Tiraz Fragment of Caliph Marwan II

This extraordinary silk tiraz fragment belongs to a group of fragments that make up the earliest datable Islamic textile. When placed together, the fragments’ inscription, which can be seen in the Brooklyn fragment along the upper register, reads: “The servant of God, Marwan, Commander of the Faithful. Of what was ordered [to be made by] al-R. [or al-Z] in the tiraz of Ifriqiya.” Although there were two rulers named Marwan during the reign of the Umayyads (661–750), the earliest Islamic dynasty, the textile is ascribed to Marwan II (r.744–50), since Marwan I ruled for only about a year and had no known associations with tiraz textiles.

The textile was woven in Ifriqiya, an ancient name for modern-day Tunisia. In 1997, a collaborative study of this group of textile fragments, now scattered around the world, was supported by the government of Tunisia and the Brooklyn Museum.