P.Cair.EgLib. 513: A Certificate for a Ziyāra to the Prophet’s Tomb in Medina (16th century)

Abstract

This article presents a hitherto unpublished document preserved at Dār al‑Kutub al‑Miṣriyya (Cairo) under inventory number P.Cair.EgLib.inv. 513. The document extols the holy city of Medina and contains a diagrammatic representation of the Prophet’s mosque (al‑masǧid al‑nabawī) comparable to other illustrated scrolls dated to the sixteenth century. The material, textual and iconographic characteristics of this document raise the possibility that it could be the draft of a ziyāra certificate attesting to a pious visit to the tomb of Muḥammad in Medina.