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Islamic Art and Architecture

I INTRODUCTION

Islamic Art and Architecture, the art and architecture of those territories—the Middle East, North Africa, northern India, and Spain—that fell under Muslim domination beginning in the 7th century ad. See also Islam.

II ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTICS

Two dominant features of Islamic art and architecture, the importance of calligraphic ornamentation and the form of the mosque, are intimately related to the Islamic faith and were developed in the early days of the religion.

The Prophet Muhammad was a wealthy merchant of Mecca who underwent a profound series of revelations when he was about 40 years of age and began to preach a new faith. These revelations, which to Muslims are the word of God, are contained in the Qur'an (Koran), the sacred book of Islam. The rich linguistic and poetic heritage of the Arabs (see Arabic Language; Arabic Literature) contributed to the feeling of deep respect given to the Qur'an. Its centrality in Islamic culture and the particular gracefulness of the Arabic writing system led to the use of the written word, especially Qur'anic passages, as inscriptions on mosques and to the development of calligraphic styles and ornament in all branches of Islamic art.

In ad622, the year that established the Islamic calendar, Muhammad made his flight (Arabic hijrah) to the city of Yathrib (later Medina). There, a community of believers developed who worshiped in Muhammad's house compound. The common prayers of the new community in this simple setting—an enclosed oblong courtyard with huts (the houses of Muhammad's wives) along one side wall and a rough portico (the zulla, originally for shade) at one end for the poorer followers—established the mosque form. Almost all mosques, therefore, repeat the plan of Muhammad's house, being composed essentially of an enclosed courtyard (sahn), a building at one end for prayer, and arcades (riwaqs) on the sides.

The first followers of Muhammad, coming from the Arabian Peninsula, had no native artistic traditions comparable to those of the empires they subsequently conquered, which they then took as their starting point. As Islam spread, its art forms developed, modified by the different climatic conditions and available materials in the lands of Islamic conquest, and absorbing and adapting indigenous art styles. Motifs from one area soon became universal in the vast Islamic world.

Islamic art thus developed from many sources. Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic architecture; the influence of Sassanian art—the architecture and decorative art of pre-Islamic Persia under the Sassanids—was of paramount significance; Central Asian styles were brought in with Turkic and Mongol incursions; and Chinese influences had a formative effect on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles.

III HISTORICAL SEQUENCE

The sequence of the development of Islamic art—from the 7th to the 18th century—may be classified in three periods. The formative period of Islamic art was roughly coexistent with the rule of the early leaders of Islam, the Umayyad caliphs (661-750), who extended Islam from Damascus, in Syria, to Spain. The middle period spans the time of the Abbasid caliphs (750-1258), who ruled Islam from Baghd?d, in Iraq, until the time of the Mongol conquest. This caliphate, famed for its promotion of learning and culture, was the most illustrious in Islamic history. It was in this middle period that the influence of Iranian art forms became significant. The period from the Mongol conquest to the 18th century may, for convenience, be termed the late period of Islamic art. See also Caliphate.

Within this sequence, distinctive art styles can be defined in different parts of the Islamic world, associated with various dynasties of rulers. Styles mentioned in this article—besides Umayyad and Abbasid art—include those of the Seljuk Turks, who ruled Iran from the mid-11th century to 1157; the Il-Khanids, a Mongol people who controlled eastern Iran from 1256 to 1349; the Timurids, the greatest patrons of Iranian culture, who ruled western Iran from 1378 to 1502; and the Safavids, rulers of all Iran from 1502 to 1736. Art also flourished under the Ottoman Turks, rulers of Turkey from 1299 to 1922, who extended their empire to Egypt and Syria in the 16th century. Earlier in Egypt (and Syria), distinctive styles were associated with the Fatimid reign (909-1171) and that of the Mamluks, who established control in 1250.

