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The Book of Gifts and Rarities details a bewildering array of opulent possessions exchanged by medieval Islamic potentates, most prominently rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate (a.d. 750–1258), which was based in Baghdad. The catalog was assembled in the late eleventh century in Egypt by an official of the Fatimid Caliphate (a.d. 909–1171). The enumerated offerings include a bird carved from ruby mounted on a two-foot-long emerald rod, a racehorse bearing a 100-pound gold saddle, and 1,000 maids
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