Islamic Art and Architecture 650-1250

367 Pages·2002·88.82 MB·English

by  Richard Ettinghausen

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Islamic Ai. ndA e 650-1250
Richard Ettinghai Grabar,
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Marilyn Jenkins-?
This richly illustrated book provides an unsur-
passed overview of Islamic art and architecture
from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries, a
time of the formation of a new artistic culture
and its first, medieval, flowering in the vast
area from the Atlantic to India. Inspired by
Ettinghausen and Grabar's original text,
this book has been completely rewritten and
updated to take into account recent informa-
tion and methodological advances.
The volume focuses special attention on the
development of numerous regional centres
of art in Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Syria,
Anatolia, Iraq and Yemen as well as the
western and northeastern provinces of Iran.
It traces the cultural and artistic evolution
of such centres in the seminal early Islamic
period and examines the wealth of different
ways of creating a beautiful environment.
The book approaches the arts with new
classifications of architecture and architectural
decoration, the art of the object and the art of
the book.
With many new illustrations, often in colour,
this volume broadens the picture of Islamic
artistic production and discusses objects in a
wide range of media, including textiles, ceram-
ics, metal and wood. The book incorporates
extensive accounts of the cultural contexts of
the arts and defines the originality of each
period. A final chapter explores the impact of
Islamic art on the creativity of non-Muslims
within the Islamic realm and in areas
surrounding the Muslim world.

