AN ORIENTATION SCROLL WITH DIRECTIONS TOWARDS MECCA
Iran, late 19th - early 20th century

Persian naskh manuscript in black ink on glazed cotton, some numbers in red, the long chart containing city names throughout Iraq, Iran, Syria, Central Asia, Georgia, Afghanistan, the Indian Subcontinent, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Yemen, in numbered grids, marking the degrees of deviation from the West and the South from each locality to align with Ka'ba and Mecca, the verso with locations requiring orientation from the North to the West, wrapped in a brown morocco leather strap, 156cm x 10.7cm.

Provenance: Galerie Fischer, Lucerne (CH), 'Persische Manuskripte und Miniaturen' auction, 4 December 1968, lot 1280.