MULUK WA-NUWWAB Recreation c. 1500 Mamluk Card Deck

Trzes' Mamluk Deck
56 CARD RECREATION of the GAME of KINGS & DEPUTIES
from circa 1500 Egypt aka Topkapi Type 1 deck.

Published by Trzes-art in February of 2019, this 56 card deck is a painstakingly executed restoration of a circa 1500 Mamluk deck--the forerunner of all playing and Tarot card decks.

All European playing cards as well as Tarot cards can be traced back to the so-called "Mamluk pattern". The pattern is named after the Mamluk empire that reigned in Egypt from ca. 1250 to 1517. Because of the Islamic tradition of no representation of human figures, the designs are abstract, which made the replacement of the 14 missing or inaccessible cards possible with a high degree of accuracy and consistency.

This deck was re-created from scratch to avoid the inconsistencies of blending samples of different Mamluk versions as was done in the past based on the mixed deck in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul. Intricate geometric designs executed in a bright, primary palette.

Package includes:
56 full-size cards of the Topkapi Type 1 deck + 1 Title card;
5 additional full-size cards showing the Topkapi Type 2 and Type 3 layouts for reference comparison;
a 12" x 16" chart/map of the deck showing the name and arrangement of each card;
10 page booklet with a history of the cards and the design strategy used for this re-creation;
a bookmark showing 2 samples of the Muluk pattern

Card Dimensions:
2 3/4" x 7 1/2" x .0xx"
71 mm x 190 mm x .xx mm