HA 291

Final Exam Study Set

What are the 3 main mosque types in Islamic architecture?

Hypostyle, 4-iwan, centralized

What was the function of Bayn al-Qasrayn in Fatimid Cairo?

It was an open public area between the palace of the Fatimids used as a parade ground for the Shi'i Fatimid's processions.

True or False: The Umayyads established round cities across their empire

False

Details of post-reform Qurans

Single volume, written on paper with ink, vertical orientation, more words and lines per page, diacritic marks and dotted text, opening and ending pages, decorative chapter and verse numbers

What are the basic requirements for the construction of a mosque?

Orientation toward Qibla and cleanliness

How did early Islamic caliphates build their visual vocabulary in art and architecture?

By adopting the available techniques and visual motifs of the Byzantine and Sassanian empires that they conquered

True or False: Umayyad urban palaces were located along the main trade routes of the empire creating a network of satellite settlements.

True

What are some of the practical and ideological reasons behind Abbasids' writing reform in the 10th century?

A standard writing system was helpful for such a large empire, brought forth Sunni revival, allowed people other than imams to read the Quran, allowed Abbasids to canonize the Quran so interpretation was no longer up to the imams

What are the main characteristics of Umayyad ivories produced in Spain?

Exchanged as political and personal gifts no matter the gender, used as containers for perfumes and cosmetics and more, made of ivories obtained from African elephant tusks, inscriptions on object to praise beauty in a first person voice, digital and vegetal motifs

What is the definition of Tiraz?

A piece of textile with a band of inscription in form of an armband referring to the name of the caliph and ensuring the loyalty of the provincial governors to the central state.

Which style of decoration developed in Samarra is known today as arabesque?

Style C or beveled style (molded, abstract and flat)

What are the types of calligraphic scripts used in the Ibn al-Bawwab Quran (post-reform)?

naskhi (cursive) and thuluth

What is hilye?

a descriptive portrait of the prophet Muhammad in text and calligraphy.

True or False: Minbar is a raised seat against the Qibla wall that provides a place for the leader to deliver the sermon during Friday congregational prayers

True

True or False: The Great Mosque of Cordoba was founded by the Umayyad ruler Abd al-Rahman I in 784. It was a hypostyle mosque with double-leveled arches constructed out of red and white stone. The mihrab featured a deep chamber with a shoe-horse arch framing the entrance.

True

What are the characteristics of Samarra style minarets?

A single, huge, and high helicoidal (spiral) tower on the axis with mihrab and constructed out of brick and mudbrick.

How did the design of the Dome of Rock convey its meaning and function under the Umayyads? Consider its location, architectural design, and decoration

DOTR makes the viewers attention focus on the rock, dome above rock and spiral walk towards rock adds attention to it, location was important for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, overlooked the city, decor and architecture is beautiful to catch your eye, interior decor is for worship and to show Umayyad power.

Details about Baghdad

4 gateways of Baghdad linked the city to the most significant political and urban centers under the caliphate, Baghdad was a round city featuring the mosque and palace of the caliph at the center, Baghdad or City of Peace was the first capital city of the Abbasid Caliphate

True or False: Iwan is a vaulted chamber with one side open and three sides closed mostly developed in the Mesopotamia

True

Which city in Iran was the center of luster production in the 12th century?

Kashan

What event in the 13th century marked the end of the caliphate system and the emergence of military dynasties in the Islamic world?

Mongol invasion

What's a squinch?

A transitional space usually covered with muqarnas that converts the square base of the building to an octagon base for the dome

How socio-religious complexes formulated the identity of the patron in the urban setting during the medieval period?

hospitals and hospices, kitchens, and other charitable institutions in these complexes represented the patron as a pious and caring ruler, tomb of the patron along the streets in these complexes became the marker of the ruler's social and religious status, objects produced for these complexes such as lamps, rugs, and other fixtures were identified and marked by the blazon of the ruler as a reminder of his political, social, and religious standing

What was the function of the Tower of Justice in the Topkapi Palace? Provide 3 reasons for its design and placement.

Sultan could oversee what was happening in the Hall of Justice without being seen himself, reminded the administrators that the Sultan could be watching and listening at any moment, very tall so that it could be seen by the city which was to represent that the Sultan was watching over the city even if the people could not see him

True or False: Mughal emperors favored the construction of mosques such as the Taj Mahal as a way to highlight their Timurid and dynastic lineage

False - PAY ATTENTION TO WORDING. Mughal emperors constructed mausolea, not mosques

Which military dynasty introduced madrasa to Cairo's urban landscape?

Ayyubids

How did Persian painting change from the 15th to 17th centuries?

