Auctioned Kaaba key may have been stolen, says keeper

The keeper of the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has said that a key to Islam's holiest shrine which was auctioned for $18 million last week may have been stolen and has called for it to be brought back.

Ancestors of Saleh Al-Shaybi, the keeper, have safeguarded the key to the Kaaba since the time of Prophet Muhammad, and the keeper himself said that wealthy Muslims should help the key to its rightful place, Arab News reported.

“It might have been sneaked out in olden times,” said Al-Shaybi, quoted Arab News, who also declined to elaborate on the key's genuineness.

The 12 century key sold for $18 million pounds at a Sotheby's auction in London on April 8, setting a new auction record for an Islamic work of art.

The Abbasid period key, made of iron and measuring 37 cm long, sold for more than 18 times its pre-sale estimate and was bought anonymously. It is the only known example to remain in private hands.

The key, one of the ultimate symbols of religious power, is engraved with the words: "This is what was made for the Holy House of God during the time of our lord the Imam son of Imam al-Muqtadi Abu Ja'far al-Mustansir Abu'l-Abbas 573."

It was the highlight of the auctioneer's Islamic sale, which realised 21.5 million pounds, in excess of the pre-sale high estimate of $26 million and a new record for an Islamic art auction.

The previous record for a work of Islamic art sold at auction is believed to be a bronze fountainhead in the form of a hind dating from mid-10th century Spain. It sold at Christie's in 1997 for 3.6 million pounds.

In addition to the example sold at Sotheby's this week, there are 58 recorded Kaaba keys, all held in museums.

Most, 54, are in the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul, two are in the Nuhad Es-Said Collection, one is in the Louvre in Paris and one is in the Islamic Art Museum in Cairo.

Sotheby's called the Kaaba key "arguably one of the most important symbols of Islam". According to the auctioneer, the tradition of dedicating the key to each caliph appears to have originated with the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.

The Kaaba is the ancient cubic shrine which all Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers, and is located at the centre of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.