Bag for the Key of the Ka‘bah

Location: Cairo, Egypt

Materials: olive-green silk with red silk appliqués, embroidered in silver and silver gilt wire over padding of cotton threads; lined with a contemporary piece of cloth of the type used as a curtain or cover in the Prophet’s tomb in Medina

Dimensions: 43.5 x 24cm

Accession Number: TXT 459

Bibliography:

The main inscription on the front of the bag is surah al-Nisa’ (IV), beginning of verse 58. The commissioning inscription (amara bi-‘amal …) naming Sultan Mehmed V is in the bands above and below it. The back has surah al-Naml (XXVII), verse 30, in the centre with the presentation notice (amara bi-tajdid …) and the date above and below. The content of the main inscriptions remained unchanged since at least Mamluk times. [see also TXT 135]