Object Description
A large hardwood reading board of tapering rectangular form, both sides with cursive script inked calligraphy with traces of previous calligraphy under the writing. Northern African, late 19th century/early 20th.
Wood writing boards, some of them embellished with magic squares and other non-figurative designs in addition to Koranic script, serve to illustrate the long history of Islam and literacy in Africa. The boards are most often used by young Moslem students who are learning to read, write and recite Sura or passages from the Koran, Islam’s sacred book.