Islamic Middle East
The term Islamic is used here to define the art and material
culture of those lands where the dominant religion is Islam, the
religion revealed to the prophet Muhammad in seventh century
Arabia. The Islamic lands have encompassed at different times Spain
to the west and as far as the Malay world and China to the east.
Within the broad definition of Islamic art there are both works
made in the service of religious belief, such as Qur’ans or
tombstones, as well as objects for secular use such as metalwork
and ceramic vessels
Despite regional diversities and changes across time and place,
there are a number of defining features of Islamic art: these
include the pre-eminent role of Arabic calligraphy; the
predominance of geometric and arabesque designs and the absence of
figural representation in religious contexts.
Arabic is the language in which the Qur’an, the holy book of
Muslims, was revealed and it was in the Arabic script that it was
written down. Beautiful scripts were developed to copy the Qur’an
and then were used in other contexts such as stone inscriptions or
ceramic bowls. The script became both a method of communication and
decoration. Other key elements are geometric designs: infinitely
repeating units that include circles and squares, and vegetal
ornament- designs that are often highly elaborate that feature
elegant intertwining stems, scrolls and fleshy leaves. These
elements either singly or combined, appear on many objects of
Islamic art.
Image caption: Marble panel from the
cenotaph of Muhammad
From Cairo, Egypt, AH 356/AD 967