IV ARCHITECTURE

The few and relatively simple rituals of the Islamic faith gave rise to a unique religious architecture, comprising the mosque (masjid), a place of community gathering and prayer, and the madrasa, or religious school. Important among the various characteristic forms of Islamic secular architecture are palaces, caravansaries, and cities, the elaborate planning of which shows concern for the all-important access to water and for provision of shelter from heat. A third type of building important in the Islamic world is the mausoleum, serving both as an actual tomb for a ruler or holy man and as a symbol of political power. All these structures, religious and secular, share many organic and decorative features.

A Mosques

Muslims call the direction in which they pray the qibla, and for his first two years at Medina, the Prophet prayed facing toward Jerusalem. He then received a revelation that the true qibla lay in Mecca, and this has been the qibla for prayer ever since, determining the orientation and spatial organization of all mosques throughout the world. The qibla is marked by a decorative mihrab, or niche, within the mosque.

A1 Mihrab

When the Muslims conquered Syria in 636, they took over for use as mosques many of the basilican churches that abounded there. These basilicas were long, triple-arched buildings with pitched roofs and with the altar at the eastern end (see Basilica). The new worshipers placed the mihrab on the southern wall and made new entrances in the northern wall. Thus, the congregation prayed across the aisles.

A2 Courtyard

When such an adapted basilica was combined with an enclosed courtyard having arcades at the side, it contained all the basic features of the Prophet's house at Medina. The first Mosque of Al Aqsa at Jerusalem (before 670) was adapted in this way from the Royal Stoa of Herod, a ruined basilica. In later examples, more long aisles were added to the end of the courtyard—as in the great 8th- to 10th-century Mosque of C?rdoba, Spain—and any resemblance to churches with their focus at the narrow end disappeared. Such additions were made in response to population growth, but the process of adding on is analogous to a feature characteristic of all Islamic art: the infinite repetition of patterns.

A3 Minaret

During the lifetime of the Prophet, the call to prayer at Medina was made from a rooftop, in imitation of the Jewish practice of blowing the shofar (ram's horn) or the early Christian use of a clapper to summon worshipers. It seems likely that a Syrian tradition of marking the corners of a building by four short towers was the origin of the minaret—a tower at the corner of the mosque courtyard (or, as at S?marr?', Iraq, freestanding)—from which, after Muhammad's lifetime, the call to prayer was customarily sounded. The Umayyad Mosque, or Great Mosque, at Damascus (705-15), built around an earlier basilican church, is the best-preserved example of an early courtyard mosque with a minaret. A dome, of later construction, in the sanctuary, or prayer hall, marks the main one of the four mihrabs on the qibla wall.

A4 Dome

Domes, a great feature of all Islamic architecture, developed both from Sassanian and Early Christian architectural sources. The earliest surviving mosque is the Dome of the Rock (late 7th century) at Jerusalem, one of the great religious structures of the world; it marks the spot where, according to tradition, Muhammad ascended to heaven. This mosque has a dome set on a high drum and a centralized or annular (ringlike) plan with two ambulatories or corridors; the design is derived from Roman architecture, possibly in emulation of the 4th-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also in Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock, therefore, does not conform to the basic mosque plan. Its dome is gilded, and all its other surfaces are covered inside and out by colorful tile mosaic.

Influences from Turkic peoples were increasingly felt as Islam spread and developed. Thus, the mausoleum built at the beginning of the 10th century for the ruler of Bukhara, in Central Asia (the place of origin of the Seljuk dynasty), was of great architectural significance. This square brick building had a dome resting on squinches (small arches that span the corners of the square) instead of on pendentives (spherical triangles, or rounded triangular sections of vaults) as used in the Byzantine world. Squinches ultimately were derived from Sassanian Iran; they are more easily built than pendentives, and the device thus led to the spread of domed mosques, mausoleums, and other types of buildings throughout the Islamic world.

Under the Ottomans, mosques were built reflecting the Byzantine heritage of Turkey. Thus, the magnificent Selimiye Cami Mosque (1569-1574) built by the great Turkish architect Sinan at Edirne, Turkey, has a colossal dome ringed with smaller ones and with half domes, the same arrangement as Hagia Sophia in ?stanbul, Turkey—a Byzantine church later converted to a mosque. Although also similar to Hagia Sophia in breadth, the Edirne mosque has many windows, providing much more light. This form—which Sinan also employed in two famous ?stanbul mosques—influenced the design of mosques throughout Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and North Africa.

