It is in fact a manuscript of the Gospels – a gloriously intricate object of study for Arab Christians in a predominantly Muslim city.
Homer devotes fully a hundred and thirty lines to the description of this intricate object, whose surface is decorated with images of a city at peace and a city at war, of weddings and a lawsuit, of people dancing and people arming for ambush, of gods and mortals and animals, of pastures and vineyards, of plowing and sheaving.
Whether or not it moves into the mainstream, advances in 3D printing technology are certainly allowing more and more intricate objects to be made, by a vast array of designers - from architects to fashion students.
But the technology has now improved to the point that these printers can make intricate objects out of durable materials, including ceramics and metals such as titanium and aluminum, with resolution on the scale of tens of micrometers.
They speak of his obsession not only with making intricate objects by hand, but also with solid branding: his graphics for the Stedelijk created a look and mood for a museum that today would require a huge budget and corporate pitching.
Inspired by the Victorian practice of sentimental hairwork, she makes beautiful, intricate objects that, at first glance, look like rich wood panelling, but are actually made of human hair.
It would give designers more freedom, allowing them to create and test parts and devices with complex shapes that can't be made easily with any other production method say, an intricate aluminum lattice or a metal object with internal cavities.
One room in his work in progress has only half a floor, but has an intricate wall of stained-glass windows made from found objects.
It constructs an intricate narrative of mutual influence between science and the visual arts, gathering objects from Darwin's own library, various British and American museums, and private collections.
Subtitled "a bedtime story for the children of the damned", it has an intricate storyline whose often-obscure lyrics contain many historical references, and is still an object of speculation by fans and critics.
Science, on the other hand, as an intricate, self-correcting thought system, advances and refines its understanding of the thousands of objects of its study.
