Chain Mail Shirt

Known as chain mail, this shirt is comprised of hundreds of small iron alloy links, each of which is connected to one another by the addition of a small rivet. This type of mail shirt was popular during medieval Europe and much of the Islamic world, as it was considered highly effective in protecting soldiers on the battlefield against arrows or swords. This example, however, is unique in that each circular link is stamped in Arabic with the names of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad, and his family (Fatimah, Ali, Hassan and Husayn), known collectively as 'The Five' (Panj tan in Persian) or 'the People of the Cloak' (Ahl al-Kisa). Considered to be talismanic in nature, this mail shirt forms a small group of examples which, when worn, would have been accompanied by a head defence also made of stamped mail. While this group has traditionally been associated with Safavid Iran, this particular example is thought to be dated earlier and might have been made for a Shiite warrior in either Iran or Egypt. Chain mail continued to be worn within a ceremonial context even after it ceased to be used on the battlefield.