A5 Eyvan

In the Abbasid mosques of Iraq, an eyvan, an open, vaulted, two-story passageway or hall, was introduced into each side of the arcades surrounding the mosque courtyard. The eyvan had its roots in the architecture of Sassanian Iran.

A6 Pointed Arch

Although the horseshoe arch is more typical of Islamic architecture, especially earlier examples, the pointed arch was also known. Probably of Syrian origin, adapted by the Umayyads, it was also characteristic of Abbasid mosques, and from Iraq it was carried to Egypt in the 9th and 10th centuries. In later Egyptian mosques, built under the Mamluks (from the 13th century), the pointed arches have a Gothic profile, showing the influence of European architectural motifs transported by the Crusaders.

A7 Mimbar and Maqqsura

The first known use of a mimbar, or pulpit, was in the mosque of Medina; originally used as a seat, it soon became a true pulpit for preaching. Another structural detail typical of some but not all mosques is the maqqsura, a screen or enclosure placed around the mihrab to protect the leaders of the community during services; this structure was developed after three early caliphs were murdered.

B Madrasas

Under the Abbasids, in the middle period, a new kind of religious building, the madrasa, or religious seminary, was introduced in eastern Iran. Its form, based on Sassanian architecture, was taken over into a new kind of mosque that soon spread to many countries. The madrasa and madrasa-mosque have eyvans on four sides (with a larger one in front of the qibla), connected by two-story arcades. In the madrasa these arcades lead to dormitories; in the mosque they are simply niches. In some late madrasas the courtyard is covered by a dome. The 11th-century Friday Mosque (the generic term for a mosque accommodating large congregations of worshipers) at E?fah?n (Isfahan), Iran, is an early, great example of a madrasa-mosque. In this building, as in tombs of the period, the muqarna motif, the stalactitelike ornamentation of vaulted roofs, was developed; a typically Islamic style of decoration, it consists of a honeycomb of niches with small projections, set into a vaulted roof or dome.

Later examples of madrasa-mosques, both in E?fah?n and both of the 17th century, are the Masjid-i-Shah with its high, pointed, tiled dome behind the main eyvan, and its interior surfaces and stalactites covered with tile; and the Masjid-i-Shaikh Lutfullah, with an even more extravagantly tiled dome.

C Secular Architecture

During Umayyad and early Abbasid times, princes of the caliphs' families built a number of desert palaces in Syria and Iraq. Some of these had hunting parks—like those of late Sassanian kings—or domed baths, derived from late Roman types of buildings. Thus, these palaces demonstrate the synthesis of the Western and Eastern artistic heritage that characterized early Islamic art, and also demonstrate its relative freedom before the traditional proscriptions against figural art were codified, not in the Qur'an but in the Hadith (Traditions) in the 9th century. The Umayyad palaces featured mosaics, wall paintings, and plaster relief sculpture showing courtiers, animals, and even the caliph himself; much of this ornament was derived from Sassanian tradition.

In the middle period, the Islamic world produced the greatest flowering of urban civilization yet seen. With the coming of the Mongols, however, many such cities were destroyed or reduced to villages, and the water systems on which they depended were also demolished.

Under the Abbasids, an entire administrative city, S?marr?', was started—but never completed—in the desert near Baghd?d. Within S?marr?' was an enormous walled building, 175 hectares (432 acres) in extent and containing many gardens, which was a city in itself. It comprised offices, a mosque, baths, and living quarters. Some of the residential buildings had painted figural decorations, but the finest decorative work was of carved plaster in overall geometric patterns based on Turkish (Central Asian) motifs. Planned cities such as Samarra and Al Fustat (near Cairo, and known through excavation) are notable for their efficiently designed aqueducts and sewers; all the houses had baths and latrines.

