Panel of carved ivory, inlaid with wood

The panel was carved with a cursive inscription whose letters are found on several horizontal levels and overlap. The background of the panel is completely filled out with the letters and their large dots. The inscription reads, “Glory to our lord, the sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf Qaytbay, may his victory be glorified.”

Sultan Qaytbay (1468-1496) was a great patron of the arts who commissioned fountains, city gates, houses, mosques, and schools. Many of them were given inscriptions naming their founder, and this panel probably comes from a door, a window shutter, or a minbar in one of Qaytbay’s buildings.