Portable mihrab from the Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya

[1] The Fatimid dynasty is associated with a period of great economic expansion, marked by lavish decorative arts and architecture within the Islamic world.

[3] Significant development in woodwork, among other arts, contributed to a growth in distinct and intricate wood carvings on doors, panels, mihrabs, caskets, and other structures.

[4] Typical design elements seen in Fatimid woodwork were derived from Byzantine and Coptic art such as vines, vegetal and floral patterns, repetitive panel arrangement, and figural representation of both humans and animals.

Arabesques intricately engraved at the center of each star and in the spaces between the bands of the geometric pattern, adding an additional layer of detail.

The lateral surfaces of the mihrab are decorated with panels carved with organic designs: vine arabesques, flowers, and vegetal stems rising from vases that form cornucopias.

[5] Both the central niche and the perimeter of the surrounding façade are framed with lines of Arabic inscriptions in a floriated Kufic script.

The inscription reads: "One of the things commissioned by the honorable, protected, and great personage, al-Amiriyya, whose service was undertaken by al-Qadi Abu al-Hasan Maknun and who is served now, by al-Amir al-Sadid 'Afif al-Dawla Abu al-Hasan Yumn al-Fa'izi al-Salihi, intended for the shrine of al-Sayyida Ruqayya, the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali.

[6] Scholar Doris Behrens-Abouseif, noting that the portable mihrab is also decorated on its back, speculates that it could have been transported and used outside for certain occasions.