An Analysis of Form and Content of Ilkhanid Turquoise Mihrab Tiles form Kashan: With Introducing Three Unknown Examples

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Islamic Art Department, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Kashan

2 Associate Professor, Religions and Philosophy, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Kashan

10.22059/jhss.2026.394536.473802
Abstract
A type of the Ilkhanid mihrabs was small moulded tiles, usually glaze in turquoise. Some of them were reproduced from a single mould, which shows that they were usually not custom-made but commercial and mass-produced mihrabs that found their way to mosques at a cheaper price than the lustre mihrabs. By examining the designs and content of the inscriptions, this article seeks to identify the artists and answer the questions of the time and place of their production and their intellectual content. In this paper 26 mihrabs of this type have been introduced, three of which are unknown so far and are being published for the first time. Among these mihrabs, ten dated examples were built between 1229 and 1339-40, and the rest can be dated to the thirteenth and the first half of the fourteenth century. Based on various indications, including the location of discovery of some of them, most of them can be placed in Kashan. The dimensions of the mihrabs are directly related to the content of the inscriptions, so that the smaller mihrabs contain sura Al-Ikhlas or a short Quranic verse, while the larger examples contain suras Al-Hamd and Al-Qadr. Surah Al-Ikhlas is the most common inscription used on these tiles due to its brevity and emphasis on the oneness of God. Shi‘ite tendencies can be seen in some mihrabs, including the name of Imam ‘Ali, the verse of Wilayat and the blessing to the fourteen infallibles.

Keywords



Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 October 2026