Browse Items (24 total)

This Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) was written and decorated in 1307 in Christian-ruled Toledo at a time when Jewish life in Spain was becoming increasingly difficult, culminating in the final expulsion of Jews as well as Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula…

The contents (Sanskrit text and Hindu iconography), materials (Islamic burnished paper and Indian textiles), and format (Islamic-style binding of this manuscript of the Hindu Bhagavad Gita) all illuminate the fecund encounter of Persian and South…

This Burmese book of Buddhist scriptures (Kamawa-sa) includes selections written in Pali from the Tipitaka (literally, "three baskets") of Therevada, the most ancient form of Buddhism. Costly and ornate Kamawa-sa were written on cloth or palm leaves…

"Glory to God" (subhan Allah) appears on the right-hand page as an ornate Arabic letter form upon a delicate floral background. The sweeping letter forms and particularly thin uprights show how the monumental thuluth script was adapted by Chinese…

Persian, Indian, and European forms converge in this stunning painting of Alexander the Great (Eskandar). Seated in a pose that resembles that of the Mughal ruler Humayun, Eskandar wears a helmet engraved with the image of a horse -- perhaps his…

This monumental map follows India's Ganges River and one of its sources, the Alakananda, from the point of view of a Hindu pilgrim travelling from one shrine to the next, following the path of the rivers from left to right. Beginning at Devprayag,…

Spiritual travel is experienced through sung prayer as well as through map image. This choir book or "antiphoner" includes chants for the Christian Holy Week of Easter. So heavy that it can only be moved by two people, this enormous book would have…

Used for protection against illness, difficult childbirth, and the evil eye, this Ethiopian amulet scroll (Amharic kitab, Arabic for "book") was created by an ordained minister (Amharic debtara) from pieces of parchment tailored to the height of the…

These delicate tapestry-woven textile armbands with inscriptions (Arabic tiraz) rendered in golden Kufic script lettering would have adorned the wearer's body in a luxurious echo of the regal blue and gold parchment Qur'ans produced during the…

The oblong pages of this palm-leaf style (pothi) book are covered with Sanskrit phrases (mantra) to treat illness, prevent disaster, and grant wellbeing. The five protective goddesses pictured here embody the five Buddhist mantra collections that…