Another Abbasid city-building project was the construction of the Round City (762) at Baghd?d, known primarily from written descriptions because its site lies under the modern city. The Round City contained a series of concentric rings, with the caliph's residence, mosques, and household in the center. The conception of the plan has its roots in Sassanian Iran.

Palace complexes, similar to that of S?marr?', were built in later times at Cairo, at Madinah al-Zahra (Spain), in North Africa, and in ?stanbul, where in 1459 the Ottomans began the Topkap? Saray?, now the Topkap? Palace Museum. The tradition was continued also in the 14th-century Alhambra Palace of the Moorish kings at Granada, Spain. Of particular note here is the Court of the Lions with a fountain surrounded by stone lions spouting water. These Alhambra lions have their counterparts in animal-shaped bronze and pottery vessels; although figural, their function keeps them within the category of decorative art. (See Decorative Art below.)

In Iran, the last great buildings were those erected by the Safavids, whose contributions to secular architecture included bridges, polo grounds, and palaces built with wooden kiosks from which the ever-present fountains could be appreciated or polo matches observed. An art gallery, intended by Shah Abbas I for his collection of Chinese porcelains, was also part of the palace.

The caravansary (or, in Turkish, han) was the particular contribution of the Seljuks. These rest houses for travelers, built along the caravan routes, had an aisled hall and a courtyard for animals. Other types of buildings that were prominent in the history of Islamic architecture were public baths, bazaars (marketplaces), gardens as well as garden pavilions, and ribats, or frontier garrisons, extant examples of which are now found only in Tunisia.

D Tombs and Mausoleums

Despite Islamic strictures against the building of elaborate tombs, mausoleums, erected as symbols of the power of departed leaders, became the most important structures of Islam, after mosques and palaces. Examples include the necropolis of domed tombs built outside Cairo by the Mamluk rulers of Egypt in the 15th century. In Samarqand (now in Uzbekistan), the Timurids constructed a necropolis, the Sah-i-Zindeh (15th-16th cent.), an impressive group of buildings with elegantly patterned brickwork and high tiled domes on drums. In Iran, under the Mongol conquerors, a special kind of tomb was developed. The large 14th-century mausoleum at Sultaniyah has a dome of double construction, giving greater height without added weight, on an octagonal base (originally with a tower at each corner). The most outstanding example of this form, it is the predecessor of one of the most famous of all Islamic mausoleums, the Taj Mahal (mid-17th cent.), in ?gra, India, built by two Iranian architects.

E Architectural Decoration

Plaster, patterned brickwork, and tile were used as decorative media in and on Islamic buildings; to this repertoire the Seljuks added glazed brick and tiles—the latter often luster painted like their pottery (see Pottery below). The city of K?sh?n, Iran, specialized in this production. Whole molded mihrab facings, composed of columnar bands of Qur'anic inscriptions, were made in luster faience, one of the earthenware styles used for tile. Tiles in various shapes, such as stars, were fitted together into wall panels. Timurid architecture featured mihrab coverings of brilliant tile mosaic, in which the individual colors were fired separately to achieve their fullest intensity. In the 15th century, tile ceramicists from Iran, which was still an important center, established tile production in Turkey. With the development of workshops at ?znik, the Turks had their own superb source of tiles. In Safavid Iran, most new public buildings received splendid tile sheathings, and many older buildings were redecorated in the same way. These tiles included ones in gold and green, colors not previously used; the different colors were applied and fired together in patterns, rather than separately as before. The effect was different, and the individual colors were less brilliant. See Mosaics; Tile.

Other Islamic architectural decoration included wood carving, occasionally inlaid with ivory—used on maqqsuras, mimbars, windows and doors, and various structural elements. Stone reliefs and marble inlays are found in buildings in Spain, Turkey, and Egypt (from the Mamluk period). Although not part of the building itself, mosque lamps and colorful prayer carpets may also be considered architectural decorations that veil and transform the building by introducing light and color.

V DECORATIVE ART

Islamic dicta on the permissible in art, collected in the Hadith, were similar to those of the iconoclastic movement (see Iconoclasm) during the time of the Byzantine Empire.

