Dome of the Rock

• Umayyad Dynasty

• Stone and marble with mosaic and gold

• Jerusalem

  • The highest point in old Jerusalem

• Not a mosque

  • Derived its form from the imperial mausolea of Roman emperors

  • However, the octagonal form and Dome more likely referenced earlier local churches.

• Central plan; dome on an octagonal drum

  • Elevated position and comparable size was a way that Muslims in the late 8th century proclaimed the superiority of their newly formed faith over Christians

• Book-matched stone

• Corinthian columns

• Stone revetment

• Inlay

• The Foundation Stone

  • Enclosed by two ambulatories and an octagonal exterior wall

  • Central colonnade

    • Clad in marble on their lowest registered and upper registered with mosaics

  • The ethereal interior atmosphere is a result of light that pours in from grilled windows located in the drum and exterior walls

  • For Jewish and Christian communities, it is the place of Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac/Ishmael.

  • Creation of Adam

  • Temple of Solomon

  • For Muslim communities, it is the rock from which the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven with the angel Gabriel.

    • Who Muhammad met along the way

      • Adam

      • Jesus & John the Baptist

      • Joseph (great-grandson of Abraham)

      • Enoch

      • Aaron (brother of Moses)

      • Moses

      • Abraham directly above the Kaaba

      • Treet of Paradise / Allah

• Mosaic tesserae

  • Roman Influences: Scrolling foliate patterns

  • The region was Roman before the Caliphate took control of these territories

  • Roman influences and visual ties to Late Antiquity; Constantinople

    • San Vitale in Ravenna and Hagia Sophia in Constantinople

  • Colors mention in the Kora

    • Blue

    • White

    • Black

    • Yellow

    • Green

    • Red

  • 3 main Islamic types of non-figural decoration

    • Vegetal patterns

      • Vessels and winged crowns (worn by Sasanian kings)

    • Geometric patterns

    • Calligraphy

  • No human figures or animals

    • Not exactly against the law

• It contains an inscription that includes the earliest surviving examples of verses from the Qur’an

  • Bismillah → starts each verse of the Qu’ran

  • Shahada → Islamic confession of faith

    • Only one God and Muhammad is his prophet

  • Mary and Christ proclaim that Christ was not divine but a prophet

  • Core values

  • Importance of calligraphy as a decorative form

• Below the Rock

  • Small chamber

  • Purpose unknown

Great Mosque of Qayrawan (Kairouan)

• 4th Holiest city in Islam

• Courtyard → hypostyle plan

• Hypostyle Hall

• Qibla Wall

• Qibla dome

  • Emphasizes placement of mihrab (prayer niche)

  • Borrowed from roman and Byzantine architecture

  • Small windows in the drum of the dome above the mihrab space let natural light into what was an otherwise dim interior

• Mihrab

  • Lower portion: openwork marble panels in floral and geometric vine designs

  • Panels from Syrian area

  • Lustre tiles from Iraq

  • Stylized floral patterns like Byzantine and eastern Islamic examples

• Fought Byzantines before establishing

• Rebuilt at lest twice

• Prayer hall is supported by rows of columns

• Wider aisles leading to the mihrab and along the qibla wall

• Sanctuary roof and courtyard are supported by repurposed Roman and Byzantine columns and capitals

• Minbar

  • Narrow wooden pulpit where the weekly sermon was delivered

  • Oldest surviving wooden minbar

  • Like Christian pulpits

  • Made from teak imported from Asia

    • Expensive → commercial reach

  • Side closest to the mihrab has carved latticework with vegetal, floral, and geometric designs 0> Byzantine and Umayyad architecture

• Minaret

  • Inspired by Roman lighthouses

  • Highest structures

  • Identifies mosque’s presence and location in the city

  • Helo define city’s religious identity

• Remained religiously and socially significant even as Kairouan fell into decline

• Maqsura

  • Assembled from cutwork wooden screens topped with bands of carved abstracted vegetal motifs set into geometric frames, kufic-style script inscriptions, and merlons

  • Indicate political instability in a society

• Additional gates

• Carved stone panels

  • Exterior acted like billboards advertising which patron was responsible fro construction and restoration

Great Mosque of Cordoba

• Minaret

• Prayer hall

  • Seems magnified by its repeated geometry

  • Built with recycled ancient Roman columns

• Mihrab

  • Focal point in the prayer hall

  • Famous horseshoe arched

    • Common in the architecture of the Visigoths

  • Used in a mosque to identify the wall that faces Mecca

• Qiblah wall

• Two-tiered / double tiered arches

• One of the oldest structures still standing from the time Muslims ruled Spain, Portugal, and a small section of Southern France.

