The zigzag pattern on this piece associates it with the special textiles woven for dressing the holy places of Islam in Hijaz. Green-ground textiles of this type were used to dress the Tomb of the Prophet in Medina. According to the scheme devised by Dr Selin Ipek, this textile can be dated to the period immediately after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt and Syria in 1516-17, when the Ottoman sultan became protector of the Two Noble Sanctuaries at Mecca and Medina in succession to the Mamluk sultans (ruled 1250-1517). The zigzag format of the design had already been established in the Mamluk period, while the palmettes set on the points of the zigzags are also found on at least one example from the earlier period. The palmettes seem to have disappeared from the design by the beginning of the 17th century. The style of calligraphy is also less typically Ottoman, with echoes of the decorative inscriptions of the Mamluk period.