Muqarnas, Volume 25

Muqarnas, Volume 25

Author: Gülru Necipoglu

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009-03-31

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13: 9047426746

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Muqarnas is sponsored by The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Muqarnas articles are being published on all aspects of Islamic visual culture, historical and contemporary, as well as articles dealing with unpublished textual primary sources.


Geographical Dimensions of Islamicjerusalem

Geographical Dimensions of Islamicjerusalem

Author: Khalid El-Awaisi

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2009-03-26

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 1443808342

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Islamicjerusalem has been at the heart of the Muslim religion from its early days. “The Geographical Dimensions of Islamicjerusalem” brings new dimensions and horizons to the relations between Islam and this Holy region. It delves into topics that have been overlooked in much of modern scholarship. It reinvestigates concepts and translates them into something that can be understood both physically and geographically. This work is an attempt to shed light on some of these concepts and the way they were perceived in early and later centuries. It lays the foundation and raises more questions for further scholarship. The book introduces the concept of Islamicjerusalem and the background development of this new field and presents some of the latest research to the reader. One of the main contributions of this book is the unveiling of the fact that Bayt al-Maqdis (Islamicjerusalem) is not a single city only; rather this work testifies to its long existence as a large spiritual region encompassing various cities, towns and villages. The book also contrasts the region of Islamicjerusalem with the sacred regions of Makkah and Madinah; particular attention is paid to the physical similarities between the Ka‘bah and al-Aqsa Mosque. A further asset of this book is the study of the various names and their connotations in early and later periods of Muslim rule. These evocative ideas and findings are supported with explanatory maps and diagrams.


Dictionary of Islamic Architecture

Dictionary of Islamic Architecture

Author: Andrew Petersen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2002-03-11

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1134613652

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The Dictionary of Islamic Architecture provides the fullest range of artistic, technical, archaeological, cultural and biographical data for the entire geographical and chronological spread of Islamic architecture - from West Africa through the Middle East to Indonesia, and from the seventh to the eighteenth centuries of the Common Era. Over 500 entries are arranged alphabetically and fully cross-referenced and indexed to permit easy access to the text and to link items of related interest. Four main categories of subject matter are explored: * dynastic and regional overviews * individual site descriptions * biographical entries * technical definitions Over 100 relevant plans, sketch maps, photographs and other illustrations complement and illuminate the entries, and the needs of the reader requiring further information are met by individual entry bibliographies.


The Power of Art

The Power of Art

Author: Caroline Campbell

Publisher: Bridge Street Press

Published: 2023-10-12

Total Pages: 519

ISBN-13: 0349128464

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To read most histories of art, you might be forgiven for supposing that great artists are superhuman, and the knowledge of different movements, periods and styles is essential to truly appreciate art. It's time to look at art in a new way. THE POWER OF ART delves into the stories behind remarkable acts of creation in fifteen global cities at pivotal moments of artistic brilliance. It shows how art is an integral part of our daily lives, embedded in the very fabric of our existence. From the enduring wonders of ancient Babylon to the menacing pastel architecture of contemporary Pyongyang, eminent curator Caroline Campbell intertwines the stories of artists with the broader social, cultural and political landscapes of their time. In each vivid episode, Campbell reveals how art, in all its forms, is a testament to humanity's inventiveness and ingenuity: it has served our fundamental needs for shelter, sustenance, spirituality, pleasure, order and community. But it can also evoke envy, anger, greed, and even be used as a means of social control. Spanning thousands of years of creativity, THE POWER OF ART will ignite your imagination and open your eyes to the art that surrounds us, whether it be a painting in a gallery, a public sculpture or an everyday object with hidden beauty.


Conversion in Late Antiquity: Christianity, Islam, and Beyond

Conversion in Late Antiquity: Christianity, Islam, and Beyond

Author: Arietta Papaconstantinou

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-03

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 131715973X

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The papers in this volume were presented at a Mellon-Sawyer Seminar held at the University of Oxford in 2009-2010, which sought to investigate side by side the two important movements of conversion that frame late antiquity: to Christianity at its start, and to Islam at the other end. Challenging the opposition between the two stereotypes of Islamic conversion as an intrinsically violent process, and Christian conversion as a fundamentally spiritual one, the papers seek to isolate the behaviours and circumstances that made conversion both such a common and such a contested phenomenon. The spread of Buddhism in Asia in broadly the same period serves as an external comparator that was not caught in the net of the Abrahamic religions. The volume is organised around several themes, reflecting the concerns of the initial project with the articulation between norm and practice, the role of authorities and institutions, and the social and individual fluidity on the ground. Debates, discussions, and the expression of norms and principles about conversion conversion are not rare in societies experiencing religious change, and the first section of the book examines some of the main issues brought up by surviving sources. This is followed by three sections examining different aspects of how those principles were - or were not - put into practice: how conversion was handled by the state, how it was continuously redefined by individual ambivalence and cultural fluidity, and how it was enshrined through different forms of institutionalization. Finally, a topographical coda examines the effects of religious change on the iconic holy city of Jerusalem.