The Leyre Casket (Arqueta de Leyre, Museo de Navarra inventory number 1360-B, also known as the Leire Casket, Pamplona Casket) is one of the jewels of Hispano-Arab Islamic art. It is a casket or reliquary made of elephant ivory which was made in 1004/5 in the Caliphate of Cordoba.
The casket takes the following form: [1] : 214
The casket is remarkable for its profusion of detail and the finesse of its execution. It is inscribed with sculptures depicting the Abrahamic God, as well as gazelles, eagles, lions, a unicorn and antelopes in a hunting scene. A kufic inscription runs around the top, naming five craftsmen and the object's recipient, ʿAbd al-Malik al-Muẓaffar (975-1008). [1] : 214–15
In the description of Henry Luttikhuizen,
This precious container is covered with elaborate ornament and includes twenty-one courtly scenes in octagonal lobed medallions. The enthroned caliph is pictured between attendants offering him perfumes and musical entertainment. Feast celebrations, lion and elephant hunts are also represented. These scenes as well as the profusion of vegetal and floral motifs reinforce connotations of a princely paradise. [2]
The most prominent inscription on the casket is an Arabic text in foliated Kufic script with bevelled staves running around the edge of the lid. This reads
In the name of God, God be blessed, prosperity, happiness and attainment of expectations from pious works, and respite from the appointed time of death to the hājib Sayf al-Dawla, ‘Abd al-Malik, son of al-Mansūr, may God grant him success. [This is part of it] from that which was ordered to be made under the supervision of the chief page Zuhayr ibn Muhammad al-ʿAmirī, his servant in the year three hundred and ninety-five. [3]
There are a number of much smaller incised inscriptions, giving the names of the craftsmen who made the casket; their names have been interpreted as likely to have been names given to slaves: [3] [4] : 234
The casket is the largest example of twenty-nine ivories known to have been manufactured for Muslim patrons between c. 950 and 1050 in the Iberian peninsula, and artistically one of the most impressive. [5] : 375 [4] : 234 The casket was carved during the Caliphate of Cordoba in the Caliphal workshop of either Madinat al-Zahra, the palace-city built by Abd ar-Rahman III, or Madinat al-Zahira, the rival palace built by Almanzor. [6] The year of production is given as 395 AH (1004/1005 CE). [1] : 214–15 The casket was produced for ʿAbd al-Malik al-Muẓaffar, political and military leader of the caliphate from 1002 to 1008, during the reign of Hisham II. ʿAbd al-Malik is best known for being the son of Almanzor, vizier of Hisham II, but also military leader and strong politician of the caliphate.
At some point, as Christian kingdoms raided or conquered al-Andalus, the casket came into Christian hands and was donated to the Monastery of Leyre (from which it takes its name). There is evidence for booty from such warring arriving in the monstery's possession during the eleventh century, and the casket too is likely to have come north as war-booty. [1] : 216 At Leyre the casket was repurposed as a reliquary to hold the remains of Saints Nunilo and Alodia, believed to have been executed as apostates during persecutions of Christians by ʿAbd al-Raḥman II, emir of Cordoba, on the mid-ninth century. [1] : 215 Inside the casket, a silk textile fragment was discovered, showing 'a repeating pattern of large-bodied peacocks'; it is thought that this once wrapped the saints' bones. [7] : 47
The casket was later held by the Church of Santa María la Real in Sangüesa and the Treasury of the Cathedral of Pamplona.[ citation needed ] It was then transferred to the Navarre Museum in Pamplona, where it is on display today. [1] : 215
Abd al-Rahman I ibnMu’awiya was the founder of the Umayyad Arab dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries. Abd al-Rahman was a member of the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus, and his establishment of a government in Iberia represented a break with the Abbasids, who had overthrown the Umayyads in Damascus in 750.
ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil or ʿAbd al-Rahmān III, was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 929, at which point he founded the Caliphate of Córdoba, serving as its first caliph until his death. Abd al-Rahman won the laqab (sobriquet) al-Nasir li-Dīn Allāh in his early 20s when he supported the Maghrawa Berbers in North Africa against Fatimid expansion and later claimed the title of Caliph for himself. His half-century reign was known for its religious tolerance.
The Almohad Caliphate was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa.
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Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri, nicknamed al-Manṣūr, which is often Latinized as Almanzor, was a Muslim Arab Andalusi military leader and statesman. As the chancellor of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba and hajib (chamberlain) for the weak Caliph Hisham II, Almanzor was the de facto ruler of Islamic Iberia.
Al-Hakam II, also known as Abū al-ʿĀṣ al-Mustanṣir bi-Llāh al-Hakam b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, was the Caliph of Córdoba. He was the second Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba in Al-Andalus, and son of Abd-al-Rahman III and Murjan. He ruled from 961 to 976.
Hisham II or Abu'l-Walid Hisham II al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah was the third Umayyad Caliph of Spain, in Al-Andalus from 976 to 1009, and 1010–13.
The Umayyadconquest of Hispania, also known as the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania from 711 to 718. The conquest resulted in the decline of the Visigothic Kingdom and the establishment of the Umayyad Wilayah of Al-Andalus.
The Emirate of Córdoba was a medieval Islamic kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. Its founding in the mid-eighth century would mark the beginning of seven hundred years of Muslim rule in what is now Spain and Portugal.
Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, nicknamed Sanchol, was the ʿĀmirid hajib of the Caliphate of Córdoba under Caliph Hisham II from October 1008, at a time when actual power in the caliphate was vested in the hajib. The Caliph nominated him as heir a month later, but he was deposed by a coup the following February. He was killed some weeks later during a vain attempt to regain power. Though an unpopular and highly flawed leader, his deposition led to the disintegration of the caliphate.
Saints Nunilo and Alodia were a pair of child martyrs from Huesca. Born of a mixed marriage, they eschewed the Islam of their father in favour of their mother's Christianity. They were executed by the Muslim authorities of Huesca in accordance with sharia law as apostates. Their feast day is 22 October.
The Battle of Cervera took place near Espinosa de Cervera on 29 July 1000 between the Christian troops of counts Sancho García of Castile and García Gómez of Saldaña and the Muslim Caliphate of Córdoba under the hajib Almanzor. The battle, "tremendous and difficult to describe", was a victory for Almanzor. The battle is listed as the fifty-second of Almanzor's career in the Dikr bilad al-Andalus.
The Battle of Torrevicente was fought on Saturday, 9 July 981 between a force loyal to the Caliphate of Córdoba under the command of Ibn Abi ‘Amir and a rebel force under Galib ibn Abd al-Rahman and his Christian allies, King Ramiro Garcés of Viguera and Count García Fernández of Castile. It was Galib's intention to continue the policy of previous caliphs, Abd ar-Rahman III and al-Hakam II, which was to maintain supremacy over the Christian principalities in peace. Ibn Abi ‘Amir was pursuing a new policy of jihad, signalled by his seven aggressive actions against the Christians in the previous three years. Both Ramiro and Galib died during the battle and Ibn Abi ‘Amir was victorious. It was the twelfth of Ibn Abi ‘Amir's military campaigns, and was called in Muslim sources the "Campaign of the Victory".
Menendo González was a semi-autonomous Duke of Galicia and Count of Portugal (997–1008), a dominant figure in the Kingdom of León. He was the royal alférez, the king's armour-bearer and commander of the royal armies, under Vermudo II, and he continued to hold the position until his death. He became the tutor (1003) and ultimately father-in-law of Vermudo's successor, King Alfonso V. He maintained peaceful diplomatic relations with the Caliphate of Córdoba until 1004, after which there was a state of war.
The Caliphate of Córdoba, also known as the Cordoban Caliphate was an Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 929 to 1031. Its territory comprised Iberia and parts of North Africa, with its capital in Córdoba. It succeeded the Emirate of Córdoba upon the self-proclamation of Umayyad emir Abd ar-Rahman III as caliph in January 929. The period was characterized by an expansion of trade and culture, and saw the construction of masterpieces of al-Andalus architecture.
The pyxis made in 968 CE/357AH for Prince al-Mughira is a portable ivory carved container that dates from Medieval Islam's Spanish Umayyad period. It is in the collection of the Louvre in Paris. The container was made in one of the Madinat al-Zahra workshops, near modern-day Cordoba, Spain and is thought to have been a coming-of-age present for the son of caliph 'Abd al-Rahman III. Historical sources say that the prince referred to as al-Mughira was Abu al-Mutarrif al-Mughira, the last born son of the caliph ‘Abd al-Rahman III, born to a concubine named Mushtaq. We are certain this pyxis belongs to al-Mughira because of the inscription around the base of the lid which reads: “Blessing from God, goodwill, happiness and prosperity to al-Mughīra, son of the Commander of the Faithful, may God's mercy [be upon him], made in the year 357"
The Pyxis of Zamora is an carved ivory casket (pyx) that dates from the Caliphate of Córdoba. It is now in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain in Madrid, Spain.
The Upper March was an administrative and military division in northeast Al-Andalus, roughly corresponding to the Ebro valley and adjacent Mediterranean coast, from the 8th century to the early 11th century. It was established as a frontier province, or march, of the Emirate, later Caliphate of Córdoba, facing the Christian lands of the Carolingian Empire's Marca Hispanica, the Asturo-Leonese marches of Castile and Alava, and the nascent autonomous Pyrenean principalities. In 1018, the decline of the central Cordoban state allowed the lords of the Upper March to establish in its place the Taifa of Zaragoza.
ʿUmar ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik was an Umayyad prince, commander in the Arab–Byzantine wars and the governor of Jund al-Urdunn during the reign of his father al-Walid I. He may have patronized the Umayyad desert palaces of Khirbat al-Minya in modern Israel and Qasr Kharana in modern Jordan.
