APAH: Unit 7: West and Central Asia

181. Petra, Jordan: Treasury and Great Temple

Form:

-cut rock

-treasury carved into a cliff

-red sandstone walls

-lower platform paved with hexagonal stones

Content:

-complex water system

-temple on platform like apadana and built on hillside

-buried dead in tombs cut out of sandstone cliffs

Function:

- city of powerful nomadic Arabic tradespeople (Nabataeans)

-important commercial center

-connected silk road and other trade routes

Context:

-found in 1812

-probably made around 400-100 CE

-ancient city in Jordan

-influence of Greek and Roman

182. Buddha

Form:

-cut rock with plaster and polychrome paint

- carved into niches on the side of a cliff

Content:

-staircase that ascended up to the Buddha's shoulder for travelers

-mutras: hand gestures

-hair in bun and big ears

Function:

-was the largest Buddha sculpture in the world until it was blown up in 2001 by Taliban

-travelers were Buddhists who offered gifts of thanks or prayers to the statue

Context:

-Bamiyan, Afghanistan- Gandaran 400-800 CE

-located on crossroads of the Silk Road

183. The Kaaba

Form:

-calligraphy on cloth covering the cube (kisna)

-corner points on the cardinal points

-granite with silk curtain

-set in a mosque

Content:

-kaaba in middle of Mecca

-kaaba filled with pagon god statues and the Black Stone

Function:

-holds relics of Muhammad

-walking meditation in counter-clockwise motion

-place of pilgrimage-hajj (one of the 5 pillars)

Context:

- Mecca, Saudi Arabia

-pre-Islamic monument

-631-632 CE

184. Jowo Rinpoche

Form:

-gilt metals with semiprecious stones, pearls, and paint

Content:

-various offerings, candles

Function:

-sacred image of Tibet

-idea is that you don't have to meditate or site a mantra; just seeing this will be a religious experience itself

-pilgrimage site

-believed to have ability to grant wishes

Context:

-enshrined in the Jokhang Temple

-Llasa, Tibet- Yarlung Dynasty

-brought to Tibet in 641 CE

185. Dome of the Rock

Form:

-octagonal centralized plan

-arcades, colonades

-heavily decorated on outside

-stone masonry decorated

-wooden roof and cermaic tile

-bronze dome

Content;

-building surrounding a rock

-mosaic contains no human or animal figures

Function:

-building over rock

Context:

-Jerusalem, Palestine 691-692 CE

-Umayyad- islamic

-rock is where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son

-Mohammed's night journey

186. Great Mosque (Masjid-e Jameh)

Form:

-stone, brick. wood. plaster, and glazed blue ceramic

-each entrance corbelled

Content:

-built around a courtyard with 4 arches coming from it

-madrassa- place for Islamic instruction

-iwan: vaulted space that opens on one side to the courtyard)

Function:

-prototype for future iwan-mosques

-connects political, commerical, social, and religous activities within the city

Context:

-Isfahun, Iran- 700 CE

-Islamic, Persian- Timrud and Safavid dynasties

187. Folio from a Qu'ran

Form:

-ink, color, and gold on parchment

-wide page rather than vertical like normal

Content:

-brown Arabic ink read from right to left

-vegetal and geometric motifs because animal and human figures not allowed

Function:

-made for a wealthy patron

-Mus'haf: a codex Qu'ran (bound version)

Context:

-Arab, North Africa, or Near East- Abbasid

-8th-9th century

188. Basin

Form:

-brass inlaid with gold and silver

-very detailed, interconnected

Content:

-battle scenes on interior

-sea animals interconnected designs

-men on horseback

-men hunting

-artist's signature (6 times)

Function:

-orginially: washing hands at ceremonies

-later: used for baptism in the French royal family (St. Louis)

Context:

-Mumluk artists

-1320-40 (14th century)

-Egypt and Syria

189. Bahram Gur Fights the Karg

Form:

-ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper

-shown wearing European clothing but background looks Chinese (combination of cultures)

Content:

-Bahram Gur went on the court of Hind disguised so he could observe the kingdom and its civilians

-king tricks him into showing his true identity and decided to send him away by making him slay a karg (horned wolf)- Barham pierces the wolf with arrows and cuts off his head

-this folio shows Bahram after he has defeated the wolf- confident and relaxed

Function:

-expresses political power attempting to legitimize the Elkhanid's claim to Iranian kingship

-shows the ideal king (crown and halo)

Context:

-folio from the Great II-Khanid

-1330-1340 CE (Islamic/Persian)

-from the Book of Kings

190. The Court of Gayumars

Form:

-ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper

-clothing identifies who they are not their faces

-minute scale drawing and detail

Content:

-opening page of the Shahnama

-Gayumar is surrounded by his son and grandson he looks down on the court to address them

Function:

-telling ancient history of Persia

Context:

-folio from Shah Tahmasp's Shahnama

-artist: Sultan Mohammad

-1522-1525 CE

191. the Arbabil Carpet

Form:

-many many details

-silk and wool carpet

-central sunburst medallion creates illusion of a heavenly dome with lamps reflection in a pool of water full of lotus flowers

-slightly symmetrical

Content:

-two different lamps suspended from the ceilings

-one panel with inscription that tells you who made it and when

Function:

-made for the funerary shrine of Safi al-Din Ardabil

-prayer carpet

Context:

-Maqsud of Kashan 1539-40 CE

-one in a pair of carpets