Shamsa (crown)

The shamsa (Arabic: شمسة) was a ceremonial crown that formed part of the regalia of the Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates.[1] It consisted of a gigantic suspended crown made of gold or silver and studded with pearls and precious stones.[1][2] It was based on the ceremonial crown that was similarly suspended over the head of the pre-Islamic Sasanian kings of Persia.[1] Under the Abbasids, the shamsa symbolically represented the absent caliph during the official Hajj observances while the amir al-hajj was personally in charge of the pilgrim caravan.[1][2] Once the pilgrims had reached Mecca, the shamsa would be hung up in front of the Kaaba during the Hajj ceremonies.[1][2]

This article is about the ceremonial crown. For the decorative element, see shamsa.

Several different shamsas are known to have been made.[1] The first was commissioned by the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil in the mid-9th century, and inlaid with precious stones by al-Mu'tadid half a century later.[1] It was eventually carried off by the Qarmatian leader Abu Tahir al-Jannabi during the 924 Hajj caravan raid.[1] The second was made by the Egyptian regent Abu al-Misk Kafur for the Ikhshidid prince Unujur; after the Fatimid conquest of Egypt, the Fatimid general Jawhar had it replaced with a new, bigger one.[1] Jawhar's shamsa was lost when the Fatimid treasury was looted in 1068; a fourth, unfinished shamsa was also taken at the same time.[1]

References
  1. Halm, Heinz (1997). "S̲h̲amsa". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume IX: San–Sze (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 298–299. ISBN 978-90-04-10422-8.
  2. Halm, Heinz (1996). The Empire of the Mahdi. Translated by Michael Bonner. Leiden: Brill. p. 188. ISBN 90-04-10056-3.
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