Word List
Timeline
‘Abbasid
Absolutism
(750-945)
750-54 Reign of al-Saffah.
Shi‘i
Century
(945-1055)
786-809 Reign of Harun
al-Rashid.
754-75 Reign of al-Mansur.
Baghdad
River Tigris
Sawad
hadith
shari‘a (Islamic Law)
Map Link: The ‘Abbasid Caliphate, c. 800:
<http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histatlas/arabworld/abbasidhist1.gif>
Word List
dhimmis (nonMuslims under
Muslim rule)
Timeline
809-13 Reign of al-Amin.
811-13 Civil war.
Bayt al-Hikma 813-33 Reign of al-Ma’mun.
(House of Wisdom)
833-42 Reign of
Khurasan
al-Mu‘tasim.
Sufis
Word List
Timeline
Sawad
836 Caliphate moves
to Samarra.
al-Muwaffaq
khariji
847-61 Reign of
al-Mutawakkil
869-70 Reign of al-Muhtadi.
870-92 Reign of
al-Mu‘tamid
Map Link: Regional Dynasties, 9th, 10th Century:
<http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histatlas/arabworld/abbasidhist1.gif>
Word List
Timeline
Bahrayn
891-902 Reign of
al-Mu‘tadid.
Qarmatians
Daylam
892 Caliphate returns to
Baghdad.
Mu‘izz al-Dawla 930-51 Qarmatians hold
Ahmad ibn Buya Black Stone.
amir al-umara’
945 Buyids take Baghdad.
Word List
Timeline
Buyids
991-1031 Reign of al-Qadir.
shahanshah
‘Ali ibn Abi Talib
imam (spiritual leader)
ithna ‘asharis/“Twelvers”/Imamis
mahdi (fore-ordained leader)
Word List
Timeline
Ghaznavids
1055 Saljuqs/Seljüks take
Baghdad.
Saljuqs/Seljüks
Creating Lustreware
Sulphur
Metallic
Oxides
Ochre
Vinegar
Object List
Mosque of Mutawakkil, or Great Mosque; Samarra (Iraq); view from
the north. AD 848-852. (F)
Mosque of Mutawakkil, or Great Mosque; Samarra (Iraq); Minaret
and exterior wall, begun c. 847. (F)
Mosque of Mutawakkil, or Great Mosque; Samarra (Iraq); Minaret
and exterior wall, begun c. 847. (F [different view])
Ziggurat. (Livius.Org: <http://www.livius.org/>.)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Exterior view. Aerial view. (F)
Minaret of Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun. (A)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Exterior view. NE corner of
Sahn (open court with fountain) with arcade and minaret. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Exterior view. Sanctuary
arcade, west view (sanctuary is open to the north). Mosque for
Ahmad Ibn Tulun (governor of Cairo from Baghdad).
Mesopotamian influence. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Ornamental detail. Close
detail of column capitals and decorative frieze. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Ornamental detail. Open court
spandrel. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Ornamental detail. Decorative
plasterwork. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Interior view. Mihrab and
Minbar. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. 876-879 AD. Ornamental detail. Outer detail.
(F)
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. The only surviving whole structure of
the Samani period. 907 AD. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; palace floor plan. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; the palace. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; entrance. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; detail of the battlements of Ukhaidir.
(F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; south façade of the Court of Honor
and Boundary wall. c. 774/775. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; interior view of the stoa from the
Ukhaidir palace mosque. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; north façade of the Court of Honor,
restored. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Earthenware dish: lustre painted abstract bird. Samarra (Iraq). Possibly
Cygnus constellation? 9th c. 27cm. (Niall Christie, Private
Collection: <http://www3.telus.net/nchristi/HIST2252slides/cygnus1.jpg>
and <http://www3.telus.net/nchristi/HIST2252slides/cygnus2.jpg>.)
Earthenware dish: lustre painted abstract bird. Samarra (Iraq). Possibly
Cygnus constellation? 9th c. 27cm. (F)
Earthenware bowl: polychrome lustre: Iraq, 9th c. Twirling half
palmettes. (F)
Lustre-painted ceramic plate with floral palmettes. Inscription =
li-Malikna(?) (for our king). 37.0cm. 9th c, Iraq. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Earthenware bowl, opaque white glaze painted blue: 9th c. Mesopotamia.
24cm. “Blessings to the owner, the work of Muhammad…” (F)
Ceramic bowl from Iraq. 9th c. 19.7cm. Inscription = baraka. (F)
Ceramic bowl, 19.7cm. 9th c Iraq. (F [side view])
Ceramic bowl with 6 petal blossom decoration. Indigenous. 9th c. Iraq.
(F)
Ceramic bowl showing 6 petal decoration. 9th c. Iraq. (F)
Earthenware plate: Caliphal period, 10th c. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Mystery object! 9th c. Egypt. (F)
Glass goblet with applied decoration. 9th c, Iraq. Found in Fustat. (F)
Moulded glass bowl in Roman style: 10th c. Egypt or Syria. (F)
Mosaic glass vessel. 4.2cm. 9th c. Syria. (F)
Glass beaker. Polychrome lustre. Damascus (?). 9th c. Kufic calligraphy:
palmette-headed trees. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Glass bottle, relief cut. Iran-Iraq, 9-10th c. 15cm. Green overlay, clear
glass. (F)
Mystery object! Glass. Eastern Mediterranean. 8th-9th c. (F)
Brass ewer. 8-9th c. Iraq. (F)
Brass/bronze ewer with engraved decoration. 9th c. Iran (but found in
Egypt). (F)
Mystery object! Iran, 9-10th c. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
Silver wine cup with poem by Ibn Sukkara al-Hashimi (d. 995-96).
(Metropolitan Museum of Art: <http://metmuseum.org/>.)
Wine Poem at: <http://82nd-and-fifth.metmuseum.org/ibn-sukkara-alhashimi-iran-wine-cup-64.133.2>.
Mystery object! 8-9th c. Syria. (F)
King being attended to. Gilt silver. Iran. 10th c. (F)
Sasanian Silver and Gilt Plate, 5th-7th Century. (Freer and
Sackler Galleries, Purchase F1964.10: <http://www.asia.si.edu/>.)
Brass astrolabe. 17.5 cm. 10th c. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Object List
F = Ferret, A = Archnet
Celestial sphere. 11th c. (F)
Andromeda from al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed Stars. 1009. Ink and colour
on paper. 26.3 x 18.2 cm. (F)
Serpent and Serpent-Bearer from 12th c. copy of al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed
Stars. (Bodleian Library, Oxford:
<http://treasures.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/>.)
Qur’an: Ibn al-Bawwab 1000-1. Brown ink, colour and gold on paper.
17.5 x 13.5 cm. (F)
Qur’an. 1001 AD. Executed by Iraqi Calligrapher Ibn al-Bawwab.
(F [cover pages])
Object List
Yellow tiraz. Mulham: woven red silk, caliph al-Mu‘tadid: Iran:
896 AD. (F)
White linen Tiraz, embr. Blue and yellow silk, caliph al-Mu‘tamid,
Alexandria: 885/6 AD. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet