Tombstone with Kufic script from the Church of San Sisto in Pisa, Italy

Abstract

Tombstone with Kufic script from the Church of San Sisto in Pisa, Italy

According to information provided by historians, the Arab presence on the Italian peninsula and its islands extends from the ninth to the eleventh century.

This presence is evident in two aspects. The architecture and the archaeological field - museums hold many rare inscriptions and Arab artifacts - and the social and cultural field, of which the wide presence of Arabic words in Italian language, among others, is an expression.We will highlight here the Italian city of Pisa - a maritime republic at the time – that reached an important position during the Middle Ages, and whose importance is reflected in all its architectural landmarks and in the various artifacts preserved in the halls of museums and in the treasures of churches. Among these evidences, we also find precious relics of Islamic art, for example, the famous griffin bird - that was located on the roof of the central cathedral, at the top of the ceiling of the central nave - currently preserved in the “Museo dell’Opera del Duomo” (Cathedral Museum), perhaps, one of the spoils of war obtained in one of the battles conducted by the Republic of Pisa against Islamic states. There are also Islamic relics stored in other parts of the city, including the Roman Church of San Sisto, where the tombstone subject of our research is housed.This work aims to present an historical description and a linguistic analysis of the funerary inscription carved out of a marble plaque for the prince (Abū Naṣr Muḥammad Abdullāh bn Aġlab), known as ‘Abd-Allāh bn al-Murtaḍā bn al-Aġlab (governor of Mallorca (?, 1057).  that, as we mentioned above, is housed in the Roman Church dedicated to San Sisto in Pisa, in the Italian