Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-194).

Seal practice in the Islamic world -- Terminology -- Byzantine practice and influence -- Islam: the Prophet's seal -- The diwan al-khatim: the 'office of the seal' and the Sasanian legacy -- Sasanian royal seals -- The relationship between Sasanian and early Islamic seals -- Seals of the caliphs as described by medieval authors -- Early Islamic lead and bronze seals: form and function -- The study of lead seals -- The terms 'kura' and 'iqlim' -- Seals on Arabic papyri and clay discs -- Clay tokens or receipts -- Personal seals: literary references -- Figural representation on early seals -- From the tenth century: the 'alama and ink seals -- The Safavid period: seal impressions, royal and personal seals -- Indo-Muslim seals of the seventeenth-nineteenth centuries -- Features of Indo-Muslim seals -- Seal practice under the Ottomans -- Forgery -- Seal engravers -- Parallels between coins and seals -- Seals and amulets from archaeological sites -- Style and content of the early seals -- Definition of scripts -- Epigraphy and dating -- Grammatical and orthographic features -- Rhyming assonantal inscriptions and parallels with coins -- Ornamentation -- Shapes and mounts -- Names -- Phrases -- Later seals -- Provenance -- Dates on seals -- Scope and arrangement of the catalogue -- Arabic -- Recording the inscription -- Trransliteration -- Qur'an and Hadith references -- The British Museum collection -- Table 1 Epigraphic Styles on Seals -- Table 2 Ornamentation -- Table 3 Shapes and Mounts -- 1. Clay, bronze and lead sealings c. eighth-tenth centuries -- Clay sealings -- Bronze sealing -- Lead sealings from Syria, Palestine and North Africa -- Eastern Islamic world: Abbasid and Buyid sealings -- Dulafid sealings -- 2. Names -- 3. Names and phrases -- al-i'tisam billah ('seeking refuge in God') -- al-thiqa billah ('trust in God') -- al-tawakkul 'ala Allah ('reliance on God') -- dhikr al-mawt ('remembrance of death') -- lillah/billah ('by' or 'for God') -- shukr lillah ('thanks to God') -- waliAllah ('the friend of God') -- The basmala and the shahada -- al-'izzatu lillah ('glory to God') and various phrases -- 4. Phrases -- Verses from the Qur'an -- Allah rabbi, Allah nasihi ('Cod is my Lord and my counsel') -- Phrases from the root amana and sabara -- The basmala ('in the name of God') -- billah/lillah ('by, through, or unto God') and other phrases -- tub na lillah ('we have repented to God') or sha'a Allah ('God wills') -- ta'ala Allah ('God is exalted' or 'God is ever almighty') -- tawakkul tukfa ('rely [on God]'; 'trust or confidence [in God] will suffice you') -- al-hamdu lillah ('Praise be to God') -- hasbi Allah ('God is sufficient for me') -- al-haya' min al-iman ('modesty is [a part of] faith') -- al-hukm lillah ('judgement belongs to God') -- li kull ajal kitab ('for each period a book is revealed') -- la ilaha illa Allah ('there is no god but God') -- masha'a Allah ('as God wills', and associated phrases) -- ma tawfiqi illa billah ('and my success can only come from God') -- man l'tasam billah ('whoever holds firmly to God') -- man katama sirrahu ('he who keeps his secret') -- al-mawt ('death') -- al-mulk lillah ('sovereignty belongs to God') -- nawal allah ('gift from God') -- subhan Allah ('glory to God') -- al-sabr ('patience') -- al-'izz/al-'izza lillah ('glory / honour / might / power belongs to God') -- 'inayat al-irada ('watchfulness of God's will') -- al-wafa ('loyalty') -- al-jalal lillah ('glory belongs to God') -- Single words -- ihfaz ('guard or preserve') -- al-'ala or al-'ali ('nobility 'or 'the most high') -- Phrases with makkana ('establish, enable, give strength') -- Various phrases and supplications (du'a') -- Muhammad and 'All -- The Twelve Imams -- St George and the dragon -- Poetic texts -- Uncertain phrases -- 5. Re-engraved seals and seals with Arabic inscriptions on both sides -- Re-engraved ancient seals -- Seals with Arabic inscriptions engraved on both sides -- 6. Seals c. fourteenth century and later -- Seals with personal names and benedictory inscriptions or names of the Fourteen Immacutates -- Seals with names alone -- Seals inscribed in Persian -- 7. Dated seals -- Stone dated seals -- Stone seals with only two or three numerals -- Brass dated seals -- Brass seals with only two or three numerals -- 8. Indo-Muslim and miscellaneous seals -- A. Servants of the court and the Emperor -- Seals of officials (the phrase banda-i dargah + regnal year or regnal yearon its own) -- Name and regnal year only -- B. Dated seals, officials or private individuals arranged chronologically -- Hijra and AD dates -- Three numerals only -- Vikram Samvat era -- Undated seals -- C. Forgeries of royal seals -- D. Seals made for Europeans and officials serving in India -- E. Miscellaneous seals: foreign residents of Iran -- 9. Amulets: Introduction -- Positive and negative amulets -- Amulets and the place of magic in Islam -- The relationship between amulet maker and client -- Magicalliterature -- Inscriptions on amulets -- The importance of the Qur'an on amulets -- The 'Names of God' -- Arrangement of this part of the catalogue -- Table 4 The Abjad System -- Table 5 The Names of God -- Table 6 The Fourteen Immaculates -- 9. Catalogue of Amulets -- 'Names of God' -- The basmala and the shahada -- Verses from the Qur'an -- Short passages from the Qur'an -- The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus -- a'udhu bi-jalal Allah ('I seek protection in the glory of God' etc.) -- Supplications to God -- God, the Prophet Muhammad and his family, and the Twelve Imams -- The Fourteen Immaculates -- A group of gold amulets -- Three cameo glass amulets -- Dated amulets -- Letters, symbols, numbers, strange words, magic squares and the abjad system -- Magical squares -- The 'mysterious' letters of the Qur'an -- The seven magical signs -- The angels -- Amulets with engraving errors: authentic or not? -- Brass amulets inscribed in negative -- Spinning rings -- Talismanic discs and the 'lunette script' -- Magical words, mixed numbers and letters -- 'Linear Kuflc' -- Rock crystal seals inscribed in 'linear Kufic' -- Lions and scorpions -- Identification of the Materials of the Seals and Amulets / Janet Ambers -- Introduction -- Methodology -- Materials -- Bibliography -- Methods of Engraving / Nigel Meeks -- Introduction and methods of examination -- Observations and Interpretations -- Concluding remarks -- Bibliography -- Bibliography -- Online references -- Concordances -- Concordance of catalogue numbers and British Museum registration numbers: seals -- Concordance of catalogue numbers and British Museum registration numbers: amulets -- Concordance of British Museum registration numbers with catalogue numbers.