This Qur'an box is a replica of a 14th-century box made to protect a thirty-volume Qur'an. The prototype is believed to have been designed by master craftsman Muhammad ibn Sunqur who, in 1327, produced a pair of hexagonal tables for the Sultan, now on display at the Islamic Museum in Cairo and which has been reproduced by the artist (see Sultan Qalawoon Tables).

The box is constructed of wood covered with sheet brass panels, fastened to the lid and body by brass studs. The brass plate on the flat top of the box is incised and etched with a lobed central medallion joined to rectangular cartouches by rosette roundels. A band of inscription in Kufi style surrounds the panel, which reads:

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

The studs on the lower section of the lid are set at the center of rosette roundels, interrupting a band of floral cartouches.

The sides of the body are formed of a calligraphic panel etched with a Qur'anic inscription in Thuluth style, which reads:

Allah, there is no God but He. He is the Living, the Eternal. He does not slumber, nor does He sleep

BOX-51