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CHAPTER 9
ISLAMIC ART
Closer Look:
Taj Mahal
The Bismillah and the Art of Calligraphy
Google Earth Coordinates:
Courtyard, Masjid I Jami, Isfahan, Iran
Video Links:
Monument for the Beloved: The Taj Mahal
Compare and Contrast
Image Flashcards
Term Flashcards
The Formation of Islamic Art
Key Images
Page with kufic script from an Abbasi
Primary Source: Muhammad Ibn Madmud Al-Amuli (Iran, 14th Century), From
The Development of Islamic Style
Key Images
Aerial view of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, p. 285, p. 9.7
Key Images
Tomb of the Samanids, p. 288, 9.12
dish with story of Bahram Gur and Azadeh, p. 289, 9.13
: Spanish Islamic Art and Europe in the Middle Ages, p. 290
The Classical Age
Key Images
The al-Aqmar Mosque, Cairo, p. 291, 9.15
Later Classical Art and Architecture
Key Images
Tomb of Oljeytu. Sultaniya, p. 294, 9.20
Interior, Tomb of Oljeytu, Sultaniya, p. 295, 9.21
Primary Source: The Ottoman Sultan Selim II (1524-1574), An Order from the Imperial
Court, p. 300
The Three Late Empires
Key Images
Interior, Mosque of Selim II, p. 303, 9.29
Shah Kulu (?), Tile painted in hatayi style with saz design, p. 34, 9.30
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Materials and Techniques: The Oriental Carpet, p. 301
Primary Source: Abd Al-Hamid Lahori (d. 1654), from Padshah Nama (Book of the
Emperor), p. 309
Islamic Art
Islam is based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad (ca. 570 632) who is said
to have received the Word of Allah as a series of poetic recitations (in Arabic, the
Qur an) brought to him by the archangel Jibra il (Gabriel).
The hypostyle mosque has a large hypostyle hall with the qibla wall facing in the
direction of Mecca. The orientation of the qibla facing Mecca is important since the
Muslim faith requires prayers in the direction of Mecca. The mosque also has a
simple minbar (similar to a pulpit in a Christian church), and an empty mihrab in the
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into the four-iwan mosque. From the twelfth century onward the four-iwan courtyard
was a standard feature of mosques and madrasas.
In 969, the Fatimids a North African Arab dynasty founded their capital in Cairo.
Under the Fatimid dynasty, Egypt underwent a period of artistic revival with the
By the end of the thirteenth century, the Mongol rulers, known as Il-Khans, had
converted to Islam. While the Mongol rule in Central Asia and Iran was short-lived,
the artistic legacy of this dynasty continued under the Timurids. In Syria and Egypt
Mamluk patronage contributed to the production of glassmaking, metalwork, and
Key Terms/Places/Names
mosque
qibla
luster
Discussion Questions
1. Outline the architecture of the mosque. Why is the orientation of the qibla so
important?
2. In what ways does Islamic art appropriate Graeco-Roman forms?
6. What does the Court of the Lions (9.27) at Alhambra symbolize?
7. How is writing considered in the Muslim world?
Resources
Books
Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. Islamic Art and
Architecture 650 1250, 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
Grube, Ernst, and George Michell, eds.
and Social Meaning. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1995.
Hilldenbrand, Robert. Islamic Art and Architecture. New York: Thames and Hudson,
1998.
DVDs