Early Islamic Textiles from Along the Silk Road

The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, holds a spectacular array of ancient textiles that were made in Islamic lands and traded along the Silk Road. The majority range in date from the 9th to the 15th centuries CE and were reportedly found in the cave of Samangan province in northern Afghanistan. The collection presented here comprises some 400 garments and textile fragments of exceptional beauty and variety, reflecting the many strands of influence along the Silk Road: Iranian, Chinese, Central Asian, Syrian, Greek and Indian, among others.