The Restoration of a 280 Year Old Antique Inscription – Imam Ali Shrine – Originally Published on 5/9/2023
It is a rare occasion to see a positive step taken towards historic preservation at any of the Shrines of the Imams (peace be upon them). Unfortunately the past few decades have seen their artistic and historic treasures desecrated by those who manage these sites. That said, when I do see a positive step, I believe it is important to acknowledge any action that points towards a positive trajectory.
A week or so ago, the Imam Ali shrine held a small ceremony on the anniversary of the destruction of Jannat-al-Baqi to unveil some changes made to the Bab-al-Sa’at (Clock Tower) iwan. The photos showed a new brightly gilded inscription in the location of a previously elegant blue tile inscription found above the door of the outer facing side of the iwan. I initially assumed this was part of the unfortunate trend in recent years to replace precious historic tile work with cheaply gilded plates, I would however be pleasantly surprised. The new inscription is in fact not new, but the original inscription of this iwan from 280 years ago dating back to Nader Shah’s gilding of the shrines dome, minarets, and grand iwan. This is clear by the ornamental and technical sophistication in its craftsmanship which can’t be found in any new gold work. It is also clear thanks to the date of it’s completion- 1156 Lunar Hijri (1743 AD) written at the end of the inscription along with the signature of the period calligrapher Mohammad Moqimi.
Vintage black & white photos of the shrines clock tower iwan from the early 20th century show the same gilded inscription there. So the questions arises, when and why was such a precious and unique inscription removed from this iwan?! Unique because it is the only historic iwan to feature a gilded inscription in a majority tile clad iwan. It turns out, the inscription was removed in the 80’s during the Ba’athist rule of Iraq. In that era under Saddam Hussein and coinciding with the Iran-Iraq war, anti Iranian rhetoric was prevalent in Saddam’s politics, to the extent where he ordered the removal of Persian inscriptions and ornamental work from Imam Ali’s shrine. This also included removed of the dome and iconic iwans calligraphic inscriptions, however those were reinstalled in 2013 under the direction of Ayatollah Sistani. Fortunately the clock tower iwan’s original antique inscription band had not been destroyed at that time and rather locked into storage for the last 40 years. With its recent rediscovery, the inscriptions gilded panels were restored and missing parts recreated and reinstalled into their historic locations of the iwan. Now pilgrims can view and appreciate this gorgeous iwan once again- beautifully ornamented with it’s vintage Qajari tiles and antique gilded inscription the same way it was for hundreds of years prior to the Baathist era.
