Production of Meaning in Islamic Architecture and Ornament

Presents transformations in Islamic architecture and ornament in relation to parallel theological and political changes

This volume collects Yasser Tabbaa's investigative and interpretive articles on medieval Islamic architecture, ornament and gardens in Syria and Iraq, with comparative expansions into Anatolia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The monuments in question, many of which have vanished in recent years, are examined within the context of the political divisions and theological ruptures that characterised the Islamic world between the 11th and 13th centuries.

The writings cover such significant forms as muqarnas vaulting, proportioned Qur'anic scripts and cursive public inscriptions, and monument types such as the madrasa, the hospital, the tribunal (dar al-'adl) and the citadel palace. Collectively, they present medieval Islamic architecture as a transformative process that echoes Abbasid glory and signals future developments in later Islamic architecture.

Key Features
¿ Discusses monuments in Syria and Iraq, many of which have vanished without being properly studied
¿ Explores innovations in medieval Islamic architecture within the shifting political and theological landscape
¿ Reaffirms the centrality of the Abbasid Caliphate in these innovations and their dispersion throughout the Islamic world
¿ Expands on the role of poetry in the transmission of garden and fountain types from the eastern to the western Islamic world
¿ Explores the unprecedented expansion of Shi'i shrines in Syria, largely due to Iranian patronage

Yasser Tabbaa has taught Islamic art and architecture for 35 years in several major US universities, including MIT, the University of Michigan, and Oberlin College. He is the author of several books including Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo (1997) and The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival (2001).

List of contents

Part I: Syria; 1. Monuments with a Message: Propagation of Jihad under Nur al-Din; 2. Survivals and Archaisms in the Architecture of Northern Syria, ca. 1080-ca. 1150; 3. Circles of Power: Palace, Citadel and City in Ayyubid Aleppo; 4. Dayfa Khatun: Architectural Patron and Regent Queen; 5. Defending Ayyubid Aleppo: The Fortifications of al-Zahir Ghazi (1186-1216); 6. Originality and Innovation in Syrian Woodwork of the 12th and 13th Centuries; Part II: Iraq; 7. The Mosque of Nur al-Din in Mosul, 1170-72; 8. The Resurgence of the Baghdad Caliphate (1050-1258); 9. The Politics of Patronage in Medieval Mosul: Nur al-Din, Badr al-Din, and the Question of the Sunni Revival; Part III: Domes; 10. The Muqarnas Dome: Its Origin and Meaning; 11. The Muqarnas Domes and Portal Vaults of Cairo; 12. Andalusian Roots and Abbasid Homage in the Qubbat al-Barudiyyin in Marrakesh; Part IV: Writing; 13. The Transformation of Arabic Writing, I. Qur'anic Calligraphy; 14. The Transformation of Arabic Writing, II. The Public Text; 15. Canonicity and Control: The Sociopolitical Underpinnings of Ibn Muqla's Reform; Part V: Gardens; 16. Typology and Hydraulics in the Medieval Islamic Garden; 17. Control and Abandon: Images of Water in Arabic Gardens and Garden Poetry; 18. Eternal Hunting Fields: The Frescos at Qusayr 'Amra as a Pastoralist Interpretation of the Paradise Garden; Part VI: Shrines; 19. Invented Pieties: The Revival and Rebuilding of Shi'ite Shrines in Contemporary Syria; 20. Glorifying the Imamate: Architecture and Ritual in the Shi'i Shrines of Syria; 21. The Functional Aspects of Medieval Islamic Hospitals.

About the author

Yasser Tabbaa was Dorothy Kayser Hohenberg Chair of Excellence in the Department of Art at the University of Memphis until his retirement in 2014. He is the author of Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival (University of Washington Press, 2001; paperback edition, 2002), Najaf: The Gate of Wisdom, in collaboration with Sabrina Mervin (UNESCO, 2014) and The Ayyubid Era: Art and Architecture in Medieval Syria with A. Moaz, V. Daiber & Z. Takeiddin (MWNF, 2015).

Product details

• Authors: Yasser Tabbaa
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.09.2021
• EAN: 9781474482189
• ISBN: 978-1-4744-8218-9
• No. of pages: 536
• Series: Collected Papers in Islamic Art; Collected Papers in Islamic Ar
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Interior design, design; Non-fiction book > Dictionaries, reference works > Dictionaries, encyclopaedias