Most of the lands conquered by the Muslim Arabs were parts of two great world empires: Sassanid Persia, in the area of modern Iran, and the eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire which ruled what is now Turkey, the Balkans, and parts of western Europe and North Africa. The art and architecture of the earliest Islamic dynasties was profoundly influenced by the traditions of these cultures, but at the same time there are important and obvious differences.

*Palace of Shapur I at Ctesiphon, late 3rd century
Rock Carvings at Naqsh-i Rustam, Investiture of Ardashir I, 227-243 a.d.
Rock Carvings at Taq-i-Bustan, 6th century
Silver hunting plates, Peroz Hunting, 457-484 a.d.
Head of a Sassanian King, possibly Shapur II, 4th century a.d.
Vases with dancing girls, 5th - 6th century

St. Apollinare in Classe, near Ravenna 533-549
*Transfiguration of Christ in the apse of the Monastery of St.  Catherine,
Mt. Sinai, 540
St. Constanza, Rome c. 340, example of a central plan church
Church of the Holy Sepulcre, Jerusalem, original construction c. 326-336
*Compare the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 688-692
St. Simeon Stylites, Kalat Seman, Syria, c. 470
Icon of Christ from Mt. Sinai, 7th century
Icon of the Virgin and Saints, Mt. Sinai, 6th century
Rabula Gospels, written 586 in Zagba, Mesopotamia (Iraq), text in Syriac
Rossano Gospels, late 6th century
*Church of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, 532-537.  Became the Ayasofa Mosque in Istanbul after 1453.
 
 

The layout of a mosque is adapted to the religious requirements of Islam. Muslims are obligated to pray towards Mecca five times a day. These prayers can be recited anywhere. Usually the entire community came together for a group prayer service on Fridays. Thus the main mosque in a city is called the Congregational or Friday Mosque.

Islamic services comprise prayers and readings from the Koran. They are much simpler than the elaborate Christian ritual of the mass. There is no ordained priesthood as there is in Christianity,  any Muslim of moral life and sincere faith may serve as imam (prayer leader).  A typical mosque is a simple covered space with some indication of the direction towards Mecca.  The first mosque was the house of Muhammad, and early mosques show the influence of domestic architecture.

The wall in the direction of Mecca is called the qibla; there is usually a niche, called the mihrab that is elaborately adorned--with rich materials and decoration, often verses from the Koran, but no figures. A minbar is a raised platform where the preacher stands. A muezzein calls the faithful to prayer, often from a tower called a minaret. Before praying a Moslem must cleanse him or herself.  Usually there is a source of water where worshippers wash their hands and feet before prayer. Water is customary, but not mandatory. In the desert one can ritually purify him or herself with sand.

Mosques became elaborate monuments that expressed the power of Islam and of the rulers and dynasties that built them. Minarets are multiplied and enlarged far beyond practical necessity, for example. No matter how elaborate the building and its decoration, however, the basic religious features remain simple.
 
 

*Mosque of Ibn Tulun, Cairo, 876-878
*Great Mosque at Kairouan, Tunesia, plan goes back to the 9th century

Complex of Sultan Hasan Madrasa, Cairo, 1361
*Congregational Mosque, Isfahan, kibla wall added by Uljaytu, 1310
Illustration of a mosque from manuscript of the Maqamat (Assemblies) of
al-Hariri, 1237
*Illustration of a mosque from manuscript of the Kitab Siyar-i Nabi (Life of the Prophet), 1594
Kutubiya Mosque, Marrakesh, 12th century
Ala al-Din, Konya (Turkey), 1220
Compare St. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, c. 490
 
 

*Great Mosque at Cordoba, built 785, remodelled 961-966
*Congregational Mosque,  Isfahan, kibla wall added by Uljaytu, 1310
Sokullu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Istanbul, 1570-1571
Tile mihrab from Kashan (Iran) now in Berlin Museum
Wooden mihrab from Mausoleum of Sayyida Nafisa, Cairo, 1138-1135

Mosque lamps and candlesticks
Minbar from Marrakesh, 1146-96
Koran Stand, 1359

Compare apse mosaic from St. Vitale, Ravenna, 532-547
With the mihrab of the Sokullu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Istanbul, 1570-1571

*Great Mosque, Samarra, 848-852
Ziar Minaret, Isfahan, 13th century
Kutubiya Mosque, Marrakesh, 12th century
Selimiye Complex, Edirne, 1569-75
Compare Bell Tower of St. Apollinare in Classe
 
 

Ottoman bindings, 16th century
Spanish Koran, 1182
Buyid Koran, 11th century
Mamluk Koran, 1368
Safavid Koran, 1537

*Illustration from a manuscript of the Kitab Siyar-i Nabi (Life of the Prophet), 1594, Muhammad, Abu Bakar, and 'Ali on their way to Mecca.

Compare Entry of Christ into Jerusalem from the Rossano Gospels, 6th century

Persian illustrations of Muhammed's Night Journey from a book of poetry, Khamsa of Nizami, copies dating from the Timurid period, 1494 and the Safavid period, 1539.
 
 

Study Question:    Think about the relationship between Muslim practice and mosque design.  Which features seem directly related to practice and which may be borrowed from other traditions?

For more information of the beliefs and practices of Islam, see F. Denny,
An Introduction to Islam.

A useful introduction to Islam is found at  http://www.islamicart.com

This site is the source for most of the illustrations in the syllabus.