Islamic art and architecture,Part II

Great Mosque, Cordoba, Spain. 8th – 10th centuriesBuilt by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rahman I

Cordoba, Spain, Great Mosque. Prayer hall begun 784.

Cordoba, Spain. Maqsura of the Great Mosque, 961-965

Cordoba, Spain. Dome in front of mihrab of the Great Mosque, 961-965.

Koran page, beginning of surah (verse) 18, “Al-Kahf”, (The Cave), 9th cent.Now in the Chester Beatty Library and Oriental Art Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

Alhambra, Grenada, Spain. 14th cent.

Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, Grenada, Spain. 14th cent.

Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, Grenada, Spain. 14th cent.

Muqarnas dome, Hall of the Abencerrajes, Palace of the Lions.Alhambra, Grenada, Spain, 14th cent.

15th century: Spain is Christianized andByzantium falls to the Turks under the Ottoman Dynasty

Sinan (architect), Selimiye Mosque (Mosque of Selim II). Edirne, Turkey, 1568-1575

Sinan (architect), Selimiye Mosque (Mosque of Selim II). Edirne, Turkey, 1568-1575

Church of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey), 6th century

Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey), 6th century

Sinan (architect), Selimiye Mosque (Mosque of Selim II). Edirne, Turkey, 1568-1575

Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th-17th cent.Detail of qibla wall iwan.

Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th-17th cent. Detail of tiling in iwan

Damascus, Syria.Great Mosque, 706-715

Detail of mosaic

Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th-17th cent. Detail of tiling in iwan

Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, Detail of mihrab, 15th cent.

Winter prayer hall of Shahi Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 1611-1638

Bihzad (artist), Seduction of Yusuf by Potiphar’s wife Zulaykha. Timurid manuscript from Herat Afghanistan, 1488

Maqsud of Kashan (designer), carpet for a funerary mosque at Ardabil, Iran, 1540.

Canteen with episodes from the life of Christ. Syria, ca. 1240Detail shows the scene of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem