Tomb with Arabic Inscription

The use of this type of funeral stele with its prismatic shape was very frequent during the Middle Ages in the western regions, as well as in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Here we have a funeral covering that belongs to Islamic countries, known under the Moroccan name of Mqabriya.

This work was made up of a piece of white marble which belongs to the remaining fragment of the sarcophagus covering. This fragment is in conservation at the parish church, once the abbey church of Saint-André de Sorède in the Roussillon.

It is composed of a straight elongated bar in the shape of a prism, which rests on a base, itself placed on another plate made of the same material. The stele is incomplete: one of its extremities is broken and a part of it is chipped. As a general rule the deceased body would be covered with a gravestone and above it a funeral tombstone in the form of a pyramid. Sometimes, one or two stones would be placed on either side of it, set vertically, which were sometimes decorated with sacred religious inscriptions about the afterlife. Engraved inscriptions of the name of the deceased and the date of their death were also frequently present.

The ornamentation of the tombstone at Saint-André de Sorède is composed mainly of inscriptions in Kufic script of quotes from two surahs from the Koran. Here there are fragments from the thirteenth one hundred and second surahs. The grooves made by these inscriptions are filled with interlacing vegetal motifs with rings and pearls. The floral motifs are more abundant on the undersides than the rest of the tombstone. The inscription covers the three sides of the prism, but it is impossible to translate it in its entirety due to the extent of the damage.

Firstly, the craftsman has transcribed partial quotes from verses 1, 4 and 5 of the thirteenth one hundred surah of the Koran. The quotes are as follows:

“In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.”

“Against the artifices of those who blow on knots and the evil of the envious when he envies.”

There is also a quote from verse 286 of the second surah:

 “Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord!”

“Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us; our Lord!”

“Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Protector and give us victory over the disbelieving people.”

We have very little information on this funeral work. Indeed, nothing has been written about the place where it was made, or on the exact date of its execution. Through examining the shape of its letters and the choice of quotes, however, we can approximate the date based on the fact that they were the most frequently employed by Muslims between the late 11th century and early 12th century. On the other hand, these quotes offer no clue as to where the marble in Saint-André originated, considering that these passages from the Koran were also frequent throughout the Islamic regions of the time. 

Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that the same type of prismatic funeral stele can be found in conservation in the Commanderie des Templiers of the Masdeu, in the commune of Trouillas, also in the Roussillon region. The same texts have been engraved there and the same vegetal ornamentation with rings. Judging from these important similarities, we might assume that the works came out of the same workshop, or at least that the craftsmen drew inspiration from each other.

Other Muslim steles in the shape of a prism have been dug up in the Languedoc and Roussillon regions. And along with them, we now have fragments of three tombstones of this type in Montpellier. While they do not carry the same engraved inscriptions as those in Saint-André, these steles have been dated with certitude from the 12th century, the dates of the defunct being inscribed on the prism.

How are we, therefore, to explain the presence of these Muslim funeral steles in the French Midi? Several hypotheses have been put forth. One suggests that they were carried over from their country of origin by a collector or that they were part of the spoils of war. Another, put forth by Jacques Jomier, is that Muslim colonies were present in this region in the 12th century, an argument he bases on documents testifying to the presence of Muslims in Montpellier during this period. These steles, therefore, could have come from old Muslim cemeteries. This last hypothesis has yet to be confirmed but remains a convincing one that deserves further study.