An Invitation to a Wedding Ceremony on a Piece of Silk in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, Published for the First Time (An Artistic and Cultural Study)

The applied arts are closely related to the daily life of the human; they are mainly made to meet many of his diverse needs and therefore studying its products helps to extrapolate and understand many cultural and historical aspects, textiles are one of the most important examples of this. Textiles industry has developed in Egypt, through the different ages, there were important contributions to this industry development in the age of the Alawite dynasty, in general, and in the era of the Khedive Ismail, in particular, and many textile products have reached us from that period, such as outfits, flags, etc. This study deals with a piece of silk, preserved in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, this piece is published for the first time, and dated back to (1291 AH / 1874 AC). This piece includes an invitation from someone called (Matteo Isma'loul) to the Khedive Ismail to attend a wedding ceremony of his daughter. The inscriptions of this invitation included poetic verses; praise the Khedive Ismail, and end with inviting him to this ceremony, and documentary writings; indicate time, place of the ceremony, and the date of editing this invitation, and end with the name of the sender. The study clarified the artistic aspects of this piece, explained its inscriptions, regarding its shape and content, and discussed some cultural and historical aspects of the era of the Khedive Ismail, in light of this piece. This study found that the sender of this invitation was one of the rich Jewish traders in Alexandria, and there were political relationships, and economic deals between him and the khedive Ismail. The main topic that clarifies the importance of this study is the possibility of using the applied arts to highlight some aspects of social, political and economic life, in the age of the Alawite dynasty in Egypt, especially in the era of the Khedive Ismail.