Broken Praying Table

This is a broken praying tablet, a mohr (مهر), made of clay, topically used by Shi’a muslims for the daily prayers. The tablet is broken in four pieces, glued together. It fell from a piece of cloth that was inside an abandoned suitcase, left behind by a young woman who had just arrived in Italy a few hours before.

She had reached Italy after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, having obtained a study visa. During the long process of applying for enrollment in an Italian University, and collecting all the requested documents, she kept contact with volunteers in Italy who helped her complete the process. When she finally arrived in Italy, one of the volunteers welcomed her at the airport, where he welcomed her with a long hug. But shortly after reaching the centre of the city, after receiving a phone call, the young woman disappeared, leaving behind one of her heavy suitcases. She tried to reach her for several months and never heard back from her.

At some point the volunteer decided to open the suitcase to donate its contents to other people in need, and realized how carefully and painfully that suitcase had been prepared for the journey: with new clothes, jewelry, makeup, headscarves, Italian language books. When she unrolled a piece of embroidered cloth a piece of clay fell to the floor, breaking into pieces. She didn’t know if it was valuable or not, so she glued it, kept it safe and gave the rest to charity.

The reasons behind that disappearance will remain unknown, but the object left behind remains as a testimony to the uncertainty faced by many women travelling alone across borders.