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Chapter 10: The Islamic World
Preview: The religion of Islam arose early in the seventh century. From the Arabian peninsula
where Islam was established, Muslim rule spread swiftly to Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Lower Egypt.
By 710, all of North Africa was under Islamic control. In the following centuries Islamic rule was
established in southern Spain, and in the East, Muslim armies gradually eroded Byzantine
strongholds. The collapse of the Byzantine Empire occurred when the Ottoman Turks invaded
Constantinople in 1453. Islam, one of the world’s great religions, is centered around the 6th
century Prophet Muhammed, whose revelations are written in the Koran, the sacred book of
Islam. Throughout its history, Arab thinkers have made significant contributions to world
literature, philosophy, science, and mathematics. The art of the Islamic world is particularly rich,
with refined traditions in mosque architecture, luxury arts such as carving and metalwork,
illustrated books. Chapter 10 surveys the art and architecture of the Islamic world from its early
period in the 7th century, through the 16th century, the height of the Ottoman dynasty.
Key Figures: Muhammad the Prophet, Sinan, Suleyman the Magnificent, Sulayman, Sultan Hasan,
Maqsud of Kashan, Buhzad, Sultan-Muhammad, Muhammad Ibn al-Zayn
Key Cultural Terms: caliph, sultan, emir, Kufic
Key Religious Terms: Hijra, Koran, Hadith, imam, surah
Key Art Terms: tesserae, pyxis (pl. pyxides), calligraphy, finial, Samarqand ware, mosaic tilework,
cuerda seca, enamel
Key Architectural Terms: mosque, maqsura, horseshoe-shaped arches, arcade, blind arcade,
engaged columns, minarets, mihrab, mihrab dome, minbar, hypostyle hall, iwan, qibla, muqarna,
Lecture Notes:
Introductory Notes:
Early Islamic Art:
Dates _____________
Architecture:
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Exterior, Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 687-692
o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Function & significance:
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Interior, Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 687-692
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o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Decoration:
o Function & significance:
Detail of a mosaic in the courtyard arcade of the Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria, 706-715
o Description:
o Stylistic features:
Plan, Umayyad palace, Mshatta, 740-750
o Description & significance:
Frieze, Umayyad palace, Mshatta, 740-750
o Description & significance:
The Mosque:
o General description:
o Architectural features:
o Function:
Aerial view and plan of the Great Mosque, Kairouan, Tunisia, ca. 836-875
o Description:
o Plan description:
o Architectural features:
o Function & significance:
Malwiya Minaret, Great Mosque, Samarra, Iraq, 848-852
o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Function & significance:
Mausoleum of the Samanids, Bukhara, Uzbekistan, early 10th century
o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Decorative features:
o Function & significance:
Prayer hall of the Mezquita (Great Mosque), Cordoba, Spain, 8th to 10th centuries
o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Function & significance:
Detail of the upper zones of the east gate of the Mezquita (Great Mosque), Cordoba, Spain,
961-965
o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Decorative features:
o Function & significance:
Maqsura of the Mezquita (Great Mosque), Cordoba, Spain, 961-965
o Architectural features:
o Decorative features:
o Function & significance:
Dome in front of the mihrab of the Mezquita (Great Mosque), Cordoba, Spain, 961-965
o Architectural features:
o Decorative features:
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o Function & significance:
Aerial view of the Friday Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th to 17th centuries
o Description & architectural features:
o Significance:
Plan of the Friday Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th to 17th centuries
o Description:
Luxury Arts:
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Silk textile, from Zandana, eighth century
o Description & significance:
Pyxis of al-Mughira, from Medina al-Zahra, near Cordoba, Spain, 968
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Subjects:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Sulayman, Ewer in the form of a bird, 796
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Subjects:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Koran page with beginning of surah 18, 9th or early 10th century
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Blue Koran, from Kairouan, 9th to mid-10th century
o Description & significance:
Dish with Arabic proverb, from Nishapur, Iran, 10th century
o Medium/materials:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Later Islamic Art:
Dates______________
Architecture:
 Court of the Lions, Palace of the Lions, Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 1354-1391
o Description/location:
o Architectural features:
o Decorative features:
o Function & significance:
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Muqarnas dome, Hall of the Abencerrajes, Palace of the Lions, Alhambra, Granada, Spain,
1354-1391
o Description/location:
o Architectural features:
o Function & significance:
Plan of the madrasa-mosque-mausoleum complex of Sultan Hasan, Cairo, Egypt, begun
1356
o Description:
o Architectural features:
Madrasa-mosque-mausoleum complex of Sultan Hasan (looking northwest with the
mausoleum in the foreground), Cairo, Egypt, begun 1356
o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Function & significance:
Tughra of Suleyman the Magnificent, ca. 1555-1560
o Description & significance:
Sinan, Mosque of Selim II, Edirne, Turkey, 1568-1575
o Description:
o Architectural features:
o Function & significance:
Sinan, interior of the Mosque of Selim II, Edirne, Turkey, 1568-1575
o Architectural features:
o Decorative features:
o Function & significance:
Winter prayer hall of the Imam (Shah) Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 1611-1638
o Architectural features:
o Decorative features:
o Function & significance:
Mihrab, from the Madrasa Imami, Isfahan, Iran, ca. 1354
o Medium/materials:
o Archiectural features:
o Decorative features:
o Function & significance:
Luxury Arts:
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Ottoman royal ceremonial caftan, ca. 1550
o Description & significance:
Maqsud of Kashan, carpet from the funerary mosque of Shaykh Safi al-Din, Ardabil, Iran,
1540
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Mosque lamp of Sayf al-Din Tuquztimur, from Egypt, 1340
o Medium/materials:
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o Size/scale:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Bihzad, Seduction of Yusuf, folio 52 verso of the Bustan of Sultan Husayn Mayqara, from
Heart, Afghanistan, 1488
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Subject:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Sultan-Muhammad, Court of Gayumars, folio 20 verso of the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp,
from Tabriz, ran, ca. 1525-1535
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Subject:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Muhammad Ibn al-Zayn, basin (Baptistere de Saint Louis), from Egypt, ca. 1300
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Subject:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Canteen with episodes from the life of Jesus, from Syria, ca. 1240-1250
o Medium/materials:
o Size/scale:
o Subject:
o Stylistic features:
o Function & significance:
Concluding notes:
Exercises for Study:
1. Describe at least three features that distinguish Islamic architecture from the architecture of
Western Antiquity (Ancient Greece, Rome, and Byzantium).
2. Compare and contrast the following pairs of artworks, using the points of comparison as a
guide.
A. Christ before Pilate, folio 8 verso of the Rossano Gospels (Fig. 8-22); Sultan-Muhammad, Court of
Gayumars, folio 20 verso of the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp (Fig. 10-30)
 Periods:
 Subject/narrative:
 Composition:
 Spatial illusionism:
B. Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem (Figs. 10-2 and 10-3); Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Figs. 9-5
through 9-8)
 Periods:
 Architectural plan:
 Structural features:
 Decorative features: