The Key to the Treasury of Shah Khoude-BendeAuthor(s): F. V. P.Source: Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Vol. 8, No. 45 (Jun., 1910), p. 23Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4423474 .

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN VIH, 23

The Key to the Treasury of Shah Khoude-Bende

IN the flowing Nashki characters it is written on

the very end of the key : "

AH the Perfect **

; continuing on three sides :

" The Prophet, to

whom be praise, has said 41 am the City of Wis- dom and Ali is the gate thereto.* This key is that of the treasure of the Mosque of the twelfth Imam of the said house descending from Ali thus ?

Hassan, Hussein, Ali, Mohamed, Djasar, Moussa, Ali, Mohamed, Ali, Hassan, Mehdi, to all of whom be peace. It is the most important key to the Treasury of the Shah Khoude-Bende.**

This ruler, the remains of whose tomb-mosque still stands at Sultanieh, a favorite residence of the Persian kings after the destruction of Bagdad in 1250, reigned from 1304-1316. The palace has fallen in ruins, and the city has become but a small village ; yet the cupola with its brilliant blue tiling and the garden terraces enclosed by sandal wood railings remain to give an idea of how im-

posing and beautiful the whole building must have

been when Khoude-Bende placed his treasure in the Mosque and guarded this key as one of his dearest possessions. The handle is twelve and three-fourths inches long, hinged near the centre, and ornamented with pierced geometric figures. The end and lower part of the handle, where it enters the lock, is inscribed as quoted above. The wards are twenty in number, square in section, and about an inch in length, a feature which is still to be found to-day on keys in Egypt, where actual nails are inserted to form the wards.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the key, as well as the sword, was regarded by the Arab as almost a sacred object. It was not sim-

ply an instrument with which to unlock a box or open a door, but it signified power, possession or conquest, and it was often placed as an emblem on gates or towers. The keys of the Kaaba, or Holy Place, at Mecca were always held by the ruler of the city ; and when Boabdil surrendered to the Spaniards, he gave up at the same time the keys of the Alhambra, thus signifying that his dominion was at an end and that the Spaniards were from thenceforth in possession. Important keys were inscribed with a date, the owner's or maker's name, or other legend, and several, dating from the Moorish occupation, are preserved in Spanish Museums. F. V. P.

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