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
PELICAN HISTORYOF ART
FOUNDINGEDITOR:NIKOLAUSPEVSNER
RICHARD ETTINGHAUSEN OLEG GRABAR
MARILYNJENKINS-MADINA
ISLAMICARTANDARCHITECTURE
650-1250
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For Maan
Henry, Olivia, and Margaret
and to the memory ofRichard Ettinghausen
Copyright©2001 OlegGrabar, Elizabeth Ettinghausen, and Maps
MarilynJenkins-Madina
Some sectionsof thisbook were previously published in TheArt pagesXU—xm TheIslamicWorld
andArchitectureofIslam650-1250by Penguin Books Ltd, 1987
12-13 CentralIslamicLandsinEarly IslamicTimes
All rightsreserved. Thisbook may notbereproduced, in whole 80-81 Western IslamicLandsin EarlyIslamicTimes
orin part, in any form (beyond that permitted by Sections 107
and 108 ofthe U.S. CopyrightLawand exceptbyreviewers for 102—03 Eastern IslamicLandsin Early IslamicTimes
the Public Press), without written permission from the 136—37 Eastern IslamicLandsin Medieval IslamicTimes
publishers.
184-85 Central IslamicLandsin Medieval IslamicTimes
SPertinitnedEharnhdarbdotunbdy BbeystC-SsetGrTayppheiscest,teSrinLgtadp,orHeong Kong 266-67 Western IslamicLandsinMedievalIslamicTimes
Designed by Sally Salvcsen
Library ofCongress Catai.oging-in-Publication Data
Ettinghausen, Richard.
TheartandarchitectureofIslam 650-1250 / Richard
Ettinghausen,OlegGrabar, MarilynJenkins-Madina.-2nded.
p. cm. (Yale University Press Pelican historyofart)
Includesbibliographical referencesand index.
—
isu\ 0-300-08867-1 (cloth : alk. paper) ESBN0-300-08869-8
(alk. paper)
1. Art, Islamic. 2. Architecture, Islamic. 3—. Art, Medieval
Islamic Empire. 4. Architecture, Medieval IslamicEmpire. I.
Grabar,Oleg. 11.Jenkins, Marilyn, 1940 ill. Title. IV. Series.
\6260E79 2001
—
709-.i7'67i0902i dc2i
00-043769
1111 11'AGK: Detail ofa Minbarofbone and various speciesof
wood from the Kutubi\\a Mosque, Marrakesh, begun 532/1137.
Kadf Palace, Marrakesh
1 5
Contents
Preface to theSecondEdition VII
Preface to the FirstEdition X
ChartofthePrincipalDynasties xi
INTRODUCTION
I. TheRiseofIslamandtheArtistic ClimateofthePeriod 3
part one: Early Islamic Artand Architecture (c-.650-c.1000)
Prologue: HistoricalandCulturalSetting 10
2. CentralIslamicLands 15
Architecture and Architectural Decoration 1
TheArtoftheObject 59
TheArtoftheBook 73
Conclusion 78
3. Western IslamicLands 83
Architectureand Architectural Decoration 83
The ArtoftheObject 91
TheArtoftheBook 98
Conclusion 100
4. Eastern IslamicLands 105
Architectureand Architectural Decoration 105
The Art ofthe Object 116
TheArtoftheBook 128
Conclusion 129
part two: Medieval Islamic Art and Architecture (<\i000-1250)
Prologue: HistoricalandCulturalSetting 133
5. Eastern Islamic Lands 139
Architectureand Architectural Decoration 139
TheArtoftheObject 165
TheArtofthe Book 18
Conclusion 182
1
6. CentralIslamicLands 187
Part I The Fatimids in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria
Architecture and Architectural Decoration 187
The Artofthe Object 201
The Art ofthe Book 21
Conclusion 212
Part II The Saljuqs, Artuqids, Zangids, and Ayyubids in Iraq, Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt
Architectureand Architectural Decoration 215
The Art ofthe Object 243
The Artofthe Book 257
Conclusion 264
7. Western Islamic Lands 269
Architectureand Architectural Decoration 269
The ArtoftheObject 274
The Art ofthe Book 285
Conclusion 288
conclusion: The Impact ofIslamic Art
8. IslamicArtandnon-Muslims 291
List ofthe PrincipalAbbreviations 303
Notes 304
Bibliography 329
Glossary 338
Index 339
Preface to the Second Edition
However much admiration can and should be legitimately clear to us that it would be impossible to become aware of
bestowed upon the many volumes ofthe Pelican History of and responsive to all these conclusions and to the discus-
ArtinspiredbythelateSirNikolausPevsnersincethefoun- sions which led to them. Ifa scholarly consensus exists
dation oftheseries in 1953, readers' expectations regarding today on the formation and growth ofIslamic civilization
the appearance ofbooks dealing with the arts have greatly during the first six centuries ofits existence, it is not the
changed duringthe last decades. When theseries was taken same consensus as was operative thirty years ago. Thus it
over by Yale University Press in 1992, a new format was became evident that the very sequence ofthe first edition's
introduced, colour illustrations were added, and, without table ofcontents - The Caliphate, The Breakdown ofthe
lossinseriousnessofcontent,somethingofthestodginessof Caliphate,TheEleventhtoThirteenthCenturies-reflected
the earlier tomes disappeared. The volume on Islamic art an understandingofthefirstsixcenturiesofIslamicartand
and architecture after 1250, by Sheila Blair and Jonathan historyin terms whichmay havebeen justified a generation
Bloom (1994), shone by comparison with its predecessor ago, but which no longer corresponds to contemporary
and, prompted by John Nicoll, the director of Yale views ofthesecenturies. Some regions, such as the Arabian
University Press in London, a new version of the peninsula or Yemen, were neglected in the first version,
Ettinghausen-Grabar volume seemed in order. Marilyn whilesomeperiods, like thecomplicated timeoffeudal rule
Jenkins-Madina, Research Curator ofIslamic Art at the intwelfth-andthirteenth-centurySyria, Iraq,Anatolia,and
Metropolitan Museum ofArt in New York, a former stu- the Muslim West had notreceived sufficientattention.
dentaswellaslong-timecolleagueofRichardEttinghausen, A special problem was posed with respect to surveysand
was invited to revise and expand the sections dealing with excavations and to the information that new archeological
the decorative arts and with the arts ofthe book which had methods like photogrammetry, statistics, or spectographic
initially been written by Ettinghausen. DrJenkins-Madina analysesprovide. Thesehavebroughtto light, especially for
would like to thank Philippe deMontebello, Director the earlier centuries ofour survey, many traces ofhitherto
MetropolitanMuseumofArt, forlendinghis personalsup- unknown Islamic settlements, Islamic levels at long-lived
port and that ofthe Museum to this project. Oleg Grabar sites of habitation, thousands of ceramic types and
undertook to review, rewrite, and occasionally expand the sequencesessentialforreconstructingor,atleast, imagining
sections on architecture which he had authored in the first the material culture of the time. It was not possible to
edition. includeall thisinformation,and wechoseourexamples, for
Aswebegantoplanourwork,werealizedthatmuchcon- the most part, from among works ofsome aesthetic or his-
cerning our knowledge and understanding ofearly Islamic torical merit, leavingtoothersortootheroccasionsthetask
arthad changed since 1983-85, theyearswhen thefirstedi- ofassessingtheimmensedocumentationprovidedbyarche-
tion was finally put together, and even more so since 1959, ology. Anotherdifficultywasraisedbythemanyrepairsand
when the structure and plan of the book were set out. restorations which have affected buildings nearly every-
Explorations, excavations (published or not), doctoral dis- where. The result was often that the present appearance of
sertations all over the world, and exhibitions with learned a buildingdoes not correspond to whateverdescription and
catalogues have multiplied. Some thirty Departments of photographs we provided. Many ofthe repairs were basi-
Antiquities and academic institutions ofdifferent sorts put callymaintenanceworkconnectedwithexcellentarcheolog-
together newsletters, bulletins, checklists, occasionally even ical investigations; often, as in Isfahan orJerusalem, the
longer studies which contain much information about original state of a building was revealed. But, in other
known, unknown, or obscure remains. Thematic, regional, instances such as the rehabilitation ofFatimid buildings in
ortemporalmonographshaveintroduced new definitionsof Cairo, major overhauls took place which provided some
periods or proposed new groupings ofobjects and made it buildingswithatruly'new'look.Ourillustrationsandcom-
unnecessary to argue anew reasonable, if not always ments do not necessarily prepare the reader for the present
accepted, conclusions in otherwise accessible books. Even stateofsomemonuments. In spiteofmanyeffortsby archi-
though differentin scopeandexpression, several good, suc- tects and restorers to use care in their work, local needs,
cinctbooksnowexist which can introduceany readertothe meansand ambitionsaresometimesoutoftunewith histor-
stud} ofIslamic art. All these achievements ofa generation ical accuracy.
ofactive scholarship in the history ofthe field compelled us Threemajorchangeshavebeenintroduced. Thefirstone
to review the special needs ofa volume which was to cover involves the overall plan and organization of the book.
large areas and periods oftime and yet was not meant tobe Without alteringthe principleofa history, i.e. a chronologi-
simply an introduction. caldevelopment,oftheartsinlandsdominatedbyIslamand
Indoingso, wetookintoaccountthefactthatthefieldsof by Muslim power, we have divided these six centuries into
political, social, and cultural studies have been affected by two broad chronological categories: Early Islamic (roughly
anevenmorespectacularnumberofpublicationsofhitherto 650 to 1000) and Medieval Islamic (roughly 1000 to 1250).
unknown written sources, new interpretations, debates with The justifications for the divisions and some elaboration of
or without generally accepted conclusions, and new sensi- their historical and cultural characteristics arc provided in
tivities to cultural explanations and judgments. It became the prologue to each section. We realized the difficulties