Skip to main content

Secondary sourceArtifact2017

Rotating Engraved Panel of Rumi's Life, Iranian Handicraft Exhibition

2017

A modern Iranian handicraft artwork depicting scenes from Rumi's life, including his whirling dance, shown at a 2017 exhibition.

This modern handicraft artwork retells episodes from Rumi's life, including his famous whirling dance.

Ask Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
A large circular wooden-framed engraved metal panel with a radiating star and floral pattern, mounted on a stand. Several men in suits and a man in a checked shirt stand around it, one pointing at the piece.
Rotating engraved panel depicting Rumi's life, Iranian National Handicraft Exhibition, 2017.

About this source

What it is

This is a large circular, engraved metal panel in a wooden frame, created as a modern Iranian handicraft and unveiled at a national handicraft exhibition in 2017. According to its description, it was inspired by a puppet opera and depicts episodes from Rumi's life, including events leading to his meeting with Shams, and can rotate to show a whirling dance figure at its center.

Why it matters

This artwork shows how contemporary Iranian artisans continue to retell and celebrate Rumi's life story through craft traditions, long after his death. It reflects the lasting cultural importance of Rumi's story and his association with the whirling (Sufi) dance.

Look closer

  • Why might an artist use a rotating mechanism to tell part of Rumi's story?
  • What does the inspiration from a puppet opera suggest about how stories about historical figures travel between art forms?
  • What parts of Rumi's life does this artwork choose to show, and what might it leave out?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) sources

Meet the AI Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) →
Open illuminated manuscript spread showing two pages with gold and blue decorative borders, floral illumination, and panels of gold-tinted Persian script in the center. Ornamental marginal dots and a faded title line appear at the top right.Book

Primary source

Masnavi

Rumi · c. 1258-1273

Illuminated manuscript page with Persian calligraphy at top and bottom and a painted scene of seated and standing men in a landscape with trees, flowers and a grassy slope. A bearded man in a black robe and white turban sits facing a young man in an orange robe and ornate hat, while a shirtless man sits nearby and attendants and onlookers stand or sit around them.Book

Primary source

Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi

Rumi · c. 1247 onward

Exterior view of the Mevlana Mausoleum in Konya: a stone building with a tall turquoise conical-roofed dome, a second grey dome, two slender minarets, and a stone wall with trees and flowering shrubs in front on a sunny day under blue sky.Artifact

Secondary source

Grave of Rumi

soon after 1273

Page of an Arabic-script manuscript with dense handwritten text in black ink, with several passages and marginal notes highlighted or underlined in red. The aged paper is cream-colored with a dark border, and some text runs along the margins.Book

Primary source

Fihi Ma Fihi

Rumi · c. 1260-1273

Exterior of the Mevlana Museum in Konya, Turkey: a stone complex with a tall turquoise conical-roofed dome, a white minaret with a pointed cap, grey domes, and a low wall in a grassy park under a blue sky.Artifact

Secondary source

Mevlâna Museum

Badr al-Din Tabrizi (architect) · built soon after 1273; museum since 1926

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions