Tombstone of Al-Abbas Ahmad

This tombstone belonged to Al-Abbas Ahmad, a member of Lisbon’s Muslim community who died on 17 June 1398, which was a Monday (day 1 of sawwal of the year 800 of the Hijra) according to the inscription on the main face of the stone. It also features a quote from the Koran - in the name of God, the Forgiving, the Merciful – and a devout text on the edge: may God have mercy upon him (interpretation by Janine Sourdel, 1962).

The tombstone was identified by Irisalva Moita in 1962 during works required in parallel to the construction of Lisbon’s metro system, among the foundations of a building that appeared to predate Todos-os-Santos Hospital. If this were true, the tombstone would have been reused prior to 1492, when work on the immense healthcare facility began, indicating that the Muslim cemetery would also have begun to be dismantled prior to the royal order of 1497. Alternatively, it is possible that the wall identified by Irisalva Moita formed part of the hospital foundations, explaining the difference in thickness and orientation compared to the hospital walls.