¹ A figured weave in which a pattern, created by a supplementary warp and weft is added to a foundation weave. The Safavid lampases are distinguished by the satin foundation and pattern woven in twill.

² McWilliams, M. A., “Prisoner Imagery in Safavid Textiles,” The Textile Museum Journal, 26 (1987): 5–23.Google Scholar

³ Khil‘at (robe of honor) in the Moscow Armory Chamber, Inv. 25668.

⁴ At least eight fragments of this velvet are preserved in different collections. Most of them are scalloped medallions formerly being parts of a tent decoration: Washington Textile Museum, no. 3.123, 3.315, 3.309; Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 1948.205; Metropolitan Museum, no. 27.51.1; Gulbenkian Foundation, GML 1505; Benaki Museum; Keir Collection.

⁵ Detailed comparison of these and some other textile designs with drawings of Siyavush Beg Gurji see Lassikova, G. V., “Naqshband and Naqqāsh—Two Creators of One Design. Painters in the Safavid Weaving Workshops,” Scientific Bulletin of the State Museum of Oriental Art, XXVI (Moscow, 2006), 76–82Google Scholar [in Russian]. For Siyavush Beg, see Welch, Anthony, Artists for the Shah. Late Sixteenth-Century Painting at the Imperial Court of Iran (New Haven and London, 1976), 17–40.Google Scholar

⁶ See Ackerman, P., “Textiles of the Islamic Periods. History,” in Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present (London and New York, 1938–39), 3: 2069–2162Google Scholar; Thompson, Jon, “Early Safavid Carpets and Textiles,” in Hunt for Paradise. Court Arts of Safavid Iran 1501–1576, ed. by Thompson, Jon and Canby, Sheila R. (Milan, 2003), esp. 275–292.Google Scholar

⁷ Lassikova, “Naqshband and Naqqāsh,” 67–92.

⁸ See Ackerman, P. “A Biography of Ghiyath the Weaver,” Bulletin of the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology, 7 (December 1934): 9–12Google Scholar; Skelton, Robert, “Ghiyath al-Din ‘Ali-yi Naqshband and an Episode in the Life of Sadiqi Beg,” in Persian Painting from the Mongols to the Qajars. Studies in Honour of Basil W. Robinson, ed. by Hillenbrand, Robert (London, 2000), 249–263.Google Scholar This notes the specific connection between Ghiyath al-Din and the celebrated Safavid artist, Sadiqi Beg.

⁹ An image repeated in a particular order (i.e. rapport scheme) to form the pattern of the textile.

¹⁰ Then the pattern unit was squared off for a technical pattern, and the naqshband began the most complicated part of his work—the mathematical calculation to set a drawloom. The naqshband determined the color variations of the pattern, a scale of images and a rapport scheme using different types of symmetry and shifts.

¹¹ Martin, Friedrich R., Figurale Persische Stoffe aus dem Zeitraum 1550–1650 (Stockholm, 1899), 13.Google Scholar

¹² I. I. Vishnevskaja, “Historical and Artistic Significance of Iranian Textiles from the Moscow Armory Chamber” (Ph.D. diss., Moscow State University of Arts and Industries by S. G. Stroganov, 1987), 56, note 1 [in Russian].

¹³ Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart: Textile Arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran, 16th–19th Centuries, ed. by Bier, Carol (Washington DC, 1987), 199.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Boyce, M., “Iranian Festivals,” in Cambridge History of Iran. The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods (Cambridge, 1983), 3(2): 800–801Google Scholar; see further, Bertels, E. E., “The Feast of Jashn-i Sada in Persian and Tajik Poetry,” in History of Iranian Literature and Culture (Selected works) (Moscow 1988): 302–313Google Scholar [in Russian].

¹⁵ Firdausi, Shahnama, ed. E. E. Bertels et al. (Moscow, 1960), 1: 33–34.

¹⁶ See Bertels, A. E., Artistic Imagery in the Art of Iran of the IX–XV Centuries (Moscow 1997), 154–289 [in Russian].Google Scholar

¹⁷ See, for example, miniatures from Ibrahim Mirza's manuscript of the Haft Aurang of 1556–64, Freer Gallery, no. 46.12, fols. 52r, 64v, 231r. The only extant example of such a Safavid lampas of the third quarter of the sixteenth century is exhibited in the Qom Astaneh Museum, no. 1506. For an earlier example of a painting of this subject, see the Shahnama of Ibrahim Sultan, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, ms. Ouseley Add. 176, fol. 7r (c. 1425).

¹⁸ The most famous and explicit Sufi literary image of the Simurgh was created by ‘Attar in his Mantiq al-Tair. It is interesting to note, nonetheless, the dual nature of the Simurgh in the Shahnama, where in the seven labors of Isfandiyar the Simurgh is a negative force (fifth khwan).

¹⁹ Ziai, H., “The Illuminationist Tradition,” in History of Islamic Philosophy, ed. by Nasr, S. H. (London and New York, 2001), 1: 481.Google Scholar

²⁰ See below.

