Tile 15.
Syria {Damascus}
A rectangular stone paste border tile decorated in black under a turquoise glaze with quatrefoil cartouches, stylized lotus forms and split-palmette motifs.
16th century
4.5 x 7 in. {11.5 x 18 cm.}
Similar tiles decorate the two iwans of the Beit Janblat in Aleppo. Similarities between the tiles in the Beit Janblat and those on the Dome of the Rock suggest that they were the work of the same band of craftsmen, who emigrated from Syria after the completion of the their work in Jerusalem in the early 1560's. More blue-and-turquoise tiles are set on the wall of the tomb of Zakariah in the Great Mosque in Aleppo.
Condition: Intact.