Muslims (those who submit)

Islam is monotheistic (one God) called Allah

Prophet: Muhammad (from Mecca --see map!) Muhammad is the messenger
Muhammad receives word from the Angel Gabriel Jibrailwhich Muhammad
MEMORIZES and recites.
--words are written down after the death of Muhammad in 632 CE and organized
into chapters
Quran =Islams sacred book
After Muhammad, then Caliphs followed (Caliph = successor)
Holy Cities: Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem
Pilgrimage is called Hajj
Language of Quran: Arabic
Script: early Islam Kufic (angular, thin and thick lines from right to left creates
rhythmic visual cadence
(beauty of script seems appropriate for the poetic words of GOD!)
Madrassa learning center (associated with mosque)

Read p. 149 on Muhammad & Islam

Salvation through following RULES of writings in the Quran

(Quran means recitations)
Five pillars of faith: MEMORIZE THESE!
1
2
3
4
5
Huge geographic and chronological scope, so Islamic art cant be defined simply,
but there are unifying themes.
1. Focus on Calligraphy (high regard for literacy)
2. Artistic expression mostly independent of the human figure
3. w/no figures, Islamic artists develop sophisticated expression of vegetable,
floral, and geometric designs. Colorful ceramic tiles fill walls of buildings (in
some cases, inside and out) and stucco patterns also create stunning visual
effects. Arabesques and tessellations important!
4. No hierarchy of media --no fine arts and craft/decorative arts ceramic,
metalware, weaving, carving all equivalent in rank
Islamic art forms out of Graeco-Roman, Byzantine Christian, and Sasanian Forms.
The new religion required distinctive buildings specifically for COMMUNITY
PRAYERS. Dome of the Rock is one example as are the hypostyle mosques and
secular (non-religious) buildings such as palaces and bathhouses.
Why is calligraphy so important in Muslim art and architecture?
Islam focuses very heavily on learning the central text of the Quran

Islamic culture historically tended toward discouraging or prohibiting figurate

art
Therefore: Calligraphy became one of the foremost arts!

Geometric simplicity! Proportions and ratios! (all the scholarship from Greece
and Rome kept ---not such a backlash against paganism as in the Latin West
(West Europe). Muslims had control of Alexandria and alllll the awesome classic
scholarship including mathematical scholarship from Pythagoras ---geometry and
ratios and golden mean, etc).
Memorize the parts of the mosque listed below. Draw the floor plan from your book,
label it, say vocab out loud three times at least!

KEY POINT: Of all the pillars of Islam, the religious duty of prayer
most affected the development of Islamic architecture. (think about that
sacred spaces AP question as you study ! How does the form of the mosque fit the
needs/requirements/beliefs of the faith?)

Mosque (means place of prostration prostrate means to bow or bend)

Usually a hypostyle hall (meaning, many columns) with a rectangular courtyard
sometimes surrounded by a covered arcade.
The tradition in the call to prayer does not involve hierarchy in a structure just a
large open space for the masses (of men) to come in and pray. standing, bowing,
kneeling, prostration with the brief touching of the forehead to the ground while
reciting prayers constitutes the essence of Muslim worship. So, there are no pews,
no chairs, no longitudinal axis (yes, focus on praying in the direction of Mecca, but it
does not matter if one is close to the qibla wall or not just so long as one is facing
the direction of Mecca). Minarets were added to mosques to broadcast the call to
prayer
Minbar =pulpet (use for Friday sermons)
Qibla wall= wall facing Mecca
Mihrab an empty niche in the qibla wall added to indicate the direction of Mecca
Abolution fountain in the courtyard for ritual washing purifying (hands and feet
must be washed before prayer
!!!Read page 148 intro paragraph and take notes!!!!
Then start watching this 5 minute video below. Do not worry about learning all the
names of these mosques and locations focus on the yellow highlighted ones. The
purpose of this video is to get you immersed in the various forms, patterns, and
motifs commonly associated with Islamic art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa4VAUKxKi0&feature=related

EGYPT
Mosque in Cairo, Egypt by Sultan Hassan
Human figure shows the scale
Open courtyard w/beautiful hanging lamps
Geometric simplicity!!
Spiral minaret
Minbar = like a pulpit
Arabic calligraphy an important element of decoration
TUNISIA
Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia (North Africa) early 8 th century
Square minaret (original
Notice the stripped patterned horse-shoe arches!!

