Curated Guides > Syllabus > Islamic Art and Architecture Syllabus
Islamic Art and Architecture Syllabus
This syllabus presents an introductory survey of the diverse art and architecture of the Islamic world from the 6th to the 21st century. Course content is organized thematically, geographically, and more or less chronologically.
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Collapse AllThe world that Islam inherited was a diverse and complex one. In this first unit, we learn about the societies and material culture of some regions that became part of the Islamic world. We will then explore the new seventh-century religion of Islam and the scholarly framing of what we call “Islamic art.”
Mosaic, Great Mosque of Damascus (photo: american rugbier, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Before Islam
- A brief history of the cultures of Asia
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Ancient West Asia: cradle of civilization
- A brief history of the art of South Asia: prehistory–c. 500 C.E.
- Byzantine Egypt and the Coptic period, an introduction
- Reimagining Africa’s place in Byzantine art history
- A new religion
- Islam, an introduction
- The Five Pillars of Islam
- Islamic art
- Arts of the Islamic world
- Framing Islamic art
- Continuity and innovation: early Islamic art and architecture of the Umayyads and Abbasids
- In what surprising ways (surprising to you as a reader) was the world connected across geography, language, culture, and society before the rise of Islam?
- What are some important tenets of Islam, and how are these beliefs readable in the visual and built culture of the Islamic world?
- What is “Islamic Art”? Draft a 1–2 sentence definition. You will be asked to do this again in Unit 12.
- prehistory
- betyl
- zakat
- hajj
- material culture
- shahada
- salat
- sawm
- stele
- Qurʾan
- Hijri
- ostraka
Key Questions
Key Terms
The term “Islamic art” encompasses all of the visual and material production of the Islamic world; it does not refer exclusively to religious art. However, in this second unit, we will focus on new art forms that developed for the practice of Islam, including the Qur’an and mosques.
Qur'an fragment (detail), in Arabic, before 911, vellum, MS M.712, fols. 19v–20r, 23 x 32 cm, possibly Iraq (The Morgan Library and Museum, New York)
- Scripture
- The Quʾran
- Adorning the Qurʾan
- The Qurʾan and the development of Arabic scripts between the 7th and 12th centuries
- A Qurʾan manuscript from coastal East Africa
- Prayer and pilgrimage
- Mosque architecture, an introduction
- Common types of mosque architecture
- Hajj
- The Kaʿaba
- What is the Qurʾan and how is it organized?
- What are some design features of Qurʾan manuscripts that aid in their reading and/or recitation?
- What are some architectural elements unique to mosques?
- What role does the Kaʿaba play for Muslims?
- mosque
- masjid
- jāmīʿ
- minbar
- mihrab
- muṣḥaf
- folio
- qibla
- minaret
- maqsura
- sura
- aya
- Qurʾan
- illumination
- Kaʿaba
- parchment
- People of the Book
Key Questions
Key Terms
After the death of the Prophet in 632 C.E., the Islamic world was led by a succession of four caliphs (literally “successors”) who knew the Prophet personally. Then, in the wake of the fourth’s death in 661, a governor in Syria took power and established his own ruling government, the Umayyad dynasty (661–750 C.E.). In this unit, we will explore how Umayyad caliphs and amirs (princes) presented their power and fashioned themselves as rulers through the commissioning of art and architecture.
Map indicating the phases of expansion under the Prophet Mohammad, the Rashidun caliphate, and the Umayyad Dynasty
- The inheritance of classical antiquity
- Arts of the Islamic world: The early period
- The Umayyads, an introduction
- Mosaics in the early Islamic world
- The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra)
- The Great Mosque of Damascus
- Quṣayr ʿAmra
- Marwan tiraz
- Conserving an Egyptian Tunic
- A dynasty displaced
- The Great Mosque of Córdoba
- Khalaf, Pyxis
- Pyxis of al-Mughira
- The vibrant visual cultures of the Islamic West, an introduction
- What types of classical architectural forms were adopted by Islamic patrons, artisans, and builders?
- What are desert castles and what was their political function?
- What can we learn about the Umayyads from examining the Great Mosque of Damascus and Dome of the Rock?
- How did the Umayyads fashion themselves as pious and rightful leaders of the Islamic world through the commissioning of Dome of the Rock and the Great Mosque of Damascus?
