Iraq: The slave market at Zabid in Yemen. Miniature from the 'Maqam' illustrated by 'Assembly' of Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, 1237 CE
Yahyâ ibn Mahmûd al-Wâsitî was a 13th-century Arab Islamic artist. Al-Wasiti was born in Wasit in southern Iraq. He was noted for his illustrations of the Maqam of al-Hariri.
Maqāma (literally 'assemblies') are an (originally) Arabic literary genre of rhymed prose with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The 10th century author Badī' al-Zaman al-Hamadhāni is said to have invented the form, which was extended by al-Hariri of Basra in the next century. Both authors' maqāmāt center on trickster figures whose wanderings and exploits in speaking to assemblies of the powerful are conveyed by a narrator.
Manuscripts of al-Harīrī's Maqāmāt, anecdotes of a roguish wanderer Abu Zayd from Saruj, were frequently illustrated with miniatures.
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![Iraq: Two men in conversation beneath a tree, one indicating the way. Miniature from the 'Maqam' or 'Assembly' illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, 1237 CE](http://c12505795.r95.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0015694.jpg)
![Iraq: A camel herder with her charges. A miniature from the 'Maqam' or 'Assembly' illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, 1237 CE](http://c12505795.r95.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0015695.jpg)
![Iraq: The slave market at Zabid in Yemen. Miniature from the 'Maqam' illustrated by 'Assembly' of Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, 1237 CE](http://c12505795.r95.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0015696.jpg)
![Iraq: Discussion with a ruler. Miniature from the 'Maqam' or 'Assembly' illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, 1237 CE](http://c12505795.r95.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0015697.jpg)
![Iraq: Mariners aboard a dhow, probably from the Swahili Coast as some of the sailors are black. Iraq: Miniature from the 'Maqam' or 'Assembly' of Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, 1237 CE](http://c12505795.r95.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0015698.jpg)
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