Book bindings made in Egypt and Syria during the reign of the Mamluk Sultanate represent the pinnacle of Islamic book design.
Art of the Islamic world
Fatimid goldsmiths may have been inspired to use cloisonné enamel-work by imitating contemporary enameled gold jewelry from Byzantium.
Gold pendant with inset enamel decoration
This luxury pen-case is made from papier mâché with lacquer painting, a tradition inspired by Chinese lacquer.
Lacquer pen-case, signed by the artist Ashraf ...
The Mosque of Bāb al-Mardūm—and its conversion into a church—embodies the multi-religious reality of medieval Spain, where architecture and art were informed by the cultural complexity of such a dynamic setting.
The Mosque of Bāb al-Mardūm (the Church ...
The precision of the line and the attention to texture allow this drawing to stand on its own as a finished work.
Groom and Rider drawing
One of the widespread myths about Islamic art is that images of living creatures are banned.
Paintings in the early Islamic world
Was it permissible to use gold to write and illuminate the Qur’an?
Gold in the Qur’an
The luxurious space of the Damascus Room was ikely for an affluent family to host visitors. The opulent décor and poetic inscriptions were designed to make the space feel like a retreat from the bustling commercial center. Explore the masterpiece with Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The Damascus Room at The Metropolitan Museum ...
An elaborate mausoleum was a monument of the Samanid dynasty's new, thriving capital of Bukhara—and was one of the great architectural masterpieces of Central Asia from the early tenth century.
The Samanid Mausoleum, Bukhara (Uzbekistan)
Mosaics were highly valued throughout the first few centuries of Islam and were used alongside other precious materials as one element of elite architectural display.
Mosaics in the early Islamic world
Located at the crossroads of several trade routes from the 2nd millennium B.C., Aleppo was ruled successively by the Hittites, Assyrians, Arabs, Mongols, Mamelukes and Ottomans
Aleppo
The historic town of Samarkand is a crossroad and melting pot of the world's cultures.
Samarkand, crossroad of cultures
In this partly unfinished building, Persian master builders experimented with architectural and structural solutions later used in the construction of Samarkand, the capital of the Timurid Empire.
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
![Ornate frontispiece of a 10th-century Qur'an, probably from Egypt, with arabesque decoration in gold and overlapping chain-patterns in white. CORANUS, literis Cuficis. Codex membranaceus, sec. fortassis xi. In Quarto minori. [l3,735.], 900–100 (British Library)](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/10th-century-Quran-add_ms_11735-f001v-2r-rotated-1-570x350.jpeg)
Since Islam prohibits the representation of the human or animal form in religious contexts, Islamic art finds its ultimate spiritual expression in beautiful calligraphy and illumination of the sacred script.
Illumination of the Qur’an
Dr. Mustafa Shah describes the historical context of the Qur’an—its revelation, its transmission and codification and its shared spiritual heritage with the other Abrahamic faiths.
The Qur’an
Explore the rich effects of a painting from an illustrated manuscript of the Shahnameh — or ‘Book of Kings’ — the national epic of Iran composed by poet Firdawsi around 1010.
Looking at Persian painting
Transform your course, from a live Smarthistory webinar: Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay on the Dome of the Rock
From a live Smarthistory webinar: Dr. Elizabeth ...
Hajj is the most well-known pilgrimage in Islam. Here Dr Sophia Arjana discusses its role in the religion, whilst also looking at Shi‘a and regional pilgrimages, sainthood and sacred space in Islam.
Islamic pilgrimages and sacred spaces
he exquisite, lidded container is sculpted out of ivory and dated to the mid-10th century during the reign of the Umayyad dynasty in Spain.
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