Decorative embellishment is found on many garments from times and places pertinent to the SCA. Wealth and social status frequently determined the amount of ornamentation on one’s garments, as dictated by social convention or even sumptuary law. Within these parameters, woven textiles and embroidery were the most common vehicle for decorating garments, using a variety of motifs. As we explore such embellishment, however, we find one form of decoration that is distinctly Islamic is the use of textiles bearing beautifully worked Arabic script, known as tiraz.

The term tiraz generally refers to the decorative woven or embroidered script used on both men’s and women’s garments in the Islamic World, from Spain and North Africa, through Turkey and the Middle East, and into Persia, during the 8^th through 15^th centuries AD. These usually consisted of portions of religious text, tributes to rulers or patrons, poetry, mottoes, or blessings. It sometimes consisted of, or included other decorative elements such as Arabesque work, pseudo-script, geometric patterns, and depiction of plants or animals. Other

1. 15^th century embroidered band Silk with octagons. Cairo Museum of Islamic Art. Atil, p. 240.

textiles bearing script include floor coverings and prayer rugs, wall hangings, flags and standards, and burial shrouds. Tiraz also referred to the workshops, usually governed by royal decree and supported by patronage, where these textiles were produced.

In formal Arabic, the word tiraz means “embellishment,” and is derived from the Persian word tarazidan, meaning “to embroider or embellish.” In addition to weaving and embroidery, some tiraz textiles were painted or block printed, Initially, tiraz tended to be geometric patterns repeated along bands, such as rows of roundels; by the 8^th and 9^th centuries, tiraz workshops were found across the Islamic world, and were producing fabrics bearing the elaborate bands of script most commonly associated with tiraz.

Perhaps because of the social status and implication of royal association imparted by wearing tiraz received as patronage, or perhaps in spite of it. Tiraz made a strong impact on fashion during the times it was produced. Variations on the theme of tiraz reached far and wide. In the 13^th century, strict regulation of this kind of ornament on non-court garments by Mongol rulers probably led to alternate placement of such decoration in the eastern reaches of the Islamic world, as seen in some Persian illuminations from the 14^th century. Furthermore, borders of ornate script -- including Arabic and later Latinate script and pseudo-scripts -- became popular in European fashions through Sicily in the 12^th and 13^th centuries, as Islamic textiles were imported and copied by Italian weavers.

2. 13^th century Ottoman illumination showing the typical placement of tiraz on the upper sleeve and turban, including the manufacturer’s mark, arranged at the front of the head. Tsehanz, p. 22.

On Islamic garments, embellishment was typically placed on borders, along hems and sleeve edges, across the upper arm of the sleeve, and on the fabric used for sashes, turbans and veils, especially across the ends and on “manufacturer’s marks,” comparable to the brand name labels of today. A number of illuminated manuscripts, such as the Maqamat of Al-Hariri, provide examples of the placement of tiraz, and surviving pieces such as the “Veil of St. Anne” which support the positioning of tiraz shown in the illustrations. Early on, it was customary to avoid placing decorative lettering anywhere it might be sat upon or stepped on, lest one inadvertently tread on the Word or Name of God. Later, it was used on many kinds of textiles, including rugs and reed mats.

Although some lettering was nonsensical pseudo-script, most tiraz bore genuine script; this was sometimes legible, and sometimes so heavily ornamented that it was impossible to read. Two popular forms of Islamic calligraphy are frequently used on tiraz pieces: Kufic, an angular, dense style of lettering, and Thuluth, a more flowing, curvilinear style with very tall vertical letters. These beautiful scripts were commonly used for illuminated religious texts and as embellishment for “secular” and Mosque architecture. Many ornamental forms of the two scripts evolved.

Arabic is the most common language used for tiraz. Sunni religious text was always written in the Arabic language. Inscriptions not specifically religious in nature -- tributes, poetry, or blessings such as “permanent well being”, for example -- were sometimes written in Arabic, Turkish, or Persian (Farsi), all of which were historically written using similar Semitic script.

3. 10^th century hand painted textile (Yemen) Ink and gold leaf on cotton ikat, Kufic script Schimmel, p. 14.

Religious and secular inscriptions were most common, although erotic inscriptions were occasionally used as well. Religious text included prayers, verses of the Koran or religious poetry, one of the many names of God, and religious blessings. Often the same phrase, such as “bismillah al rahman al raheem” (In the name of God the Merciful and Compassionate), or the shahada, the Muslim profession of faith, was repeated over and over in a border or in rows. These kinds of tiraz were often displayed on armor and garments, both outer and under, to protect the wearer. Other inscriptions, many of which were not specifically religious in nature, praised a benefactor, such as a patron or ruler. Some of these textiles bore contracted textual forms of “standard” wording of the tribute or acknowledgment, instead of the whole phrase. Frequently these pieces were a gift from that person. Excerpts from love poetry were sometimes embroidered on ornate undergarments made for weddings, or inscribed on perfume bottles, mirror backs, and other item de toilette.

4. Possibly Umayyad, embroidered textile fragment. Wool floss on linen, floral motifs. Thomas, p. 47.

Other non-script decorative elements included floral patterns, Arabesque work, geometric patterns, and animals. Arabesque work is a highly stylized interwoven floral motif, which may have originally represented palm leaves. Animals commonly found on tiraz include birds; considered to be traditional messengers to the Heavens; rabbits, which represent virility and fertility; and fish, representative of great wealth and prosperity. Simple and ornate geometric patterns were also common, as they excluded images of living things, which has at times been proscribed by Muslim religious authorities. At other times, human or zoomorphic images were allowed if they were incomplete, i.e. portrayed without heads.

