Early Islamic Art and Architecture: A Model of Cultural ...resources.css.edu/academics/his/middleground... · Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632 Expansion under the “Rightly

Early Islamic Art and Architecture: A

Model of Cultural Exchange

Photo from WHA Morocco, 2005 (Maxwell)

(c) 2011 The Middle Ground

Journal Number 3 Fall 2011

Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632

Expansion under the “Rightly Guided Caliphs,” 632-661

Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750





The Islamic Prophet Muhammad, 17th century Ottoman copy

of an early 14th century (Ilkhanate period) manuscript of

Northwestern Iran or Northern Iraq(c) 2011 The Middle Ground


Young Muhammad meets the monk Bahira. From

Jami' al-Tavarikh ("The Universal History" or "Compendium of

Chronicles") written by Rashid Al-Din and illustrated in

Tabriz, Persia, c. 1315.(c) 2011 The Middle Ground


Muhammad at the Ka’ba

Istanbul, 1595



Depicts

Sasanian

Khusraw II

(590-628)

BUT

Date Yazid I

(680-83) in

Arabic



Almost identical coin struck by al-Malik in 693

Byzantine coin of three

imperial figures

638



Top rows imitate the

Byzantines

Bottom row introduces

the new style of coinage

by al-Malik

Early coins of Caliph Abd al-Malik (646-705)



Dome of the Rock in the Haram al-Sharif





Diocletian’s

mausoleum

303 AD



Basilica San Vitale in Ravenna (548 AD)



Dome of the Rock

San Vitale

in Ravenna

Reprinted with permission from

Holly Hayes/Sacred Destinations (c) 2011 The Middle Ground


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Dehio_10_Dome_of_the_Rock_Floor_plan.jpg



Interior San Vitale



Interior

Dome of the Rock







Interior mosaics

Dome of the Rock





Great Mosque of Damascus (706-716)











Great Mosque of Cordoba 706-716





Visigoth

influenced

shell over

mirhrab









Early Islamic Art and Architecture: A Model of Cultural ...resources.css.edu/academics/his/middleground... · Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632 Expansion under the “Rightly

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