- What event prompted the relocation of one Umayyad prince to Spain?
- spolia
- tesserae
- horseshoe arch
- hypostyle
- Umayyad
- caliph
- ivory
- pyxis (plural: pyxides)
- amir
- stucco
- inscription
- bismillah
- fresco
- mosaic
- barrel vault
- apodyterium
- tepidarium
- caldarium
Key Questions
Key Terms
The Islamic world expanded and diversified politically in the centuries after the Umayyads. In this unit we will learn about the arts of the Abbasid dynasty, whose power was centralized in Iraq, and the arts of the Fatimid dynasty, whose power was centralized in Egypt. While they were in fierce political and ideological competition, the Abbasids and the Fatimids were culturally and economically connected to one another (and to the rest of the world!) via trade networks that facilitated the movement of people and material culture across great distances.
A map of the Abbasid Caliphate around 850 C.E., with Baghdad circled in red (map: Cattette, CC BY 4.0)
- The Abbasid caliphate
- Arts of the Abbasid Caliphate
- The founding of Baghdad
- Samarra, a palatial city
- Folio from a Qur’an
- The Indian Ocean World and the Belitung Wreck
- The Fatimid caliphate/imamate
- Islamic art c. 900–1400
- The beginnings of Cairo, the city victorious
- Rock crystal ewer, San Marco
- The Cairo Geniza: medieval preservation and reuse
- Gold pendant with inset enamel decoration
- What was Samarra and why was it important?
- What can we learn about the Abbasid dynasty and the Fatimid dynasty by examining the cities that they founded?
- What are some examples of how these dynasties were connected to other parts of the world via trade?
- What is the Cairo Geniza and why is it so important to historians?
- Sunni
- Shiʿa
- naskh
- thuluth
- muṣḥaf
- Cairo
- Baghdad
- bifolium
- parchment
- ewer
- rock crystal
- Kufic
- Geniza
Key Questions
Key Terms
In the centuries leading up to the fall of the Abbasids and the Fatimids, many smaller dynasties controlled regions of the Islamic world but did not claim caliphal status. Most of these dynasties, such as the Aghlabids and later the Almoravids, pledged their loyalties to the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad. Others, such as the Hammadids, pledged their loyalty to the Fatimid caliphate/imamate in Cairo. In this unit, we will survey some of the art and architecture of these smaller courts, looking both to the west (maghreb) and to the east (sharq).
Mihrab (prayer niche), c. 1270, from the Beyhekim Mosque, Konya, Turkey (Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin)
- To the west of Egypt (North Africa and Iberia)
- Arts of the Islamic world: The medieval period
- The Great Mosque of Kairouan
- The Mosque of Bāb al-Mardūm (the Church of Santa Cruz), Toledo
- Great Mosque of Tlemcen
- Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad mosque
- The Cappella Palatina
- To the east of Iraq (Iran, Central Asia, South Asia)
- The Great Mosque (or Masjid-e Jameh) of Isfahan
- Artist, scribe, and poet: Abu Zayd and 12th-century Iranian ceramics
- The Samanid Mausoleum, Bukhara (Uzbekistan)
- Samanid plate
- Dado Panel, Courtyard of the Royal Palace of Mas’ud III
- Two Royal Figures
- The Qutb complex and early Sultanate architecture
- In what ways did the Great Mosque of Kairouan and the Great Mosque of Tlemcen facilitate urban life in North Africa? What architectural features are shared between these two mosques?
- How is the Great Mosque of Isfahan (in Iran) similar to and different from the Great Mosques of Kairouan and Tlemcen (in North Africa)?
- In what ways did ceramicists use inscriptions, and even poetic verse?
- How did Islamic architecture in Delhi adopt design elements from Hindu and Buddhist structures? Which design features identify the Qutb complex as Islamic?
