Sumatra Archeology - Part I : Barus (2)

Please read Sumatra Archeology - Part I: Barus (1)

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Artifact: Tombstone

Site Name: Mahligai Cemetery (Makam Mahligai)

Location: Sihorbo, North Barus, Central Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra 22564

Comment on this artifact:

As the most famous camphor port of the past, of course Barus has been visited by merchants from different parts of the world, not least from the Middle East.

The merchants from the Middle East or from Islamic countries there not all of them just come to trade and then leave Barus, but among them there are also people who choose to live in Barus. Their presence at Barus, of course, has gradually affected many aspects of socio-cultural life in Barus. In fact, further than that, they have enriched the local arts.

The artistic style that comes from Islamic countries in the Middle East is clearly evident in the decoration of this tombstone. Reliefs on an art sculpture from Egypt as shown by the images captured from Zaki Muhammad Hasan's book, Atlas of decorative arts and Islamic drawings (Published by Bayrut, Lebnan : Dar al-Raid al-'Arabi, 1981), show similarities with the reliefs found on this Barus tombstone.

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_{Two marble plates with prominent decoration from Egypt in the 14th century. Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. Atlas of decorative arts and Islamic drawings by Zaki Muhammad Hasan}

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This cylindrical tombstone with arabesque decoration can be presumed to be a gravestone for the grave of a religious scholar who may have come from the Arab country to teach Islam there.

However, the art of relief as seen on this tombstone is sufficient to indicate that Barus is also one of the cultural encounters in Sumatra in the past.