The arts of West and Central Asia play a key role in the history of world art, giving form to the vast cultural interchanges that have occurred in these lands that link the European and Asian peoples.
Key Ideas
  • Most important building for Muslim worship is the mosque.
  • Islamic people pray towards the city of Mecca, the most holiest site in Islam (identified by a niche in the wall of a mosque, called a mihrab)
  • The mirhrab is a niche in the quibla wall (MN-QW: alphabetical!)
  • Artworks include calligraphy with arabesques (interweaving and floral motifs and geometric patterns) and tessellations
  • Calligraphy is the most prized art form (Persian Manuscripts, Qur'an)
Vocabulary
Islam
Mosque
Muhammad
Qur'an (Koran)
Dome of the Rock
5 Pillars of Faith
mihrab
imam
qibla
minaret
arabesque
​calligraphy (kufic)
tessellation
Brief History of Islam
  • Founder is Islam is the prophet Muhammad and began preaching in 613 BCE.
  • Muhammad exclaimed that there is only one God (Allah) and that he is the chosen messenger to the people.
  • Indigenous Arabs were generally polytheists
  • There are 5 Pillars of Islam
    1. Proclaim that there is only one God and that his prophet is Muhammad
    2. Muslims should pray 5 times per day toward Mecca
    3. Provide for the poor
    4. Must fast during the month of Ramadan
    5. Make a pilgrimage to Mecca
  • Expanded to North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Spain, India, and Central Asia by the 7th century.
  • After the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258, the Islamic world split into 2 huge cultural divisions: East vs. West
  • 2 principal divisions: Shiite vs. Sunni