The Story of Adam, peace upon him, his Sons and Progeny, from a Jami al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) of Rashid al-din (verso) (c. 1425): Art, History and Details

The Story of Adam, peace upon him, his Sons and Progeny, from a Jami al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) of Rashid al-din (verso) (c. 1425) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This illustrated page from a history book depicts a scene from the narrative of Adam and Eve, expanding on the story as it is recorded in the Qur'an. According to the text, among Eve’s many children were two sets of twins: Cain and his sister Iqlima, and Abel and his sister Labuda. When Cain objected to Adam’s decision that Iqlima should marry Abel, Adam decreed that the brothers should settle the matter by making sacrificial offerings. A divine fire in the form of a bird appeared and chose Abel’s offering of a good lamb over Cain’s offering of bad wheat. Cain then vowed to kill Abel, and proceeded to commit fratricide.

Object facts

• Title: The Story of Adam, peace upon him, his Sons and Progeny, from a Jami al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) of Rashid al-din (verso)
• Date: c. 1425
• Culture: Afghanistan, Herat, Timurid period (1370–1501)
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: opaque watercolor and ink on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 14.7 x 22.7 cm (5 13/16 x 8 15/16 in.); Overall: 42 x 32 cm (16 9/16 x 12 5/8 in.); Text area: 34.5 x 22.7 cm (13 9/16 x 8 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Islamic Art
• Department: Islamic Art
• Accession number: 1945.384.b

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.