- muqarnas
- Berber
- Amazigh
- Almovarid
- Zawiya
- Maghreb
- sharq
- madrasa
- blind arch
- maqsura
- mudéjar
- alfiz (plural: alfices)
- minʾai
- luster
- majilis
- iwan (Persian: "eyvan")
Key Questions
Key Terms
The year 1258 marks a watershed for the political history of the Islamic world. The city of Baghdad fell to Mongol invaders (by Ghengis Khan’s grandson, to be exact) and the Abbasid caliphate came to a definitive end. In this unit we discover the art and architecture of the descendants of these conquerors who ruled great swaths of the Islamic world for centuries. First we will look at the Ilkhanids (1256–1335) who accepted Islam and ruled over Muslim subjects but were political vassals of the enormous Mongol Empire that spanned from Ukraine to Korea in the thirteenth century. Then we will examine the art and architecture of the Timurids (1370–1507) who fashioned themselves as decedents of the Mongols and aimed to restore the empire to its former glory.
Map of West and East Asia in the 14th century (underlying map © Google)
- The Ilkhanid dynasty
- The rise and fall of the Mongol Empire
- Folio from a Shahnama, The Bier of Iskandar (Alexander the Great)
- Bahram Gur Fights the Karg (Horned Wolf)
- Bahram Gur in a Peasant’s House
- Making and mutilating manuscripts of the Shahnama
- The Timurid dynasty
- Timur’s entry into Samarkand, page from the Zafarnama
- Samarkand, crossroad of cultures
- Prince Baysunghur’s Rose Garden (Gulistan) by Saʿdi
- Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
- What are some examples of how the Ilkhanids took on new identities as the rulers of Islamic lands?
- What is the Shahnameh and how is it organized?
- What is the role of Alexander the Great in the Shahnameh? Why would the story of Alexander appeal to Mongol patrons?
- What happened to the “Great Mongol Shahnameh” in the 20th century?
- Shahnameh
- Zafarnameh
- Ilkhanid
- Injuid
- Timurid
- mausoleum
- folio
- Gulestan
- book painting
Key Questions
Key Terms
In the 14th century, a new power rose to prominence in Egypt. These were the Mamluks (mamluk is an Arabic word meaning “owned” or “slave”), a class of previously enslaved military recruits who had been brought from Central Asia to serve the Abbasid empire. When the Abbasids fell, the well-organized Mamluks stepped in and maintained control over some Islamic lands. They founded their own political entity, a sultanate, which relied on military and not religious authority (they did not claim to be caliphs). Uniquely, the inheritance of this military authority was not hereditary, it was merit-based. In this unit we also explore artistic production beyond the Mamluks and examine how Islam connected societies across vast geographies in this period, including in West Africa, East Africa, Sicily, and China.
Qibla iwan, madrasa and Friday Mosque of Sultan Hasan, 1356–1363/758–764 AH, Cairo, Egypt (photo: Mustafa Shorbaji, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- The Mamluk sultanate
- Madrasa and Friday Mosque of Sultan Hasan, Cairo
- A glass lamp: illuminating sultan Hassan’s mosque and madrasa
- Mamluk Qur’an
- Mamluk bindings
- A Mamluk candlestick base
- Muhammad ibn al-Zain, Basin (Baptistère de Saint Louis)
- A global medieval
- Great Mosque of Djenné
- Timbuktu
- Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania
- The Great Mosque of Xi’an
- What are the different parts included in the “mosque complex” of Sultan Hasan?
- What are some features of Mamluk book production?
- What were the materials used in the Baptistère de Saint Louis? And how would you describe its decorative program?
- In what ways did the Great Mosque of Xi’an adopt design elements from local architecture?
- What is Islamic and what is not Islamic about the architecture of Cappella Palatina?
- madrasa
- maydan
- waqf (plural, awqāf)
- muqarnas
- dikka
- naskh
- palatinate
- mud-built
Key Questions
Key Terms
The 15th century saw drastic shifts in the political and cultural makeup of the Iberian Peninsula, culminating in the fall of the last Islamic power in Iberia, the Nasrid dynasty (1232–1492). In this unit, we will discuss the art and architecture of the diverse communities in the region at this time and examine how design languages were shared across the religious, linguistic, and political boundaries.
Bifolium from the Pink Qur’an, from Spain, 13th century, ink, gold, silver, and opaque watercolor on paper, 31.8 x 50.2 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
- Bifolium from the Pink Qur’an
- The Alhambra
- Book of Morals of Philosophers
- Medieval synagogues in Toledo, Spain
- Sacred geometry in a mudéjar-style ceiling
- The complex geometry of Islamic design
- Treasure from Spain, lusterware as luxury
- Amazigh Kabyle brooches (fibulae)
- What are the main components of the Alhambra and how are they connected to one another?
