A Complete Belt for the Prophet’s Mosque

Location: Istanbul, Turkey; commissioned by Sultan Mahmud II

Materials: red silk, with pale brown and gold-coloured silk appliqués, relief-embroidered in silver and silver-gilt wire over cotton thread padding

Dimensions: 62 x 3100cm

Accession Number: TXT 365

Script:

The nitaq, or belt, is embroidered with al-Asma’ al-Husna (‘The Beautiful Names of God’), followed by a short prayer in which Sultan Mahmud II asks for God’s forgiveness. The short commissioning notice appears above the tughra of Sultan Mahmud II in the roundel at its end.