Walters Ms. W.603, Book of kings (Shahnama) Shāhnāmah شاهنامه Firdawsī Abū al-Qāsim Ḥasan ibn Isḥāq Firdawsī Ṭūsī ابو القاسم حسن بن اسحاق فردوسى طوسى Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 411 or 416 AH / 1020-5 CE Principal cataloger Gacek, Adam Cataloger Landau, Amy Cataloger Smith, Sita Copy editor Bockrath, Diane Contributor Barrera, Christina Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Herbert, Lynley Contributor Noel, William Contributor Simpson, Shreve Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Toth, Michael B. Contributor Valle, Chiara Conservator Jewell, Stephanie Conservator Quandt, Abigail The Walters Art Museum

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 This is an illuminated and illustrated incomplete copy of the Shāhnāmah (Book of kings) by Abū al-Qāsim Firdawsī (d. 411 or 416 AH / 1020-5 CE), dating between the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE and the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. The text, written in black nastaʿlīq script with chapter/section headings in red on a gold ground, is illustrated with seventeen paintings. Two of the illustrations (fols. 2b and 269a) are in a clearly recognizable Qajar style and certainly date to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. The others may be late Safavid, repainted in the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.603 The primary language in this manuscript is Persian. 2b - 269a Shāhnāmah شاهنامه Text incomplete at beginning and end

Laid paper

 Foliation: 27234.0 19.5 25.5 13.0

Written on versos, usually quoting a hemistich

Framing lines in red, green, blue, black, and gold Written in black nastaʿlīq script with chapter/section headings in red on a gold ground Seventeen illustrations; chapter/section headings in illuminated panels; framing lines in red, green, blue, black, and gold Binding Binding This black lacquer binding with central oval and pendants is decorated with gold flowers and dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth century CE. Doublure Doublure This painted doublure dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth century CE. Sulṭān Maḥmūd of Ghaznī; Iyāz (enslaved to him); and the poets Firdawsī, ʿUnṣurī, and ʿAsjadī Illustration Isfandiyār decapitates Bidarāfsh Illustration Isfandiyār ties the hands of Gurgsār and takes him prisoner Illustration Zavārah kills Isfandiyār’s son Nūsh-Azar Illustration Rustam kills his brother Shaghād before dying in the pit Illustration The hanging of Farāmarz on the order of Bahman Illustration Alexander the Great fight the Abyssinians Illustration Ardashīr kills disobedient warriors Illustration Shāpūr captures the king of Rūm Illustration Bahrām Gūr hunting Illustration Bahrām Gūr wrestles with two Indian champions in the presence of Shangul, king of India Illustration Bahrām Chūbīnah defeats Khusraw Parvīz in combat Illustration Khusraw Parvīz battles Bahrām Chūbīnah Illustration Gurdiyah, sister of Bahrām Chūbīnah, kills her husband Gastahm Illustration Mihr Hurmuzd kills Khusraw Parvīz Illustration Saʿd-i Vaqqāṣ kills Rustam-i Hurmuzd Illustration The tomb of Firdawsī in a landscape Illustration

Dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; lacquer boards (no flap); floral design in the central ovals and pendants; doublures decorated with a plant with yellow flowers (perhaps daffodils)

 11th century AH / 17th CE -- 13th century AH / 19th CE Iran Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest Relevant Works Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 1. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 112-159. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Biography Judaism Talmud Collection of Sermons Notable Notable binding Textbook Scholarly compendium Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Literature Japanese Japan Nordic Scandinavia Catalog Dictionary Spanish Colonial Mexico Mayan Haggadah Switzerland Confessional Mirror Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English Codex Manuscript Persian Walters Art Museum Illustration Illumination Iran Islamic Book History Literature -- Poetry Qajar Safavid