Salmiya

Timuri prayer rug Dokhtar-i Ghazi design Afghanistan, 150 cm x 98 cm, old (second half of 20th century) Warp: W, Z2S, ivory, light brown Weft: W, S, ivory Pile: W, Z Knots: as1 Density: 17 x 11, ca. 187 kpsi (2900 per sq dm) Height of pile: 2 mm Handle: like velvet, grainy Upper end: - Lower end: - Sides: 0.5 cm wide, W, selvages black Colors: 5, black, dark-purple, dark blue, brown-red, ivory (beige) Classic Dokhtar-i Ghazi (the Qadi’s daughter) design. With considerable density of knots. The origin is sometimes identified as Timuri, an Afghan/Central Asian tribe which, according to George O’Bannon, does no longer exist in Afghanistan. See also a less interesting rug in R. D. Parsons’ Carpets of Afghanistan, plate 98. Good examples may be found on Thomas Cole’s page: http://www.tcoletribalrugs.com/article45YaqubKhani.html , http://www.tcoletribalrugs.com/article30PitOcts.html

As Oleg Grabar has stressed many times in his book about Esfahan’s Masjed-e Jomeh , the mosque itself is perfectly embedded in the fabric of the Old City. There are no well-defined boundaries of the huge, 170 by 140 meters, complex. The main entrance is rather hidden at the eastern side of the building. Only helicopters and birds (or angels) may get an immediate impression of the huge dimensions of the mosques. I asked the officer near the ticket seller whether I was allowed to climb to the roofs. He declined, of course. It was very early in the morning, the sun had just risen and the glazed tiles on the mosque’s façades were glowing like gold. It reminded me of the spectacular photos taken by Henri Stierlin . Pigeons were sitting on the South Dome and warming up in the sun. When entering the courtyard, the two domes of the mosque are not visible at first sight. In particular, the northern dome is not visible at all from here, one of the main reasons for having neglected this masterp...