"In the name of God. The blessing of God, the complete felicity, the happiness, the fulfilment of the hope of good works, and the adjourning the fatal period (of death), be with the Hagib Seifo daula (sword of the State), Abdelmalek ben Almansur. This (box) was made by the orders (of the said Hagib), under the inspection or direction of his chief eunuch, Nomayr ben Mohammad Alaumeri, his slave in the year of 395," [A.D. 1005].
In the centre medallion, on the opposite side to the lock, is represented the standing figure of a man who is attacked by two lions. He holds on his arm a shield, upon which is engraved an inscription, with the following religious formula: "There is no God but God," or a similar one, for the characters are very illegible and confused. In the centre of this shield may be read
MOORISH CASKET. 11TH CENTURY. CATHEDRAL OF PAMPLONA.
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Among other artistic objects in the shrine of the cathedral of Braga, in Portugal, there is an ivory box of the same period, and the inscription, which runs round the cover, mentions the same persons:
"There is no God but God, and Mahomad is his prophet. In the name of God, a blessing, prosperity and fortune for the Hagib Seifo, d. daula, for this work, which he ordered to be made by the hands of"—here the inscription has been broken off—"his principal eunuch." (Vide 'Artes e Letras,' No. 6, 3rd series, p. 94, Lisbon, 1874.)