I was cruising around another board and found a post where the person had been granted an opportunity to view a few fragments of Islamic playing cards from the 13th to 14th Century. The poster has put a pdf document on the 'net where he discusses his observations as well as containing a few photographs. It is not a terribly long document and is well worth the read; https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B15SAMYZtejMdXU3LWh1UzRiZU0/view

This looks really interesting- can't wait to read it! (As I type from work, where I should be working, but am reading the boards instead....must not get sucked in to reading lengthy historical document right now- sooooo tempting!  ;D)