SYRIA
Great mosque of Damascus
First mosque with minarets
Became architectural model for mosques all around the world
TURKEY
16th century mosque is huge
SulumaniAmon Sultan
Ottoman mosques (Dont confuse this with Ottonian Ottoman are late dynasty
which take over Constantinople as their capital in 1453 CE)!
Perfected the art of domes!!!
Gold ornamentation gold crescent at the top
The Hagia Sophia becomes a mosque Sinnan architect used this as a model for
future mosques
Used to be the largest closed space in the world
Minarets
SYRIA
Syria has examples of early example of water technology huge wheels to raise
water over 50 to the aqueducts above then channels to take water the fields

SPAINAlhambra c. 1350-1390
Grenada, Spain
!!!!Stop and read p. 152-153 of text on the Alhambra & verify these notes
below w/photos in book when you are done with this section continue the video)
Nasrids built palace-fortress Alhambra (Arabic for the red)
Rose colored stone for walls and 23 towers
By end of 14th c, population of 40,000
Oldest surviving example of a medieval palace by 19 th c almost complete ruins
American Washington Irving discover wrote about it became a romantic tourist
attraction
Tons of details!
Ex: multi-lobed pointed arches
Lavish STUCCO walls -with calligraphy and abstract motifs
interwoven
Palace, courtyards, lush gardens, luxurious carpets, furnishings =
Paradise
(this was a RESIDENCE for Muhammad V)
Palace of the Lions with stucco ceiling
Hall of the Two Sisters w/dome --prism-like features hard to
discern depth
Eternally distant?
Like a sky/cosmos/star
Has clerestory-like windows
Octagonal drum
Muqarnas (stucco stalactites)
Catch light into abstract
patterns
Like a glittery sky of stars
Dome of Heaven

Gravity fed fountains greenery and water = paradise

Here is the second part of the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZEsrCrwMVg&feature=related
Great Mosque, Cordoba 8-10th Century
!!!Read P 151 -152 on Cordoba and take notes!!!
Greek and roman columns salvaged from ruins
sometimes columns are too short so they stacked and then attached with arches
(double-tiered, horse-shaped arches)
Seems like a sheltering forest of trees
Prayer Hall patterns of stripes
Horseshoe-shaped arches in the lower of the two arches billow outward and appear
to float.

Old church ceiling elements tracery

1:40
Jerusalem:
Dome of Rock, Jerusalem c. 700
STOP VIDEO and !!!Read P 148-149 and take notes!!!
Dome of the Rock, c 700, Jerusalem
It is said Mohammed ascended to heaven and prayed with all the prophets
(including Jesus) and then returned to earth traveled back to Mecca

Tunsia
Massive stone fortresses right by the shore of the Mediterranean usually with
mosque attached.
Isafan, Iran Palace of 40 columns in Iran
Only has 20 columns but look like 40 with the reflecting pools water and reflections
very significant (we shall see this with the Taj Mahal in India)
Ceramic tiles with interlocking designs (these are called tessellations
!!! stop and read about Mihrabs on page 154 and take notes)
Indentation/niche in the wall called a Mirab a niche in the qibla wall points in the
direction of mecca
The quibla iwan --- quibla wall always gets the largest iwan (Iwan= vaulted
rectangular recess)
Prayer hall of the great mosque, Cordoba Spain
Minbar (pulpet) and mirhab
MONGUL Mosque (Mongols converted to Islam)
IRAN
Isfahan
Mosque covered in tilework!!
Surface pattern and color tiles 16-17th C top quality
Shafts of sunlight through small windows

10 minutes of various images of horse-shoe arches (dont have to watch this just
a link for before class starts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rE2TxJiFqE&feature=related