Shop Amazon - Create an Amazon Baby Registry


Try Amazon Audible Premium Plus and Get Up to Two Free Audiobooks



Illustrations from

Kalîla and Dimna

of Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ, and ʿAbd Allâh (translator - to Fars), 15th century

The Book of Kalila wa Dimna, also called Fables of Bidpai, is a collection of Indian fables translated into Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffa in 750.
Intended for the moral education of princes, this collection has two jackal heroes Kalila and Dimna.

Rest the mouse cursor on an image to see the caption, click to see a larger image.

Executed under the Mamelukes, perhaps as early as 1350. Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Arabe 3467

A 14th century Kalila and Dimna



See also Nihayat al-sul-1371 a Mameluke manual of horsemanship and military practice, 1371.
Helmet with the name of Sultan Barsbay, 1422-38
Kitab al-funun, a Mamluk manual of military practice and horsemanship, 1470
The pilgrimage of the Knight Arnold von Harff, 1496 to 1499
'The reception of Ambassador Domenico Trevisiano at Damascus' painting by Gentille Bellini school, 1511

10th to 19th century Egypt and its territories
Index of Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers