Epitaph of an 'Amiri (Cordova 374 H /985 CE)

Abstract

An analysis of a marble tombstone in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, which was acquired in its entirety in Cordova (Spain) in 1916, has provided information on some of the slaves freed by the hajib Muhammad b. Abi 'Amir, better known as al-Mansur, and the activities and the lives they led in his court in the Umayyad capital of al-Andalus. A careful study of the marble slab’s internal and external characteristics yields the following conclusion: that this piece possibly served as a gravestone for a young male child that died in the year 374 H/985 CE, son of a relative or fictitious member of the family of al-Mansur, whose genealogy is reflected in the deceased child’s nasab, which reads “son of Muhammad al-'Amiri.” To arrive at this conclusion, it was necessary to gather as much information as possible regarding all the persons in al-Andalus using the nisbah al-'Amiri, culling data from chronicles, biographies, and artistic and literary sources. This analysis revealed two lineages: Some uses of the name seemed to be associated with ancient Arab tribes from the North (Qahtanids) and the South ('Adnanids), but most seem to be linked to the wala’ system of patronage, especially those slaves of the court of al-Mansur at the end of the 10th century under the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordova. This relationship with al-Mansur is further attested by the presence of the nisbah al-'Amiri in surviving epigraphic texts carved in architectural elements made of marble in Cordovan palaces and ivory pieces produced during the Caliphate. In these pieces, which are now key works in the history of Islamic art in Spain, the nisbah al-'Amiri is linked to slave chiefs (mawla) who supervised and coordinated the production of artistic objects on behalf of the Caliph.