription in Arabic in kufic script on vertical fragment (34.150.1):

[تفا]وت فأرجع البصر هل تری من فطور ثم أرجع ألبصر کرتین ینقلب
/ إلیک ألبصر خا
[اسئاً] و هو حسیر و لقد زینا ألسماء ألد نیا بمصابیح و جعلناها رجوماً للشـ[یاطین]

“[…] Return your gaze; seest thou any fissure? Then return again, and again, and thy gaze comes back to thee dazzled, aweary. And we adorned the lower heaven with lamps, and made them things to stone Satans… (Qur’an 67:3-5)

Inscription in Arabic in kufic script on horizontal fragment (34.150.2):
أمر هذا/
المنبر عبد مذنب/
أبو بکر بن محمد بن أحمد کلاى/
ثمانة )؟( تقرباً إلی الله و رجاء إلی رحمة الله/
في زمن الأمیر الأجل السید المؤید المظفر/
المنصور عضد الدین شمس الملوک/
و السلاطین علاء الدولة گرشاسب/
بن علي بن فرامرز بن علاء الدولة حسام أمیر/
المؤمنین في جمادى الأولی سنة ست وأربعین وخمس مائة
This minbar was ordered by a sinful slave, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad
Kalai [. . .], to be closer to God and in hope of God’s mercy. In the time of
the most exalted commander, the Lord, the God-aided, the Vanquisher, the
Victorious, ‘Adud al-Din Shams al-Muluk wal-Salatin ‘Ala’ al-Daula Garshasp
ibn ‘Ali ibn Faramurz ibn ‘Ala’ al-Daula, Husam Amir a-Mu’minin, in Jumada I,
in the year A.H. 546 [August/September 1151 A.D].[1]

Inscription in Arabic in kufic script on upper right and left of horizontal panel (34.150.2):
لا إله إلا الله/ محمد رسول الله
There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God

Footnotes:
1- Translated by Hannah McAllister and M. Bowen

[ A. Rabenou, Paris, until 1934; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs," April 25–July 24, 2016, no. 161.

Miles, George C., ed. Archaeologica Orientalia in Memoriam Ernst Herzfeld. Locust Valley, New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1952.

Schimmel, Annemarie. "Islamic Calligraphy." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., vol. 50, no. 1 (Summer 1992).

Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250. 2nd ed. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001.

Ekhtiar, Maryam, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby, and Navina Haidar, ed. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 65A, pp. 87, 105–7, ill. p. 106 (color).

Canby, Sheila R., Deniz Beyazit, and Martina Rugiadi. "The Great Age of the Seljuqs." In Court and Cosmos. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 161, pp. 255–56, ill. (color).