• Temple → church → mosque

• Prince Abd al-Rahman I escaped to southern Spain

• Hypostyle (filled with columns) prayer hall

• Courtyard with a fountain in the middle, an orange grove, a covered walkway circling the courtyard, and a minaret that is now encased in a squared, tapered bell tower.

• Dome

  • Crisscrossing ribs that create pointed arches all lavishly covered with gold mosaic in a radial pattern

Blue Qur’an

• Deep indigo-dyed parchment and god Kufic script used for text

• Thought to have been commissioned in North Africa (Kairouan?)

• Different from typical Qur’ans

  • Black ink on lighter parchment

• Reflects influences from Byzantine or Roman traditions

  • Purple or blue-dyed manuscripts associated with royalty and divinity

• Kufic script

  • Geometric and angular script

  • Scribe intentionally spaced the letters widely, creating an elegant yet minimalist look that emphasizes the manuscript’s divine content

Alhambra

• Sophisticated planning, complex decorative programs, and its many enchanting gardens and fountains.

• Residence for the ruler and close family, the citadel (barracks for the elite guard who were responsible for the safety of the complex), and medina (court officials lived and worked).

• Connected by paths, gardens, and gates but each part of the complex could be blocked in the event of a threat.

• Detailed structures contrast with plain walls of fortress exterior

• Three original royal palaces

  • Comares Palace

    • Facade built on a raised three-stepped platform

    • Might have served as a kind of outdoor stage for the ruler

    • Carved stucco facade once painted in brilliant colors

    • Largest tower

    • Contains thrown room

      • Exhibits most diverse decorative and architectural arts

      • Double arched windows

      • arched grille windows set high in the walls

      • At eye level, walls are lavishly decorated with tiles laid in intricate geometric patterns.

      • Remaining surfaces covered with intricately carved stucco motifs organized in bands and panels of curvilinear patterns and calligraphy

  • Palace of the Lions

    • Stands next to Comares but should be considered an independent building

    • Two structures connected after Granada fell to Christians

    • Fountain with a complex hydraulic system consisting of a marble basin on the backs of twelve carved stone lions situated at the intersection of two water channels that form a cross in the rectilinear courtyard

    • Arched covered patio encircles the courtyard and displays fine stucco carvings held up by a series of selnder columns

    • Two decorative pavilions protrude into the courtyard on an East-West axis

    • Across the courtyard, Sala de los Reyes.

      • Elongated space divided into sections using a series of arches leading up to a vaulted muqarnas ceiling

      • Multiple alcoves

        • Some with an unobstructed view of the courtyard but with no known function

    • Contains paintings on the ceiling representing courtly life

      • Images were first painted on tanned sheepskins, in the tradition of miniature painting.

      • Use brilliant colors and fine details

      • Attached to the ceiling rather than painted on

    • Two other halls: Sala de las Dos Hermanas and the Hall of Abencerrajas

      • Residential apartments with rooms on the second floor

      • Each has a large domed room sumptuously decorated with carved and painted stucco in muqarnas forms with elaborate and varying star motifs

  • Partal Palace

    • Portico formed by a five-arched arcade at one end of a large pool

    • One of the oldest palace structures in Alhambra

• El Mexuar

  • Audience chamber

  • Became reception and meeting hall when palaces expanded

  • Complex geometric tile dadoes and carved stucco panels

Vocabulary

• Night Journey

  • Significant event in Islam that describes the Prophet Muhammad’s miraculous journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and his ascension into heaven

    • Transported on a winged horse-like creature (Buraq)

  • Spoke with God and received instructions to pray five times a day

  • Some muslims observe by praying, sharing meals, and decorating their homes and mosques.

  • Debate whether it was a physical ascension, dream, or vision.

• Aniconism

  • Avoiding images of living beings, especially in religious contexts.

