86 BULLETIN 148, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



69. Koran stand. — Inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Inscribed with 

 the usual Mohammedan invocation before any religious act: "In 

 the name of God," and the date A. H. 1210 -A. D. 1795. 



The Koran, the sacred book of Islam, is treated by the Moham- 

 medans with great external veneration and reverence. They gen- 

 erally take care never to hold it, and they deposit it upon a high and 

 clean place, and never put another book, or anything else on top of it. 

 When read it is placed on a stand. The reading of the Koran should 

 begin with legal ablution and prayer. The usual prayer is: " I seek 

 protection with God against Satan the accursed," followed by the 

 invocation: "In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate." 

 In the services of the mosque it is chanted by the imam or the leader 

 in prayer. Constantinople, Turkey. (Cat. No. 154757, U.S.N.M.) 



70. Folded Kcan stand. — Wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. 

 Constantinople, Turkey. (Cat. No. 154817, U.S.N.M.) 



71. Folded Koran stand. — Wood, carved. Congo, Africa. (Cat. 

 No. 175018, U.S.N.M.) 



72. Folded Koran stand. — Wood, carved. Moros, Philippine 

 Islands. (Cat. No. 232850, U.S.N.M.) Gift of Col. Edgar A. 

 Mearns, United States Army. 



73. Silver case for holding the Koran. — The top is decorated in relief 

 with a lamp, Mohammedan standards (?), and floral designs; the bot- 

 tom is incised with the "Shield of David;" that is, two triangles 

 crossed, and floral designs. 



74. Koran case. — Made of iron, in octagonal shape. It held a 

 miniature manuscript of the Koran, which was principally used as a 

 talisman, and was carried upon the person. Syria. (Cat. No. 

 155160, U.S.N.M.) 



75. Mohammedan hooTc. — Incised in Madurese script on the leaves 

 of the lontar palm with a metal point at the time when the leaves still 

 contained chlorophyll and held between wooden boards. The book 

 is supposed to contain teachings from the life of Mohammed, and to 

 be about 150 years old. It was formerly the custom to bury such a 

 " boekoe Madura" with every dead Madurese of any consequence. 

 Madura, Dutch East Indies. (Cat. No. 329801, U.S.N.M.) Gift of 

 Rollin R. Winslow, United States consul at Soerabaya, Java. 



The Mohammedan rosary, called subha, in Persia, iashih (from the 

 Arabic verb sabbaha, "to praise," "to exalt"), consists of 99 beads, 

 divided into three equal portions by a stone or bead of different 

 shape or, in the more costly varieties, by tassels, called shamsa, 

 "servants," made of gold thread or variegated silk. The Moham- 

 medans use the rosary for the recital of the 99 attributes of God, as, 

 "the mighty" (al-aziz); "the holy" (al-kuddus) ; "the merciful" 



