AN EXTREMELY RARE CHESS BOARD MADE OF SOLID SILVER AND

The verse is from a qasida (the poem), by ‘Umara al-Yamani’ which was written for the vazir of the penultimate Fatimid caliph al Fa’iz ibn Al-Zafir (549-55 AH/1154-60 AD), al-Shalih ibn Ruzik (Also transcribed as Ruzzaik , Ruzaik, Ruzayk, known for his mosque ‘Salih Tala’i in Cairo).
35.2 by 27.5 by 3.7 cm.
weight: 2.58 kg
The poem on the chess board translate as follows: “O that the stars would draw near me that I should form from them a necklace in praise of you; for words are inadequate.”
Ùهل درى البيت أني بعد Ùرقته
ما سرت من Ø Ø±Ù… إلا إلى Ø Ø±Ù…
Ø ÙŠØ« الخلاÙØ© مضروب سرادقها
بين النقيضين من عÙÙˆ ومن نقم
وللإمامة أنوار مقدسة
تجلو البغيضين من ظلم ومن ظلم
وللنبوة آيات تنص لنا
على Ø§Ù„Ø Ù‚ÙŠÙ‚ÙŠÙ† من Ø ÙƒÙ… ومن Ø ÙƒÙ…
أقسمت بالÙائز المعصوم معتقداً
Ùوز النجاة وأجر البر ÙÙŠ القسم
لقد Ø Ù…Ù‰ الدين والدنيا وأهلهما
وزيره Ø§Ù„ØµØ§Ù„Ø Ø§Ù„Ùراج للغمم
ليت الكواكب تدنو لي Ùأنظمها
عقود Ù…Ø¯Ø Ùما أرضى لها كلمي
خليÙØ© ووزير مد عدلهما
ظلاً على Ù…Ùرق الإسلام والأمم
al Fa'iz ibn Al-Zafir (549-55 AH / 1154-60 AD)
Following the assassination of his father az-Zafir by the vizier Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh, al-Fa'iz was raised to the throne as a five-year old child. Abbas was soon forced to flee and was killed through the intervention of Tala'i ibn Ruzzik, who became vizier and regent.
Al-Fa'iz never exercised power in his own right with the vizier Tala'i ibn Ruzzik exercising real power, he died aged 11 after suffering an epileptic fit. He was succeeded by his cousin al-Adid the son of Yousuf, also a minor who was appointed by the vizier Tala'i ibn Ruzzik. The Fatimid dynasty came to an end in 567 AH/1171 AD when the Ayyubid dynasty came to power.
For this reason it is highly unlikely that this chess board was made after 566 AH/1170 AD. An analysis and metallography report by Oxford Materials OMCS & Begbrokenano (#R4426) is consistent with the dating.
Amara bin Abi Al Hassan bin Ali bin Zaidan was born in the town of Murtan, located in Sahel Tuhama, then he moved to Zabid, where he enrolled in one of its schools. He left Amara to the Hijaz to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, and he met there with the sheriff of Makkah al-Qasim bin Hashem bin Felaita, who sent him to the Fatimids in Egypt to perform some purpose. Amara arrived in Egypt in Rabi` al-Awwal 550 AH, when the caliphate was for the winner Ibn al-Dhafir, so he entered the caliph and praised him with a poem that he received. In Shawwal of the same year, Amara returned to Mecca, and passed by Al-Qasim Bin Hashem before returning to Zabid on Safar 551 AH. When he left Amara in the second year of the pilgrimage, the Sharif commissioned him with another mission to the Fatimid caliph, but he did not prolong his stay in Egypt and returned to Zabid quickly. He then traveled to Egypt after his return, and this time he remained in the company of the Fatimid Caliph and his relationship with him was strengthened. Amara was an accomplished poet, historian, historian, and historian for Yemen and Zabid, who wrote a book in the News of the Ministers of Egypt, and besides that he was a Shafi’i jurist whose desperate defense of the Sunni sect did not prevent him from supporting the Fatimids. When the Fatimid state fell into the hands of Salah al-Din, he apparently showed the architecture of loyalty to him, praising him in his poetry, but he partnered with eight other associates of the Fatimid caliph to correspond with the Crusaders and try to hold an alliance with them to expel Salah al-Din’s forces. All of them, the Al-Yamani building was executed in the month of Ramadan 569 AH.
The most important thing the Fatimids did was to focus on art and produce a distinct Egyptian Islamic art style. This period was marked by prosperity at the highest levels, which manifested in the creation of luxurious decorative pieces, including carved rock crystal, clay and earthenware, wood and ivory carved, gold jewelry and other minerals, textiles, books and coins. These pieces were not only a reflection of personal wealth, but were also used as gifts for kings and sultans abroad. The most precious things were collected and erected in the palaces of the caliphate in Cairo. In the decade 1060 AD, in the wake of several years of drought in which armies were not getting paid, the palaces underwent systematic theft, libraries were severely damaged, gold coins melted, and a few treasures scattered throughout the medieval Christian world remained. After that, Fatimid artwork continued in the same style, but it was adapted to make more and less valuable pieces.