All Collections
Previous Next
Back to Collection

The Giant ‘Uj and the Prophets Moses, Jesus and Muhammad

MSS 620 | Iraq (Baghdad) or Iran (Tabriz) | early 15th century

Print Download

Artwork Details

Title: The Giant ‘Uj and the Prophets Moses, Jesus and Muhammad

Date: early 15th century

Location: Iraq (Baghdad) or Iran (Tabriz)

Materials: ink, gold and opaque watercolour on paper

Dimensions: 38 x 24.4cm

Accession Number: MSS 620

Other Notes:

‘Uj (the Old Testament Og), who takes up most of the middle ground, was the giant king of Bashan, a son of Cain who lived for 3000 years. Moses smote him on the heel, and his fallen body then bridged the Nile. In the foreground is the Prophet Muhammad with his face veiled, shown with male members of his family and some of his companions, including the Ethiopian Bilal, who gave the first call to prayer. In the background are Mary and the infant Jesus. The painting has been cut out from the original folio and mounted as an album page.

The stories of Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, which had gained many picturesque details in the later Rabbinic Jewish tradition, were embellished in the early chronicles of Islam and in the later Middle Ages became popular works of pious edification. One such manuscript was the Qisas al-Anbiya‘ (Stories of the Prophets’), and it is possible that this painting was originally the right-hand half of a double frontispiece to a copy of the work.

Bibliography:

J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.207, p.175.

Related Artworks

Small Flask

JLY 1075
Jaipur, India

Youth in European Dress and Young Woman with Indian Headdress, from a Shahnamah

MSS 1000.1, MSS 1000.2
Isfahan, Iran

Dish

POT 684
Syria

Calligraphic Composition

CAL 154
Ottoman Turkey

Mail and Plate Shirt

MTW 1158
Northern Caucasus
for the Persian or Ottoman market

Two ‘Hands of Fatimah’

JLY 1923
India, possibly Hyderabad (Deccan)

Calligraphic Practice Sheet

CAL 266
Qazvin, Iran

Single Folio from a Four-part Qur’an

KFQ 90
Iran, Isfahan

Carpet with Star Medallions

TXT 213
Ushak, western Anatolia, Turkey

Mosque Lamp

GLS 572
Egypt

Single Folio from a Qur’an

KFQ 45
Middle East or North Africa

Single Folio from a Qur’an

KFQ 50
Middle East

Five Folios from a Qur’an

KFQ 52
Middle East or North Africa

Two Folios from the ‘Blue Qur’an’

KFQ 53
North Africa or Spain

Single Folio from a Qur’an

KFQ 60
probably the Hijaz

Two Bifolios from a Qur’an

KFQ 82
Middle East

Single Folio from a Qur’an

KFQ 93
Middle East or North Africa

Single Folio from a Large Qur’an

KFQ 96
probably North Africa

Single Folio from a Qur'an

KFQ 34
Middle East

Single Folio from a Qur’an

KFQ 84
Middle East or North Africa

Zoom

Close

Khalili Collections Logo

Share this page