The Pathology of Mosaic Stone-and-Tile Inscription in the Khodaikhaneh of Shiraz's Atiq Mosque

The mosaic stone-and-tile inscription, which is a unique work of art dating back to the Injuids period, is located on the upper facade of the Khodaikhaneh of Shiraz’s Atiq mosque and constitutes the most significant decoration of this building. It has suffered various damages due to old age and new strategies and solutions are required to preserve this precious monument. The goal of the present study is to identify and measure these damages using laboratory investigations. To do so, XRD and AAS methods were used to identify factors damaging the body and glaze of the tiles and, in order to identify the factors damaging the stones, the XRD and petrography methods were adopted. The findings show that due to its unique structure, this decoration was exposed to damages both at the time of its constrcution and reconstruction and human and environmental factors not only accelerated the rate of its damages but also triggered new damages. Based on the investigations conducted on the samples, humidity was detected to be the most important factor in damaging this monument compared to other factors.