Study and analysis of Quranic verses and hadiths in Safavid Mihrabi carpets

 
The history of design of the Persian carpet intertwined with the application of decorative motifs. Among different accomplished designs and formats, the Mihrabi rugs became a special type for the use of some religious practices. Some important part of these kinds of rugs, which belong to the Salting Collection, contain inscriptions and religious contents. By focus on Mihrabi carpets, the aim of this research was recognizing the general characteristics as well as identifying the texts and motifs on the inscriptions of the selected carpets. In addition, the research inquired the themes and meanings of the hadiths and Quranic verses that were used in these kinds of carpets. The author for conducting the descriptive-analytical study, purposefully selected 10 exemplars of Safavid Mihrabi rugs through the library sources. The results of this study showed that most of the contents of the inscriptions on the Mihrabi rugs were specified to inducing the principles of Islamic beliefs including monotheism and prophecy. Furthermore, although animal motifs were not depicted in the inscriptions of the carpets, the priority was specified to depiction of the plants, flowers, and trees, which all symbolized the Heaven.