- Describe the relationship between Christian and Islamic powers in Iberia in the 14th and 15th centuries.
- How were classical Greek texts preserved over the centuries? When, where, and by whom?
- How did synagogue architecture in the Islamic world employ Islamic design elements?
- Who are the Amazigh?
- mudejar
- Mozarab
- Amazigh
- sajada mark
- lusterware
- fibulae (plural:
) - Xàtiva
- tessellation
- Aït Yenni
Key Questions
Key Terms
The rise of three major empires of the Islamic world–the Ottomans (1299–1922), Safavids (1501–1736), and Mughals (1526–1857)–marks the beginning of what many historians call the “early modern period” in the Islamic world. In this unit, we begin with the art and architecture of the Mughal empire, whose political power was centralized in the cities of Delhi, Lahore, and Agra. In this unit, we will examine how the Mughals were actively engaged in history making (like the Timurids, the Mughals traced their lineage to the Mongols) and how art and architecture helped them to simultaneously embed themselves into local societies and construct their imperial power on a global stage.
Medallion Carpet, The Ardabil Carpet (detail), Unknown artist (Maqsud Kashani is named on the carpet’s inscription), Persian: Safavid Dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. inch), 1539-40 C.E., Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan or Kirman, Iran (Victoria and Albert Museum) (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
- The Mughals
- Arts of the Islamic world: The later period
- The court carpets of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires, an introduction
- The Taj Mahal
- Goa stone and gold case
- Cashmere shawls
- Humayun’s tomb
- A closer look at Mughal manuscript painting
- The Mughal painting tradition, an introduction
- Exploring color in Mughal paintings
- Illustration from the Akbarnama
- Bichitr, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings
- Shah Jahan’s portrait, emeralds, and the exotic at the Mughal court
- Portrait of Shah ‘Abbas I of Iran
- Why was the Taj Mahal built and how would you distinguish it from other related buildings?
- What was the process of Mughal book illustration like? How were pigments made? What were brushes made of?
- Who was Shah Jahan and what material evidence do we have for his worldview and aspirations?
- What connections existed between the Mughal Empire and the rest of the world?
- buta
- pashm
- tili
- saz style
- cenotaph
- jali
- hasht bishisht
- onion dome
- Akbarnama
Key Questions
Key Terms
In this unit, we examine the art and architecture of the Safavid Empire, exploring the visual and built culture of greater Iran during the early modern period. The art of the Safavids was formative for the field of Islamic art and continues to be a well-studied period of artistic production.
Safavid empire with Uzbeks
- The Safavids
- The Safavids, an introduction
- The Ardabil Carpet
- Chihil Sutun, a Safavid palace
- Wine bearers in landscape, a Safavid textile
- Coins of faith and power at the British Museum
- Riza-yi ʿAbbasi, Seated calligrapher
- A closer look at Safavid manuscript painting
- Painting from the Shahnameh of Firdausi
- The Court of Gayumars—part 1
- The Court of Gayumars—part 2
- The Ardashirnama: a Judeo-Persian manuscript
- Groom and Rider drawing
- Who is Shah Ismail and what did he achieve?
- What are “shrines” and how was pilgrimage to them encouraged during the Safavid period?
- What are the Ardabil carpets?
- Who is Gayumars? Describe the scene of “The Court of Gayumars” in the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp I?
- shrine
- Twelver Shi'ism
- Karbala
- Najaf
- muraqqa
- haft-rangi
- aineh-kari
- talar
- nowruz
- sericulture
- Ardashir
Key Questions
Key Terms
The Ottoman Empire was founded in Eastern Anatolia in 1299 (by Osman I) and it slowly grew over the fourteenth and early fifteenth century. In the year 1453, Ottoman forces gained control of Constantinople and the waning Byzantine Empire officially collapsed, marking a significant political shift in West Asia. The Ottomans then expanded their empire across Southern Europe, the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Iraq, and the Hejaz (the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula). These same Ottomans ruled into the beginning of the 20th century, before they collapsed in the wake of World War I.