The idea behind the condemnation of making images of prophets and saints, and of adoring these images and tombs, was that such practices materialized worship, which belongs to God alone. Likewise, the creation of representational images by artists was condemned because only God is able to give life to creation. These prohibitions were always observed in religious contexts—in mosques, on mosque carpets, in the decoration of Qur'ans and Qur'an boxes—but irregularly in the secular decorative arts, depending on the degree of orthodoxy usual under a particular ruler. At one Syrian Desert palace, Mshatta (early 8th cent.), which has richly carved stone reliefs on its walls, there is a sharp distinction between the reliefs on the mosque part of the complex, which are completely ornamental, and those on the other areas, which are figural representations of both fantastic and real animals. The effect of these prohibitions, even when figures of human beings and animals were represented, was to keep such figures within a decorative framework; unlike European artists, therefore, Muslim artists did not develop an understanding of anatomy, musculature, and perspective. On the other hand, instead of depriving artists of their ability to express their talents, these limitations on what was generally acceptable channeled their energies into the development of decorative patterns; based on geometric forms, Arabic script, and foliate shapes (later stylized as arabesques), this repertoire embodies the unique decorative genius of Islamic art.

The other main proscription from the Hadith that profoundly affected the development of the Islamic decorative arts was the condemnation of luxurious and precious materials. Thus, where the decorative art of other cultures may make lavish use of gold, silver, or precious gems, Islamic art is focused on ceramics, decorated bronze vessels, and wood carvings. Another reason for the attention given to unpretentious materials and fundamentally utilitarian objects was the rise of a large urban middle class whose developing connoisseurship yet practical needs were to be considered.

A Pottery

Perhaps the finest expression of the Islamic artistic impulse is found in pottery, which displays a degree of innovation and creativity comparable to that producing fine art in other cultures. Pottery was apparently collected by the prosperous middle class much as the Dutch middle class avidly collected portraits and genre paintings in the 17th century.

The first period of ceramic innovation can be defined from pottery found in the excavations at S?marr?'. Imported Chinese porcelain in the Baghd?d area stimulated the interest of Abbasid connoisseurs and potters, but the local clay could not produce such technically perfect works. Colorful green-and-yellow Tang (T'ang) wares were imitated successfully, but to achieve a porcelainlike effect the Abbasid potters invented the tin glaze, which gave the pot a creamy covering. Some of these tin-glazed pots were overpainted with blue decorations (simple borders and one-word inscriptions), and this new ware is believed to have inspired the earliest blue-and-white porcelain of China (itself imitated by later Islamic potters). The new technique of luster painting was also developed at S?marr?'. This involved painting with a metallic solution on a pot that had already been fired. It was then refired at a low heat, producing a shiny metallic pattern—brown, greenish, or red—that seemingly transforms the pot into one of (prohibited) gold. This technique traveled to all parts of the world.

In northeastern Iran, in the late 8th to the 11th century, Neysh?b?r (Nishapur) and Samarqand produced other notable wares, in this case slip decorated. Slip is a thin layer of clay spread over the pot to make a ground for painted decoration; these potters rediscovered a technique that had a long history. Some of these pots, influenced by the Sassanian heritage, were decorated with figures of horsemen and a crowded field of ornament and calligraphy. On others the decoration was restricted to monumental Kufic inscriptions with small decorative motifs. Other important Iranian wares of this period are of the gabri type—on which the background or decoration is engraved to create a low relief effect—and the related sgraffito type, both imitating techniques known in metalwork. Like the lustered pottery, this ware can be understood as an acceptable substitute for a more costly material.

Under the Fatimids of Egypt, a large amount of important luster-painted pottery and other wares was made at Al Fustat. In Seljuk Iran, the potters made thin vessels with pierced walls covered in glaze in imitation of delicate Chinese porcelain, and another porcelainlike group with applied decorations in high relief. Other types of painted pottery were made in Iran at this time, including the famous luster-painted pottery and tiles of Rayy and K?sh?n. Some of these pots, and a special min'ai, or seven-color, enameled pottery, feature illustrations of poems and heroic scenes similar to Persian miniature paintings (see below). Pots were sometimes given charming animal shapes; a ewer, for example, might be decorated with a cock's head. Occasional small stools and boxes were also made of pottery.