²¹ Shukurov, Sharif M., Art and Mystery (Moscow, 1999), 178 [in Russian].Google Scholar

²² Korogly, Hossein G., Shahsenem and Garyp, Kasym-oglan and other Turkmen Folk Stories (Moscow, 1991), 12 [in Russian].Google Scholar

²³ J. E. Berezkin “Thematic Classification and Allocation of Folk and Mythical Topics by Areas. Digital database,” http://www.ruthenia.ru/folklore/berezkin.

²⁴ Shaverdin, Mikhail I., ed., Uzbek Folk Tales (Tashkent, 1972), 2: 59–64 [in Russian].Google Scholar

²⁵ With reference to the Shahnama Project database, http://shahnama.caret.cam.ac.uk/

²⁶ Chester Beatty Library, Per 104, f. 6 v, from the “First Small Shahnama.”

²⁷ Gulistan Museum, Tehran, ms. 2245, p. 13. This is entered in the Shahnama database as “Hushang enthroned.”

²⁸ Ms. W. 602, f. 13v. Thanks to Will Noel for kindly making an image of this picture available at short notice [ed.].

²⁹ Christie's auction, sale no. 7571 (8 April 2008), lot 208, f. 5. This miniature is not mentioned in any of the existing indexes of Shahnama illustrations.

³⁰ Sh. M. Shukurov considers the sada ritual to be of special importance in the whole Shahnama epic. The poem was intended as the poetic realization of the ancient royal rite and the respective myth of the struggle between the king and dragon. This original episode became an archetype for all following events of the epic history. Every subsequent hero reconstructs the feat of Shah Hushang and triumphs over the reincarnated world evil. See Shukurov, Sharif M., Art of Medieval Iran: Formation of the Visual Principles (Moscow, 1989), 67–69Google Scholar [in Russian]. At the same time, being originally a Zoroastrian rite, jashn-i sada was reinterpreted by Muslims exclusively as a royal holiday. The semantic accent was moved from the worship of divine fire to the myth about the king's exploit. See Sh. Shukurov, M., Firdowsi Shahnama and the Early Illustrative Tradition (Moscow, 1983), 60 [in Russian].Google Scholar However it is believed that the tradition of sada was interrupted in Iran under the Mongols. The same research asserts that the sense of Hushang's exploit had been lost before the tradition of Shahnama illustration was formed in the early fourteenth century.

³¹ See also the famous trials of both Rustam and Isfandiyar confronting and killing a dragon (106 and 102 illustrations respectively).

³² See J. E. Berezkin “Thematic Classification.” The correspondence between mythical birds the Paskudji and the Simurgh is discussed in Trever, K. V., Senmurv-Paskudj. The Dog-bird (Leningrad, 1937) [in Russian].Google Scholar

³³ Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Sharafnama, Russian trans. E. I. Vasilieva (Moscow, 1976), 2: 160.

³⁴ Metropolitan Museum, New York, no. 1970.301.2.

³⁵ According to the colophon, copying the Shahnama in the Gulistan Museum was finished on 1 April 1523. However, the work on illustrations was presumably accomplished after the completion of the text. Considering the large number of miniatures (108) this work should not have been ended by the spring of 1524, when young Tahmasb I ascended the throne (although it is true that the earliest pictures in the manuscript might have been finished by then).

³⁶ Nazarli, Mais J., The Two Worlds of Middle Eastern Book Illuminations: The Problems of Pragmatical Interpretation of Safavi Painting (Moscow, 2006) [in Russian].Google Scholar

³⁷ Ibid., 67.

³⁸ For a detailed analysis of the ceremony of presenting luxurious garments termed khil‘at, see Gordon, S., “Ibn Battuta and a Region of Robing,” in Robes of Honour. Khil'at in Pre-Colonial and Colonial India (Oxford, 2003), 1–30.Google Scholar

³⁹ Bushev, Petr P., History of Embassies and Diplomatic Relations between Russian and Iranian States in 1586–1612 (from Russian archives) (Moscow, 1976), 36–47 [in Russian].Google Scholar See also briefly, Matthee, Rudi, “Suspicion, Fear, and Admiration: Pre-Nineteenth-Century Iranian Views of the English and the Russians,” in Iran and the Surrounding World. Interactions in Culture and Cultural Politics, ed. by Keddie, Nikkie R. and Matthee, Rudi (Seattle and London, 2002), 129–130.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Maltsev, Semen, “Campaign of Turks and Tatars against Astrakhan in 1569,” Historical Notes, 22 (Moscow, 1947), 157–58 [in Russian].Google Scholar

⁴¹ Ackerman, “Textiles of the Islamic Periods,” 2090–91. Ten fragments of this velvet are preserved in different collections. One of them is round detail from a tent roof—Boston Museum of Fine Arts, no. 28.13, others are scalloped medallions formerly parts of a tent decoration: Washington Textile Museum, no. 3.317, 3.310, 3.222, 3.214; Metropolitan Museum, New York, no. 1972.189; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, no. L. 2100.P.5.56-1, M.56.5; Worcester Art Museum; Yale University Art Gallery.

