Macabriya: Prismatic stele

Islamic Society. Almoravid

Although the islamic tradition recommends non-ostentatious burials, the different local traditions ignored that recommendation, and buried their people in graves that ranged from simple stones to great mausoleums. In the splendorous period of the Almoravid and Taifa Almeria (11th- 12th centuries), the conjuntion with the marble craft from Macael and the wealth of the traders and artisans gave place to the simultaneous proliferation of two types of burials. On the one hand, there were burials signalled with rectangular steles (one or two, for the grave's head and feet), with a horseshoe arc in the centre; and the so called mqabriyyas, on the other hand, which were prismatic-shaped steles with a triangular section placed above the burial mounds. Usually, both types have epitaphs with the information about the deceased and verses of the Quran.

Material: Marble
Dimensions: Length 185 cm; Height 23 cm; Width 15 cm
Provenance: C/ Las Cruces, Almería