In Iraq, in the years before the Mongol conquest, Raqqa was the center for the production of fine underglaze-painted pottery. Important ceramics were produced at ?znik and Kütahya, in Ottoman Turkey, well into the 18th century. Much of this was influenced by Chinese blue-and-white ware, but pots were also produced with typically Turkish floral patterns in turquoise, green, purple, brown, and black. The Safavid potters of Iran, also influenced by Chinese wares, produced beautiful blue-and-white ceramics that were exported to the West. Here, too, the production of polychrome and lustered ware continued into the 18th century.

B Glass

Muslim artists also worked in glass, first with techniques used in Byzantium and Sassanian Iran, and then in new ways. Fatimid-cut glass, luster-painted glass, and stamp-decorated glass are of exceptionally high quality. In this period were also made a small number of exquisite carved rock-crystal vessels, comparable in quality to the cut glass. The enameled glass of 12th-century Syria, chiefly goblets and lamps, has never been surpassed in beauty; the decoration, in the form of inscriptional and patterned bands, is like that of contemporary bronzes. The Syrians retained their mastery of this glass craft in the late period and are known particularly for tapered and enameled mosque lamps. See Glass.

C Wood Carving and Ivory Carvings

Wood carving as architectural decoration has been mentioned above in connection with mosques. Exceptional woodwork was also done in Fatimid palaces, from which openwork figural panels with courtly scenes survive; some of this work echoes the Coptic (Christian Egyptian) heritage. Small pieces of furniture were also decoratively carved.

Carved ivory boxes and carved elephant tusks were favored at the Fatimid court, and the tradition was continued in Arab Sicily. This delicate style of carving represented courtiers, animals, and foliage.

D Bronze Work

Because of the stricture against precious metals, bronze was a favored material. Some of the finest pieces of Islamic bronze work have survived as parts of European church treasures. At first, Sassanian forms were adopted for bronze objects, but the Fatimid period produced some of the finest animal-shaped containers ever made, as well as candlesticks and plates. Important bronzes, engraved and inlaid with copper and silver, were made in eastern Iran, but the finest Islamic bronzes were the product of the workshops of Al Maw?il (present-day Mosul, Iraq) in the 50 years before the Mongol conquest. Ewers, basins, and candlesticks were inlaid with silver and gold and contained bands of decorations, figures, and inscriptions of the most intricate workmanship. The fine inlaid Mosul bronzes of the 14th century tended to be even more purely decorative; Syrian workshops, however, continued to produce figural designs. See Metalwork.

E Manuscripts

Kufic script, a heavy monumental Arabic script suited to stone carving, appears in the earliest surviving Qur'an manuscripts. In these, the diacritical marks over the letters are sometimes painted in red, and the gold decorations between suras (chapters) contrast handsomely with the heavy black script. In the Seljuk period, a more cursive flowing script, Naskhi, developed. The two styles were often used for contrast in architecture and decorative contexts.

F Leatherwork

Leather bookbindings with geometric patterns were also an important form of the decorative arts. The earliest examples were tooled and in relief; later bindings were stamped and gilded and, in the 16th century, enamel painted.

G Painting

As in other Islamic art forms, where the Western concept of art for art's sake did not exist, painting too served definite purposes. Rather than an art of easel painting, it was an art of book illustration. The earliest Islamic paintings to survive in any number are miniatures illustrating manuscripts of Greek scientific texts translated into Arabic (Arabic learning was the vehicle by which the learning of the classical world was transmitted to the West), the fables of Bidpai (flourished ad300), and the Maqamat of al-Hariri (1054-1122), the narrative of a traveler's adventures. All of these paintings were derived from the 13th-century Baghd?d school of manuscript illustration. The scientific illustrations are line drawings based on classical models, and the colorful secular paintings have a charming naivete, with only two or three monumental figures represented and landscape elements shown decoratively.

