Juego de Naipes Andalusí

Andalusian playing cards designed by Marifé Montoya Carrillo with a booklet by Jorge Lirola Delgado, published by the Fundación Ibn Tuyafl de estudios árabes, 2012.

This pack is a personal proposition to fill the void which exists regarding early arabic sources and playing card imagery. It is based on many years of research in Andalusian records as well as a desire to make an educational contribution to the subject. Arabic linguistic and cultural usage has been chosen as far as possible, within the framework of four suits and three court figures per suit, which are highly symbolic values.

The four suits are:

a ceramic money-box (the economy)

the cutlass (military power)

the quill (culture, reason)

the gazelle (love of beauty).

The courts are three symbolic ranks within a military hierarchy. The same 3 images are repeated in each suit.

Above: Andalusian playing cards designed by Marifé Montoya Carrillo with booklet by Jorge Lirola Delgado, 2012.

Further References

• Juegos de mesa que llegaron a la península Ibérica por al-Ándalus►