An important Fatimid carved marble cenotaph, Egypt or Tunisia, dated 402 AH/ 1011 AD

of typical form, with step base and polygonal upper section, decorated along the sides with long friezes of carved foliated Kufic script, the ends with stylised palmettes 

In good overall condition, as viewed
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inscriptions

The basmala, the tasliya; Qur'an chapters CXII (al-Ikhlas); IX (al-Tawba), verses 128 & 129 and II (al-Baqara), verse 255, followed by:

'This is the tomb of al-Qamar daughter of al-A'la who died on Monday 2 days passed of Safar 402', followed by the shahada. The date mentioned  would be 3 Safar and it falls on a Wednesday (5 September 1011 AD).

This cenotaph is one of the earliest examples amongst a small group of Fatimid tombstones that have appeared at auction over the years. Only two other examples predate the present lot. The first one, showing the same prismatic shape as the present lot and carrying the date of Jumada al-'Awal 388 AH/May 998 AD, was sold at Christie's London, 26 April 2005, lot 16, and was attributed to Fatimid Tunisia. The second tombstone, attributed more generally to North Africa, in the shape of a pillar was dated Shawwal 397 AH/ 29 July 1007 AD, and was sold at Sotheby's, London, 30 April 1992, lot 14.

A calligraphic Kufic panel set at the top of a wooden door made for the mosque of al-Azhar in Cairo and dated 1010 AD (Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, see Festival of Islam, London 1976, no.313), shares with the Kufic carved on the present lot a similar approach which favours the decorative potential of the calligraphic element, rendered on a small scale, over the restrained simple monumentality of each letter.

It has been suggested that the prismatic form is typical of tombstones from Tunisia and an attribution to North Africa, and more particularly Tunisia, has also been proposed for the so-called pillar tombstones (for a further example dated 426 AH/ 1036 AD, see Zbiss, M., Inscriptions de Monastir: Corpus des Inscriptions arabes de Tunisie, vol.2, Tunis, 1960, no.10). The latter, rare in Egypt, have often been found in this region ranging in date between the eleventh and the twelfth century.

Interestingly, the Kufic inscription on the present lot appears to share stylistic features with the inscription carved on the pillar tombstone dated 1007 AD previously sold in these rooms (see above). This appears particularly striking if one observes the foliated arrangement of the top end of the letters. Such stylistic consistency would certainly elicit a geographical attribution for both examples to the same region. Whether this should be identified with Tunisia or Egypt remains open to discussion.