Map of the Ottoman Empire, video still from "The fall of the Ottoman Empire" by Ted-Ed
- The Ottoman Empire in Anatolia
- The rise of the Ottoman Empire
- Muradiye Mosque
- Topkapı Palace tiles
- Mimar Sinan, Şehzade Mosque, Istanbul
- Mimar Sinan, Rüstem Pasha Mosque, Istanbul
- Mimar Sinan, Mosque of Selim II, Edirne
- The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii)
- The Ottoman Empire beyond Anatolia
- Bayt Farhi, a Jewish house in Damascus
- Qaʿa (Damascus room)
- Architecture and ritual in the Ghriba synagogue, Tunisia
- The fall of the Ottoman Empire
- Representing the Prophet
- Understanding historical images of the Prophet Muhammad
- Who was Mimar Sinan and what were his most influential works?
- Who were the Ottoman Empire’s primary competition? How, when, and where did this play out?
- How was the Ottoman empire diverse? What united it?
- What are some of the different historical perspectives about representing the Prophet Muhammad in illustration?
- tazar
- ʿataba
- qaʿa
- iznik
- saz style
- Topkapi
- Mevlevi
- cuerda seca
- Tanzimat
Key Questions
Key Terms
In this unit, we discuss how modernity was received by, and imposed on, the Islamic world in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We will discuss the notion of Orientalism and how the colonial consumption of the Islamic world drove the collecting of Islamic art in Europe and America. We will also discuss contemporary questions of conservation and repatriation.
Cover of Le Petit Journal, with copy of Downey portrait of Sultan Abdülhamid II (as a prince), 1869
- A global modernity
- Photograph of Abdülhamid II
- Writing box with utensils, decorated with photographs of Nasir a-Din Shah, his court, and views of Paris and Tehran, Iran
- Consuming the Islamic world
- Orientalism
- Staging the Egyptian harem for Western eyes
- Collecting and displaying Islamic art
- Installing galleries of Islamic art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Conservation and repatriation
- A race against time: manuscripts and digital preservation
- Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, Jobar (Syria)
- Conserving the Emperor’s Carpet
- Repatriating artworks
- Provenance and the Antiquities Market
- Nasrid Tower restoration
- How did Islamic leaders imagine and fashion themselves as modern world leaders? How did they embrace a Western modernity in the late 19th and early 20th century? And how did they reject it?
- What were the major drivers of collecting Islamic art in Europe and the United States?
- What are three concerns that contemporary curators have when installing Islamic art galleries?
- Having now almost completed this course in Islamic Art, draft your own definition of “Islamic Art.” How is this definition different from the one you composed for Unit 1?
- fez
- selamlik
- orientalism
- colonialism
- postcolonial
Key Questions
Key Terms
This last unit of the syllabus introduces modern (early–mid 20th century) and contemporary (late 20th century–now!) art that responds to the traditions of Islamic art and architecture that we have studied over the course of this syllabus.
Jewad Selim, Young Man and His Wife, 1953, oil on canvas, 51 x 76 cm (private collection)
- Modern
- To see an eclipse: crescents in Jewad Selim’s Baghdadi modernism
- Ibrahim El-Salahi, Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams
- Mahmoud Hammad, Arabic Writing no. 11
- Fahrelnissa Zeid, Towards a Sky
- Mobilizing grief: Mahmoud Sabri’s acts of solidarity
- Contemporary
- Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, Women of Allah series
- Lalla Essaydi, Converging Territories #11
- Shahzia Sikander, Pleasure Pillars
- Abdoulaye Ndoye, Ahmed Baba
- Jordan Nassar, A Mountain Looms
- How does the work of these contemporary artists respond to or build off of themes, stories, and techniques of Islamic art and architecture?
- Describe the artistic connections between the Islamic world and the Soviet Union in the mid-century and between the Islamic world and Western Europe.
- What are some feminist themes that contemporary artists in this unit have engaged with?
- Are the terms “Modern Islamic art” and “Contemporary Islamic art” useful? Would you use these terms to describe any of the artworks in this unit? Why or why not?
- poesie graphique
- Ahmad Baba
- palimpsest
- Sahel
- Venice Biennale
- impasto
- abjad
- World's Columbian Exposition
- Abstract Expressionism
- Fauvist
- male gaze
- wasli
