Fritware tombstone, cast in two pieces and covered with an opaque, turquoise glaze

From about the 13th century, it became common to use especially turquoise, glazed tiles as memorial plaques or tombstones proper. This tombstone probably comes from a mausoleum, where it was embedded in a wall. It is incomplete, as the lowest third is missing. The text in the central panel does say, however, that it was raised to the physician Abu Ali Muhammad, “his age’s most knowledgeable about science and good behavior … the crown of religion, the light of Islam and the Muslims.”

The central section is shaped like a mihrab (prayer niche) with a mosque lamp. Quotations from the “throne verse” in the Koran’s sura 2 are inscribed around the edges.