Damascus: Gem Cutters
Date: c. 1400
In his biography of Timur (d. 1405; known in European sources as Tamerlane), Ibn ʿArabshah notes that the ruler ‘took from Damascus learned men and craftsmen and all who excelled in any art.’ His list of craftsmen includes gem cutters. Timur ordered that the artisans of Damascus be taken to his capital in Samarqand. See also: Jeweller; Goldsmith; Silversmith; Inlaid Metalwork Maker.
Citation: Ahmad Ibn ʿArabshah, Kitāb al-Ajāʾib al-maqdūr fī akhbār Tīmūr. Translated by John H. Sanders as Tamerlane: or, Timur the Great Amir (London: Luzac and Co., 1936), p. 161.