Safavid water fountains in Isfahan

The Masjid-e Jame in Isfahan was not the only congregational mosque in Buyid Isfahan: the Jurjir mosque was constructed sometime shortly before 985CE for the vizier Ibn Abbad, a Mutazilite scholar who transformed the court of the ruler Abu Mansur Moayyed-al-Dawla into a transnational literary centre. Only a fragment of the façade of the latter …

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Ghalamkari

This week, an amazing old Negah video showing all the stages of Ghalam-kari (also called qalamkari or wood-block printing), including the preparation of the cloth [@ 2.50 minutes], the first rinse [3.00], the printing [3.40 and 6.30]; and the carving of the blocks [5.55]. The video says [1.00] that the craft started in the time …

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All the world was like a sea of blood

This week, I went to a fascinating seminar about the Shahnameh at Janet Rady Fine Art, focusing on different representations of the hero Rostam through the ages (click here for Fereydoun Ave’s very original take on this). I was reminded of my own recent posting here about Shahnameh recitations by the Bakhtiari, when Nick Jubber …

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Ancient earth forts

Shortly after I returned home from tracing Shah Abbas’ thousand kilometre walk from Isfahan to Mashhad, I found this extraordinary (1907) photo of the citadel in Lasjird (40km west of Semnan), converted as it had been into an elevated, fortified village. Lasjird was the only place specifically mentioned as having a fortress in an unpublished …

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Safavid infrastructure projects: water for Shiraz

As well as giving me the graffiti photos from Qasr-i Bahram, Mariam Emamy also showed me well over a hundred photos taken around the holy city of Qom in 1979. I was thrilled to recognise the photographer: the renowned Kamran Adle helped me walk the Bakhtiari migration. Sadly, the planned book about Qom has never …

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Graffiti from 1592 at Qasr-i Bahram

Mariam Emamy recently and kindly showed me three photos of graffiti at the gorgeous white-stone building of Qasr-i Bahram. Local experts say that Qasr-i Bahram – which has also been called Abbasabad and Siyahkuh (in all sorts of spellings over the years) – was constructed as a hunting lodge for Shah Abbas; and there is …

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More on jewels: Abbas and Jahangir

This week, you need to click the links to see the pictures, please.  Don’t miss out on the 1 metre high golden globe with over 51 thousand gemstones (at the bottom of the page)! I wrote previously about the diamond Shah Abbas recognised when it was returned by refugee Uzbek princes in 1601; and the …

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Diamonds which ‘shew like stars’

Shortly after the New Year celebrations for 1601, Iskandar Munshi describes how some refugee Uzbek princes reached Shah Abbas’ court in Isfahan.  Abbas welcomed them with a reception and “a cash grant of one thousand Iraqi toman in gold, to cover their living expenses”. The princes reciprocated, with “their modest gifts” including a valuable diamond …

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