Syria Gallery

Peacock-shaped Hand Washing Device (recto); Text Page, Arabic Prose (verso), 1315

Peacock-shaped Hand Washing Device (recto); Text Page, Arabic Prose (verso), 1315. This leaf from a 1315 Syrian copy of Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari's The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices , written in 1206, depicts a peacock basin automaton for ritual hand washing. There are 15 surviving manuscript copies of al-Jazari's work, ranging from the early 13th to the late 19th century. An engineer from upper Mesopotamia, al-Jazari was in the service of King Nasri al-Din when he completed his masterwork, an anthology of automated devices including clocks, trick vessels for drinking sessions, devices for washing, fountains, water-raising machines, and measuring instruments. His designs clearly illustrate that automata were not innovations from Western Europe, but they stemmed from a tradition known in the ancient, Islamic, and Byzantine worlds. We do not know with certainty that al-Jazari's device was ever actually constructed

© Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Man who Pretends to be Asleep While the Thief Enters his House..., 18th century

The Man who Pretends to be Asleep While the Thief Enters his House Becomes Drowsy and Really Falls Asleep, Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna, 18th century

© /Heritage Images

18th Century, Arabia, Arabic, Arts, Burglar, Burglary, Century, Color, Colour, Concept, Country, Crime, Criminal, Egypt, Egyptian, Eighteenth Century, Fable, Fables, Guy, Heritage Art, Kalila Wa Dimna, Kalilag And Damnag, Kalilah Wa Dimnah, Law, Literature, Location, Male, Man, Manuscript, Men, Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Mizraim, Museum, Painting, Panchatantra, People, Pretence, Pretending, Prig, Syria, Syrian, The Fables Of Bidpai, The Met, The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Thief, Thieves, Unknown, Watercolour

Kalila and Dimna Discussing Dimnas Plans to Become a Confidante of the Lion

Kalila and Dimna Discussing Dimna's Plans to Become a Confidante of the Lion, Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna, 18th century

© /Heritage Images

18th Century, Animal, Animals, Arabia, Arabic, Arabic Text, Arts, Century, Color, Colour, Conversation, Conversing, Country, Egypt, Egyptian, Eighteenth Century, Fable, Fables, Heritage Art, Kalila Wa Dimna, Kalilag And Damnag, Kalilah Wa Dimnah, Literature, Location, Manuscript, Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Mizraim, Museum, Painting, Panchatantra, Script, Speaking, Syria, Syrian, Talking, The Fables Of Bidpai, The Met, The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Unknown, Watercolour, Writing