Non-royal patrons became the major costumers of single-page paintings by the end of the Safavid period, ratio of the illustration to the text increased on the page, paintings were liberated from the confines of manuscript pages and turned into an independent art by the end of the 17th century in the format of single-page painting and album painting

What are the vernacular construction materials in Iran and Iraq (Mesopotamia)?

brick, plaster, and tile

What's a talar?

A large columned porch in Safvaid palaces that provides an open view of the gardens and urban settings

True or False: Military dynasties built fascinating palaces and gardens to attract the population to their new rule

False

True or False: Chaharbagh is a Persian term used both for the fourfold garden layout and for tree-lined avenues in New Isfahan

True

What themes, architectural elements, and techniques were selected by the Mongols (Ilkhanids) in Iran for the construction of the Takht-e Suleyman palace?

favored themes from the Shahnameh as well as dragons and phoenixes for the decoration of tiles and built great iwans in the renovation of this Sassanid site, used luster and lajavardina techniques among others in the production of cross and star-shaped tiles in this palace

What's a Muraqqa?

A collage comprised of single-page painting and calligraphy

What was the Ilkhanid Kitabkhana at Rashidiyya NOT used as?

An archival center

How did the Mirador de Lindaraja and its poetic inscriptions in the Alhambra reflect Mohammad V's ideology of rule? here is the poem: (In this garden I am an eye filled with delight and the pupil of this eye is our Lord, Muhammad V, praiseworthy for his bravery and generosity, famous for his virtue and grace; He is the full moon on the empire's horizon, his signs everlasting & his light brilliant)

The Mirador de Lindaraja allowed the ruler to overlook his subjects, and with the description of the poem, the mirador acts as the eyes of the ruler and praises him

Compare and contrast the Western and Eastern schools of Persian painting based on these examples. Mention 5 differences.

Western: the illustration is a small part of the page, text above and below but no in illustration, eye doesn't move through image, large figures, duller colors

Eastern: illustration takes up whole page, text through image, eye moves through illustration, small figures, bright colors

Who was the patron of the Universal History under the Ilkhanids?

Rashid Al-Din

True or False: Chatri is a small canopy-like structure built on the roof of Mughal mausoleums

True

Which early modern empire formulated a complex bureaucratic system for the implementation of Islamic and customary law?

The Ottoman Empire

What plan type was chosen by the Safavid and Mughal architects as a reference to the Timurid palace and garden design?

Octagonal Hasht Behisht (8 paradise) plan

What type of mosque architecture was developed under the Seljuks in Iran in the 12th century?

4-iwan plan/ cruciform

What are some common characteristics of Kashan ceramics under the Seljuks?

depictions of moon-like faces on the ceramics as references to the Turkic origins of the Seljuks, mostly decorated with figural imagery and poetic inscriptions depicting a majlis or gathering in a garden setting, composition follows a sort of social perspective rather than a linear perspective

Which artist is known for the invention of genre scenes in Persian painting?

Kamal al-Din Bihzad

What 2 things constitute the main urban elements of New Isfahan?

Chaharbagh Avenue, Maydan

Characteristics of Alhambra vases (at least 4)?

•Only 8 is serviving today

• Painted on thin glaze and luster

• Bulky and large scale

• Ornamental

• Cobalt-blue and gold highlights
• Winged handles (sometimes with stylized hands)

• Calligraphy and vegetal and animal motifs

• Designed for the niches in the door jambs

• Resemble a bride or a man in prayer

How did European painting impact the production of Safavid painting in the late 17th century? What's the term used to describe that process?

The term is called farangi-sazi. The characteristics:

• Realistic and naturalistic

• Perspective

• Shadow and light

• European backgrounds

• Christian themes

What are the 5 absences in orientalist paintings identified by Linda Nochlin?

1-History

2-Presence of westerners

3-"bringing into being" or the artist's hand and ideology

4-Art; naturalist and authenticist artist

5-Reformations and progress of the East

An example of an orientalist painting?

The painting of a snake charmer with the naked boy inside a mosque

Who was Osman Hamdi and how did he respond to orientalist through his own art? How did his art represent the view of the Ottoman state in the late 19th century?

Osman Hamdi was an artist who responded to Orientalism by representing the empire in a positive light, but showed his view of the empire's decline and slow pace as well.

Which Mughal emperor introduced chaharbagh garden design to India? What was his source for this type of garden?

Emperor Babur, source was from the Timurid garden designs from Central Asia

What are some architectural and decorative features of Mughal mausoleums?

Chaharbagh gardens, hasht behisht tomb plans, chatris, red sandstone and marble, pishtaqs, pietra dura

Describe Saz style in Ottoman visual culture

Tomato red, distinct foreground and background, square tiles, delicate details and lines, lace-like border

Which mosque type was favored by the Ottomans?

Centralized

What's the definition of devsirme system under Ottoman rule?

Educating and training Christian tribute children in the Ottoman court to become administrators and elites in the future; Sinan is an example