Typical materials were wool, fine goat hair, cotton, silk, and linen, and cording, thread, or sinew to which gold or other metals were sometimes applied, as well as qalamun, a rare and unusual iridescent fabric surmised to have come from a fiber harvested from a Mediterranean mollusk. Cotton was far less expensive in Middle East than in Europe, since it was indigenous to the region, and was thus frequently used as a stable warp or background medium, to which more precious materials, such as silk or gold thread, were applied as the weft woven pattern or as embroidery. Because these textiles were innately valuable, pieces brought to Europe following the Crusades were highly prized, and many -- some bearing Koranic verses -- were used in the construction of Christian vestments and other religious artifacts, such as reliquaries, as lining or support materials for relics.

Tiraz workshops depended heavily on the support of the rulers who founded them, as imported silk and other expensive materials had to be apportioned by royal decree. Because gold used in the production of tiraz came from royal treasuries, great

5. Early 14^th century block printed textile. Linen with Kuflc script and zoomorphic Arabesque. Cairo Museum of Islamic Art. Atil, p. 237.

prestige was accorded the official appointed to oversee manufacture of these textiles; frequently, the supervising official’s name was included in the finished pieces.

Woven tiraz were produced in multiple ways, ranging from simple backstrap looms and small looms, such as the inkle type loom, to large multiple heddle looms and horizontal pit looms similar to those still used by nomadic peoples today. It is virtually impossible to tell the difference between “home made” pieces and those produced “commercially,” unless the piece bears a maker's mark. At the height of production, entire

6. 11^th or 12^th century woven tomb cover (Persia). Silk, Kufic and Arabesque. Ferber, item I 6b.

cities like Damietta and Tinnis in Egypt were dedicated to textile production, with thousands of looms and the weavers to staff them. The weaving patterns used are too numerous to list here, but included tapestry and brocade weaves, satin, twill, tabby or plainweave, and tablet woven patterns. Tiraz bands could be woven onto a piece of fabric as it was made, or made separately, either as a self-contained finished band (as in tablet weaving) or as part of a larger textile (woven in rows which were then cut apart into the bands that would be added to a garment). There is evidence that some decorated garments were woven as a single piece, with no seams, or as in the case of simple garments like the aba, an outer garment, with few seams needed to complete the garment once it comes off the loom. Details on some of these items have been lost, as the techniques used to produce them fell into disuse, and disappeared. Furthermore, experts have been unable to identify the method of manufacture on some surviving tiraz textiles, because certain embroidery techniques, such as pattern darning where the embroidery thread is stitched between the warp threads along the weft of plain woven fabric to produce a brocade-type pattern, made the embroidered work virtually indistinguishable from woven patterns.

Embroidered examples of tiraz pose a particular problem for historians, as the names of embroidery stitches are not consistent over time or geographical distance. Furthermore, the condition of many surviving pieces is that the type of embroidery is not always apparent, and on some extremely well made pieces, the embroidery was carefully worked into the fabric, making it difficult to ascertain exactly which stitches were used. From extant samples we can ascertain that many embroidery techniques used on 19^th and 20^th century folk garments made in the “traditional” manner are the same as those used on “period” tiraz, although not all traditional embroidery techniques common to modern garments are found

8. Late 14^th century woven textile fragment (Grenada). Silk with Thuluth script and foliate motifs. Victoria and Albert Museum. Safadi, figure 81.

on textiles from within the SCA period of study. 12^th century geometric patterns closely resemble bands of cross stitch typical to traditional garments of nomads (such as Bedouin) and village peoples in the Levant, along the Mediterranean, in Egypt, and in Syria. Similarly, chain stitch, blanket stitch, tent stitch, satin stitch, herringbone stitch, back stitch, couching, appliqué, and variations on the running stitch worked in geometric and stylized floral patterns found on fragments of early textiles are very similar to the decorative techniques used on many traditional Palestinian ceremonial garments, such as the Bethlehem wedding dress.

Colors found in early woven tiraz included red, black, and blue, and many other colors were used as time went on. Inked tiraz were sometimes outlined with gold; on an example of a Yemeni textile, the lettering and design was inked onto cotton fabric, and then gold leaf was applied over the body of the lettering. Embroidered tiraz made use of many colors, including red, yellow, green, blue, black, and orange. The application of colors in the production of textiles is rather complicated, as religious conventions, social customs, and court regulations on the use of color varied widely during the SCA period of study.

Examples of tiraz may be found in books on Islamic Calligraphy and Islamic Textiles, as well as in museum catalogs, such as the textile collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. Unfortunately, time or poor conservation techniques have damaged many samples. Few intact examples of tiraz bearing metal thread survive, due to the corrosive effects of oxidation on the supporting fabric; even metal threads made with gold, which does not oxidize, are fairly rare, since gold is a very soft and fragile metal, and was probably salvaged from damaged items for re-use. Furthermore, in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, collectors commonly cut decorative embellishment off of garments, or trimmed “excess” fabric away from textile samples, so that the exact placement of the tiraz upon the textile can not be known. The pieces that have survived are therefore very precious.

Alfshukre (1000 thanks) to

Master Tank and Lady Khadijah

for their assistance

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