Engraved Property: The Titles and Names of Rasulid Women on Ayyubid and Mamluk Metalwork

Inscriptions containing women’s titles and names on objects are relatively rare occurrences throughout the Islamic world, whether they belong to known personalities or to unknown individuals. This article examines graffiti in the names of women from the Rasulid dynasty in Yemen (626–858/1229–1454), incised on silver-inlaid brass objects mostly made in Mamluk workshops (seventh–eighth/thirteenth–fourteenth centuries) as commissions, gifts, or purchases for the Rasulid sultans of Yemen, which have hitherto been unidentified. Moreover, the titles of these princesses also are found on Ayyubid metal objects. Although of little aesthetic value, these inscriptions hold great historical and social significance by providing details on inheritance, lineage, ownership, and the object’s history.

Sadek, Noha. (2023). Engraved Property: The Titles and Names of Rasulid Women on Ayyubid and Mamluk Metalwork. Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World, Volume 4 (Issue 1), 97-117. https://doi.org/10.1163/26666286-12340041

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