  • Focuses on abstract forms, calligraphy, and intricate geometric patterns.

  • Human form and animals can be found in all eras of Islamic secular art

• Prayer Hall

  • Central part of a mosque

  • Used for communal prayer

  • “Musalla” → "to pray”

  • Large, open space designed to facilitate a direct connection with God during prayer.

  • Often decorated art and calligraphy

• Qibla Wall

  • Wall that faces Mecca → direction Muslims face when praying

  • Marked by a niche (mihrab)

• Mihrab

  • Niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca

  • Focal point of a mosque and most ornate part of the building

    • Decorated with inscriptions from the Qu'ran

  • Plays an important role in community worship practices

    • Guides Muslims towards Mecca and reinforcing their collective identity

• Maqsura

  • Closed-off space or enclosure in a mosque that was originally used to protect a Muslim ruler during prayer

    • Shield the ruler from potential assassins

    • Separate from the general public

  • Near the mihrab or center of the qiblah wall

  • Made of wood or metal and could be in the form of a box or screen

  • Highly decorated

• Hadiths

  • Collection of reports, traditions, and sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.

  • Major source of religious law and moral guidance → second only to the Qur’an

  • Key source for understanding the practices of Muhammad and the Muslim community

  • Made up of two parts

    • Isnad: chain of narrators who transmitted the report

    • Matn: main text of the report

  • Not everyone believes that hadiths are divine revelation, and some contain questionable or contradictory statements.

• Minaret

  • Tall, slender tower associated with mosques

  • Call to prayer: muezzin recites call to prayer from the top of the minaret to remind Muslims to pray

  • Symbol of Islam: physical symbol of Islam’s strength and influence as a religious, political, and cultural force

  • Landmark

  • Beacon

• Arabesques

  • Symbolic representation of God’s infinite, indivisible, and transcendent nature.

  • Represent the interconnectedness of life and the limitless nature of God’s creation

  • Type of biomorphic design → resembles natural forms without depicting specific things

  • Characterized by intricate patterns of lines, curves, and geometric shapes that are applied to surfaces.

  • Often based on a spiral, with stylized leaves, flowers, and buds emerging from it in gentle curves.

  • Central tradition of Islamic visual art, along with Arabic calligraphy and the decoration of Qur’an manuscripts.

  • Artists sometimes intentionally introduce mistakes into repetitions as a sign of humility, believing that only God can create perfection.

  • Spread into Europe

• Qiblah

  • Direction towards the Kaaba in Mecca

  • Muslims face the qibla five times a day during their daily prayers

  • The deceased are buried facing the qibla

  • Direction to enter the ihram, the sacred state for the hajj pilgrimage

  • Direction to turn animals during Islamic slaughter

  • Recommended direction to make supplications

  • Direction to avoid when relieving oneself or spitting

• Mecca

  • Holiest city and birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad

  • Considered the heart of Islam

  • Destination of great spiritual significance for Muslims

  • Home to the Kaaba

    • Structure that is considered the most sacred place on Earth

    • Built by Abraham and his son Ishmael

      • Early prophets in the Islamic faith

    • Muslims pray towards the Kaaba five times a day

    • Bury their dead facing in that direction

    • Muslims are expected to visit the Kaaba in person at least once in their lives

• Mosque

  • Muslim place of worship

  • Important religiously and politically

  • Can be modest or architectural masterpieces

  • Decorated with Islamic art, such as calligraphy, geometric patterns, and arabesque.

  • Also have a minaret or onion-shaped dome on top

  • Design is intended to help worshipers focus on the oneness of God and feel His closeness

• Muqarnas

  • Three-dimensional decorative and structural element in Islamic architecture that is characterized by its geometric composition and rhythm

  • Signature feature of Islamic architecture

  • Can be found in domes, vaults, iwans, entrance portals, and other niches.

  • Made up of layers of superimposed niches that are arranged in tiers to create a honeycomb or staircase effect

  • Carved from wood or plaster

  • Can emerge naturally during construction

  • Stalactite or honeycomb vaulting

  • Integral part of Islamic architecture

  • Serves both functional and ornamental purposes

  • Evokes a sense of peace and aw, and some say it resembles Buddhist mandalas.