Overview

Among the Sacred Trusts at Topkapi Palace is an object venerated as the staff of the prophet Moses. Islam honours the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David and others, as forerunners of Muhammad, and relics associated with them were preserved alongside the Prophet's own. The staff of Moses is displayed in the Destimal chamber with items identified as Abraham's pot, Joseph's turban and David's sword.

The staff is one of the most vivid objects in scripture. In both the Torah and the Quran it turns into a serpent before Pharaoh, parts the sea for the Israelites, and draws water from the rock. That prominence gives any relic identified with it great devotional weight. At the same time, the object at Topkapi carries no independent documentation of its history before it reached Cairo and then Istanbul, and its identification rests on tradition alone. It is recorded here respectfully as a venerated relic whose attribution to Moses is traditional rather than established, and therefore classed as debated.