⁴² For the structural difference between Turkish and Iranian tents see Walker, D., “Safavid Hunting Carpets and Textiles,” in Furusiyya, ed. by Alexander, D. (Riyadh, 1996), 1: 196–203.Google Scholar

⁴³ See also M. Sonday, “Pattern and Weaves: Safavid Lampas and Velvet,” in Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, 57–83, fig. 4.

⁴⁴ Barry, Michael, Figurative Art in Medieval Islam and the Riddle of Behzad of Herat (1465–1535) (Paris, 2004), 280, 301.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Beg Rumlu, Hasan, Ahsan al-Tawarikh, ed. by ‘A. Nava'i (Tehran, 1357/1979), 137–138Google Scholar; trans. by Seddon, C. N., A Chronicle of the Early Safawis being the Ahsanu't Tawārīkh of Hasan-i Rumlu (Baroda, 1934), 2: 47.Google Scholar A more florid account of the same deed is given by a contemporary source, following an equally symbolic visit by Isma‘il to the ruins of Ctesiphon; see Amini Haravi, Ibrahim, Futuhat-i Amini, ed. by Nasiri, Muhammad-Riza (Tehran, 1383/2004), 306–308.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ The British library, Or. 3248, f. 145. See also Sims, Eleanor, “A Dispersed Late Safavid Copy of the Tārīkh-i Jahāngushā-yi Khāqān Sāhibqirān,” in Safavid Art and Architecture, ed. by Canby, Sheila R. (London, 2002)Google Scholar, fig. 10.3 (color pl. IV).

⁴⁷ Vienna, Museum of Applied Arts, no. 8336/1922. See Survey of Persian Art, pl. 1191, 1192.

⁴⁸ Walker, “Safavid Hunting Carpets and Textiles.”

⁴⁹ Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, no. 66.293; see Thompson, “Early Safavid Carpets,” 286, fig. 12.12.

⁵⁰ Gulbenkian Foundation, T. 100; see Thompson, “Early Safavid Carpets,” 292 and fig. 12.17.

⁵¹ In the Inventory of the Russian tsar's treasury there is a detailed description of such a tent (but of a later time) decorated in the interior with brocaded velvets with woven figural designs. In 1627 Shah ‘Abbas I sent it to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. See Savvaitinov, P. I., “Description of Ancient Tsars’ Utensils, Robes, Arms, Armors, Horse Harnesses and Saddles Extracted from Manuscripts of the Archive of the Moscow Armory Chamber; with Explanatory Index,” Notes of the Imperial Archeological Society, 11 (St Petersburg, 1865), 335–336 [in Russian].Google Scholar

⁵² Ibid.

⁵³ See the remarks in Matthee, Rudi, “Unwalled Cities and Restless Nomads: Firearms and Artillery in Safavid Iran,” in Safavid Persia. The History and Politics of an Islamic Society, ed. by Melville, Charles, Pembroke Persian Papers, 4 (1996), esp. 391–393.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ See Mahmudov, Yakub M., Relations of Aq Qoyunlu and Safavid States with Countries of Western Europe (Second Half of the Fifteenth–Beginning of the Seventeenth Century) (Baku, 1991), 149 [in Russian]Google Scholar; Bushev, History of Embassies, 36.

⁵⁵ Chronicle of the Carmelites in Persia and the Papal Mission of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (London, 1939), 1: 29.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Russian National Library, Dorn 434, f. 1v. See Walker, “Safavid Hunting Carpets.”

⁵⁷ “Further observations concerning the state of Persia, taken in the foresaid fifth voyage into those partes, and written by Master Jaffrey Ducket, one of the Agents employed in the same,” Early Voyages and Travels to Russia and Persia by Anthony Jenkinson and other Englishmen (London, 1886), 2: 434–435.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ d'Alessandri, Vincentio, “Narrative of the Most Noble Vincento d'Alessandri,” in A Narrative of Italian Travels in Persia (New York, 1873), 227.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ Taranowski, Andrey, “Krótkie wypisanie drogi z Polski do Konstantynopola, a z tamtąd zas do Astrachania zamku moskiewskiego,” in Podroze i poselstwa polskie do Turcji, ed. by Krаszewski, I. (Krakow, 1860), 62–63 [in Polish].Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Karamzin, Nikolay M., History of Russian State, III (St Petersburg, 1845), 9: 52, note 256 [in Russian].Google Scholar

⁶¹ Charrière, E., Négociations de la France dans le Levant (Paris, 1853), 3: 58.Google Scholar

⁶² Rumlu, , trans. Seddon, A Chronicle of the Early Safawis, 2: 206.Google Scholar

⁶³ Ross, Edward D., Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure (London, 1933)Google Scholar; Canby, Sheila R., Shah ‘Abbas: the Remaking of Iran (London, 2009), 58.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Canby, Shah ‘Abbas, 56–57, cat. 15–16 (Trustees of Berkeley Will Trust); see also p. 59, cat. 18.