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Photograph: Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Emperor's Carpet 16th, century Iran
"The Emperor's carpet is extra special, partly because of its drawing style. Its field is filled with these extraordinary leaping animals engaged in combat. Each is drawn with such precision, with such character, that they even seem to have expressions on their faces. To think they're all just woven into the body of the carpet is just an extraordinary feat."
Photograph: Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art Dagger with Zoomorphic Hilt, 16th century India
"It's just an extraordinary design, executed in gold with rubies inlaid in the eyes. It's a luxuriously seductive object. Its quality and the power of its opulence make it a must-see. Historically it's also very important because it's a particular type of dagger from the southern part of India, and it was worn by both Hindus and Muslims. What we liked about it is not only the fact that it's artistically strong and visually stunning, but it forms a bridge between these cultures. "
Photograph: Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art Great Indian Fruit Bat, 1777-82 India
"[This painting] would have been one in an album of many exotic fruits and plants of India that the British were sending back from [the colony], so they could show the people back home what this country was all about. At that stage the British were, of course, ruling India,"
Photograph: Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art Reception Room (Qa'a), 1707 Syria
"The Damascus Room is an opportunity for visitors to see inside of a fantastic nobleman's fantastic house and to get a sense of the beautiful style of architectural decoration and the proportions and the colors that were fashionable at the time. The room consists of many tiny pieces of woodwork and stonework and stained glass windows, and tiles and a fountain, plus objects and shelves. It's a very complex entity. [Piecing it together took us] eight years and a lot of dedicated scholars.
Photograph: Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art Folio from the Blue Qur'an, 9th to 10th century Tunisia
"In the introductory gallery, there are many examples of Koran pages---some of the most beautiful ones in the world. One of them is known as the Blue Koran Nineth to Tenth Century Tunisia. In the same room, there's a monumental Koran page that's eight feet tall and much starker. It's just white and black, but it's scale is just extraordinary."
Top five must sees in the Met's new Arab galleries
Curator Navina Najat Haidar helps us pick out the best from the 1,002 works on display.
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