ARTH 219

Trabeated- Forms that consist of vertical columns holding up horizontal roofs

Aniconism- no iconography of animals and humans in Islamic art

Hypostyle- horizontal roof supported by rows of columns or pillars

Masjid- mosque, place of worship for Muslims

Circumambulation- the act of walking around a sacred object or place, Muslims walk around the Kaaba in Mecca

Mihrab- a niche in the mosque wall that indicated the direction of Mecca

Minbar- A raised platform or pulpit in a mosque where the imam delivers the sermon

Iwan- A hall or space with one open end and another closed

Chahar bagh- Islamic garden divided into four quadrants

Qanat- expensive underground sloping aqueduct 

Maqsura- An enclosed screen area at Mihrab for the caliph’s personal use

Voussoir- wedge-shaped or tapered stones used to construct an arch

Skewed facade- exterior facing the street while the interior is oriented towards Qibla

Muqarnas- curved, made of stucco or plaster

Ziyada- outer courtyard

Fiat city- planned city- almost mathematical- either perfectly circular or perfectly rectangular

Umayyad Dynasty (661-750)

• Settling and transforming the land

• Capital city of Damascus

Dome of the Rock

• Stands on Haram al Sharif platform

• Built on site of jewish and christian significance (solomon’s temple and abraham’s sacrifice of isaac, Muhammad’s “night journey” ascent to heaven)

  • Act of cultural conquest to build on top of it

• Golden mosaics from byzantine 

• Inscriptions that speak to both muslims and other faiths reminding people that there is only one god and Jesus is not divine

Great Mosque of Damascus (Syria)

• On foundations of Roman temple & Christian church

• Arcuated (held up by arches)

• 3 axis

• perpendicular nave

  • Aligned with mihrab and main entrance

• Mosaics on courtyard and facade show paradise

Qasr-al-Hayr East (Syrian desert)

• Agricultural estate

• Water comes in through a wadi

• Walls built to trap seasonal water, enabling the cultivation of olive trees

• 2 enclosures for residents; divided into “bayts” (housing units)

  • Large enclosure for residents

  • Small enclosure for visiting merchants

Khirbat al-Mafjar

• Mosaic palace

• Bath hall

  • Monumental portal of walking under caliph’s feet

  • Water as a display of luxury

  • Caliph entertained people here

  • Floor mosaic: scene of peace(gazelle) vs war(lion) OR pursuit of beloved

  • Mosaic was a technique learned by Byzantines

Mshatta

• Looooong entry with triple arch gate to reach the throne room

• Facade with aniconic panel

• Enclosed wall lined with semi-circle towers

• Caliph shifting to less of a man of the people and more unreachable

Mosque of Rusafa (Syria)

• Built on remains of byzantine city

• Earliest chahar bagh (4-part garden)

• Mudbrick enclosure- brought in water through wadi

Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258)

Capital city: Baghdad

• On Tigris river

• Fiat city

• Mosque and caliph in the center, rich people in the middle circle and commoners on the outside circle

• Bent entrances as a defensive measure

• Not easily expandible so the city got too crowded and they moved to Samarra

Dar al-Khilafa (caliph’s palace), Samarra

• Built on Tigris river

• Beveled stucco

• Large garden area and pools of water before the entrance

Balkuwara Palace, Samarra

• Built on Tegris river

• VERY grand

Mosque al-Mutawakkil, Amarra

• Largest mosque of its time

• Built with brick to be more cost efficient

• Huge minaret that looks like a unicorn horn

Masjid-i Tarikn, Balkh (Afganistan)

• 9-bay type mosque

• Neighborhood mosque (no minaret)

• Dated due to it’s presence of stucco (connection to abbasid dynasty)

Tulunids (868-905) under the Abbasids

Mosque of Ibn Tulun, Fustat (Cairo)

• Mosque surrounded by a ziyada to separate from urban encroachment

• Spiral staircase (copies minaret of al-Mutawakkil, reveals Abbasid influence)

• Stucco substitutes for marble in composite piers

Great Mosque of Qairawan, Aghlbid

• Hypostyle plan

• T-plan

• Fluted mihrab dome

• Spolia from Roman site

Hispano-Umayyad Dynasty (755-1010)

• Capital city: Cordoba

Great Mosque of Cordoba, Cordoba

• Mirror of the mosque of Damascus

• Hypostyle prayer hall

• Qibla wall at incorrect orientation

• Roman and Visigothic spolia

• Two tiers of arches (horseshoe)

• Aqueducts → promoted vegetation to grow on site

• Expanded multiple times

  • Qibla wall was moved

  • Wall was doubled (one side for storage and one side for the caliph to move without being seen)

  • Golden mosaics

  • Mihrab dome had maqsura and symbolised cosmic vault (caliph placed directly under)

Bib Madum, Toledo

• Small neighborhood mosque

• 9-bay type

Madinat al-Zahra palace, near Cordoba

• Located on lower slope of the mountain

• 3-level palace complex city (royals on top, then diplomats, then commoners on the bottom)

• Miradors: deliberately staged viewing points (high-low garden)

  • Caliph view was specifically positioned (metaphor for supervision over kingdom)

• Prince’s garden

• Contained aqueducts from the top of the mountain

• Water display as a representation of the irrigation that makes utilitarian landscape productive

Fatimid Dynasty (Egypt 909-1171)

Mahdiya Mosque, Mahdiya

• Birthplace of fatimid dynasty

• Hypostyle mosque (horizontal roofs supported by pillars)

• Raised mihrab aisle with mihrab dome

• Elaborated facade with projecting portals and end tower gives emphasis to exterior

  • Took this from abbasids

Mosque of al-Azhar, Cairo

• Wider and higher mihrab aisle

• Raised dome over mihrab

• Stucco ornament

Mosque of al-Hakim, Cairo

• Built by caliph al-Hakim

• Rectangular piers (not columns)

• Dome over mihrab

• Facade emphasized portal and corner salients

Mosque of al-Aqmar, Cairo

• Skewed facade showed respect for the urban street

• Lots of symbolism → shi’ism

  • Arch with hanging lamp, 6-pointed star, the name ali

• 3  bands of inscriptions with quranic text, date and patron