Persian miniature painting of the Mongol, or Il-Khanid, style flourished in 14th-century Tabr?z, in Iran. Chinese influence in landscape details, the expression of emotion, and a complexity of composition characterized the new school. Many Persian epic poems were illustrated in this style, the greatest example being the 14th-century Demotte Shah nameh, a manuscript of Firdawsi's great national epic. Miniature painting continued to develop in the 15th century in Her?t (now in Afghanistan) under Timurid patronage. Bihzad, one of the notable Timurid miniaturists, was a master; many of his dramatic scenes are not confined within formal borders, and his figures have a psychological realism rare in this tradition.

The Ottoman rulers also patronized the art of the book; starting with the 14th-century artists from Tabr?z, a Turkish school of miniature painting developed that recorded courtly and military life in a distinctive decorative manner. Safavid artists produced beautifully illustrated classics in their own style and, in response to European influence, broadened their scope to include figure drawing and portraits.

Miniature painting in Muslim India had its own special development from the 16th to the 19th century; it was much influenced by indigenous Indian art and often depicted individual rulers and ceremonial events. See also Illuminated Manuscripts.

H Textiles

Textiles were highly valued as objects of luxury, and the finest medieval ones were made in workshops called tiraz, which were controlled by the caliph. The tiraz system, which imitated imperial Byzantine, Coptic, and Sassanian institutions, ended with the Mongol conquest. A gift from such a tiraz (often an inscribed robe of honor) was a most valuable possession. Tiraz—the word was also used for the textiles themselves—were often inscribed with the name of the workshop, the date, and the ruler's name.

In Egypt, many tiraz were of linen, and, under the Fatimids, beautiful silk tapestry bands containing gold threads were woven into them. Silk textiles were also manufactured in much of the Islamic world, and some were produced in official tiraz. Among the finest are 9th- to 10th-century silks from the Bukhara region, and 10th- to 11th-century silks from Iran, Baghd?d, Egypt, and Spain. Despite Byzantine shipping blockades, such silks made their way to Europe with embassies. These silks had a profound influence on later Islamic, Byzantine, Sicilian, and Italian weavers and embroiderers. Even present-day words for textiles are often derived from the Islamic world, such as damask from Damascus. The coronation mantle of the Holy Roman emperors was embroidered by Islamic artists in Sicily, and Sicilian silks continued to be an influence in the 14th century, after the establishment of European silk workshops.

After the Mongol conquest, Chinese silks influenced Islamic weaving; this influence is seen in the first Islamic gold-brocaded silks and in specific decorative details. The Ottoman Turks produced new kinds of large-scale silk patterns featuring representations of carnations, tulips, palmettes, and the Chinese cloud-band motif. The patterned silk velvets and brocades of the Safavids are among the most beautiful textiles ever woven. See Textiles.

I Rugs and Carpets

The earliest surviving Islamic knotted carpets are from Konya, in Turkey, made in the 14th century. These Konya carpets of blue, green, and red have an overall pattern based on natural forms; the border has an inscriptional band. Other distinctive geometrically patterned carpets were made under the Mamluks in pale blue, red, and yellow. Several kinds of 16th-century Turkish and Egyptian carpets—Ushak, “Holbein,” Cairene—survive; these occasionally were depicted in contemporary European paintings. Carpet weaving reached new heights under the Safavids of Iran, whose design repertoire included hunting scenes and garden motifs. A dated (1539-40) and signed example with floral designs, measuring nearly 12 m (40 ft) long, was woven for the Ardab?l mosque and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Safavid carpets of silk, in pastel tones with gold and silver areas, were woven specifically for the European market; although very beautiful, they mark the end of the purely Islamic tradition of carpet weaving. See Rugs and Carpets.

See also Indian Art and Architecture; Iranian Art and Architecture.

Contributed By:

Deborah L. Thompson