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Marabout Tablet

Before 1830
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Muslim traders and clerics were the custodians of literacy in Arabic. In its emphasis on apprenticeship and memorization of fixed texts, clerical pedagogy resembled the training of oral historians or griots. A special group of scholars, known as ulama, studied and imparted their understanding of Allah’s original revelation to Muhammad in the holy book of the Qur’an and the prophetic tradition of the hadith. The text on this clerical board features verses of poetry by Imru’l Qays and d’al-Nabigha al-Jaadi.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Marabout Tablet
  • Date: Before 1830
  • Geography: Senegal
  • Culture: Senegal
  • Medium: Wood
  • Dimensions: H. 21 1/16 × W. 10 1/4 × D. 3/8 in., 27.228 oz (53.5 × 26 × 1 cm × 772 g)
  • Classification: Wood-Implements
  • Credit Line: Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Paris (71.1930.54.775 D)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing