Course Syllabus

AHST 6321

TOPICS IN GLOBAL ART HISTORIES:

ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE
ISLAMIC AND MEDITERRANEAN WORLDS
Spring 2019

Thursdays: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Suite 2.800 EODIAH

Instructor: Ali Asgar Alibhai PhD Harvard University

Aliasgar.Alibhai@UTDallas.edu

Office Hours:
Wednesdays 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Thursdays 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Drawing of ship and writing of the Basmala, Paper, 12th C.?

Dallas Museum of Art, Keir Collection, K.1.2014.1095

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Course Summary and Objective:
The Mediterranean Sea stretches over 965,300 mi² covering a significant portion of the Earth’s
surface. It is surrounded by three continents, Asia, Africa, and Europe, for which it earned its
name in Latin and Arabic as being in the middle. The geography of the Mediterranean provided
its shores with an ideal location for the rise of some of the world’s most prominent ancient
civilizations, the Egyptians, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Greeks, Etruscans, Phoenicians, and
Romans. These civilizations set the stage for the economic, cultural, and political development
of several medieval societies which inhabited this region from the eighth to fifteenth centuries. It
was during this time period and in this region that several Islamicate societies were able to
flourish and create magnificent works of material culture. This seminar explores the art,
architecture, and cultural histories of medieval Islamic civilization, from its inception to its
dissemination into Mediterranean societies. Students will engage in past and current trends of
research in the field of Islamic art and architecture and be introduced to concepts of
connectivity, permeability, and the interactive nature of Islamicate visual and material cultures
in the Near Eastern and Mediterranean regions across time and space.
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Required Reading Material:
All course material will be placed on reserve under the AHST 6321 shelf at Eugene McDermott
Library. Check with the circulation desk to access the course’s reserve reading shelf. Students
will be able to access class material from the reserved shelf for a limited time to read or make
copies. Most selected reading material is available online or through e-resources. Please let me
know if you cannot find a source.
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Assignments:

Reading and Attendance: This seminar mainly involves closely reading the material
assigned for each week in the syllabus and preparing for classroom discussion. The rigorous
reading material is aimed to train you to read and discern quality scholarship in the field of
Islamic art and architecture. Note: Some of the readings will be given more importance than
others and the instructor will point this out as you select your readings. The course readings can
be read individually or in collaboration with fellow members of the class. Since seminars are
structured where most of the scholarly discussion happens in the class and through student
interaction with the instructor, it is imperative to have regular and complete attendance. If for
any reason, you are not able to attend a class, please contact me beforehand so we can work out
an alternative solution for you. In addition to class attendance and participation the course will
also consist of the following assignments.

Class Discussion Leader: Over the course of the semester, students will choose selected
articles or books from the reading material prescribed in the syllabus and prepare in-class
presentations/or discussions ranging from 10 to 15 minutes (max) for articles and 25 minutes
(max) for a book. Students must choose at least one book in the semester and two articles (3
class discussion leader presentations will be done by each student). For leading class discussion,
students will frame the main argument of the work, highlight important pieces of information,
and lead classroom discussion with relevant scholarly questions and insights with their fellow
students. Visual accompanying material through slides and/or handouts is highly welcomed but
nor required.

Discovering the Keir Collection: The Keir Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art holds
many interesting lusterware, metal, and rock crystal objects from the medieval Islamic world, as
well as, several other interesting artifacts and works of art. An objective of this class is for
students to discover other medieval objects which are in the collection and to contextualize them
with past and current research from the field of Islamic art. In order to facilitate this objective,

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this class will periodically meet at the Dallas Museum of Art and selected objects will be
introduced to students from the collection. Throughout the semester, students will familiarize
themselves with the entire collection and periodically, they will informally introduce selected
objects which they have found interesting to he rest of the class. As a final project, students will
also write up a detailed catalog entry for their chosen object/s. Students will give a scholarly
presentation about a selected object/s from the Keir Collection to the class accompanied with a
short catalog entry (1 - 2 pages). The date (TBA) of presenting the object/s from the collection
will be decided as the semester progresses.

Final Paper/Creative Project (Due MAY 5th):

The culmination of what you learn this semester will be comprised in a final project. This project
can consist but is not limited to the following formats:
Final Paper (Approximately 25 pages for graduate students and 15 pages for
undergraduates).
A Digitally Curated Exhibition of Islamic art from the Keir Collection (or beyond)
which includes a catalog of selected objects and an introduction the exhibit.
A Performative or Visual Work (i.e. artwork, video documentary, or other creative
project) accompanied by a 5 page scholarly explanatory paper of the connection of your
final project with the art and architecture of the Islamic Mediterranean.

All final projects must be discussed with and approved by the instructor by March 28th or
earlier. Expect
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Grading:

Attendance and Participation (including Class 30%

Discussion Leading)

Keir Collection Catalog Write-up and Presentation 15%

Final Paper/Creative Project 40%

Final Paper/Project Class Presentation 15%

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Useful Online Resources For This Course:
• Archnet: www.archnet.org
• Museums With No Frontiers: museumsmwnf.org
• Qantara Mediterranean Heritage Website: www.qantara-med.org
• Dallas Museum of Art Keir Collection: collections.dma.org/topic/departments/
keir
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
www.metmuseum.org/toah/
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For University of Texas at Dallas Official Policies Regarding this syllabus and
course please refer to https://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies.

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Weekly Readings
Note: Readings assigned for each week should be read before the class date. Readings marked in
bold font are to be given more importance than other supplemental background readings.
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WEEK 1: January 17th

Welcome to AHST 6321: Art and Architecture of the Islamic and

Mediterranean Worlds
• Welcome and Introductions
• Class Activity: Introduction to the concepts of Islamic/Mediterranean Art
• Detailed discussion of syllabus and the goals and requirements of the class (see below).
• Lecture: An Introduction to Islamic Art and Architecture: Understanding a Visual
Culture Spread Across Time and Space.
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WEEK 2: January 24th

A New Artistic Horizon: The Formation of Islamic Civilization and its

Material and Visual Culture
Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates (Second Edition), pgs. 1 - 33. (on
reserve)

Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, The Art and Architecture of Islam 650 -
1250, pgs. 17 - 25. (on reserve shelf)
Barbara Finster, “The Material Culture of Pre- and Early Islamic Arabia, in A
Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, pgs. 61 - 88 (available online through
UTD Library Catalog)

Mattia Guidetti, “Sacred Spaces in Early Islam,” in A Companion to Islamic Art

and Architecture, pgs. 130 - 150. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

G.R.D. King, “The Painting of the Pre-Islamic Ka’ba” in Muqarnas, Vol. 24 (2004),
pgs. 219 - 229. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)
BOOK: Doris Behren-Abouseif, Beauty in Arabic Culture.

Oleg Grabar, “Islamic Attitudes toward the Arts,” in The Formation of Islamic Art,
pgs. 72 - 98. (on reserve shelf)
Oleg Grabar, “Art and Architecture and the Quran,” in Early Islamic Art: 650 - 1100, pgs. 87 -
104

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WEEK 3: January 31st

The Art of Contact: Understanding Visual Expression Through

Modes of Conquest
Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates (Second Edition), pgs. 50 - 81.

Oleg Grabar, “Chapter Two: The Land of Early Islam,” in The Formation of Islamic
Art, pgs. 19 -42. (on reserve shelf)
Oleg Grabar, “Chapter Three: The Symbolic Appropriation of the Land,” in The
Formation of Islamic Art, pgs. 43 - 71. (on reserve shelf)

BOOK: Eva Baer, Islamic Ornament. (on reserve shelf)

Eva Baer, “The Human Figure in Early Islamic Art,” in Muqarnas, 1999, Vol.16,
pgs. 32-41. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Robert Schick, “The Destruction of Images in 8th C. Palestine,” in Age of Transition: Byzantine
Culture in the Islamic World, pgs. 132 -144.
“Islam, Iconoclasm, and the Declaration of Doctrine” in Late Antique and Medieval Art of the
Mediterranean, pgs. 213 - 226.

Oleg Grabar, “Islam and Iconoclasm,” in Early Islamic Art: 650 - 1000, pgs 43 - 67.

Daan Van Reenan, “The Bilderverbot: A New Survey,” in Der Islam, pgs. 27 - 77 (Understand
the main argument).

BOOK: Milka Levy-Rubin, Non-Muslim in the Early Islamic Empire. (available online through
UTD Library Catalog)
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WEEK 4: February 7th

Measuring the Exchange Rate: Merging Old Traditions in New

Identities Between Byzantium and Islam
Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates (Second Edition), pgs. 82 - 122. (on
reserve shelf)

Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, The Art and Architecture of Islam 650 -
1250, pgs. 26 - 74. (on reserve shelf)

Oleg Grabar, “Islamic Art and Byzantium,” in Early Islamic Art: 650 - 1000, pgs. 3
- 42

Robert Hillenbrand, “La Dolce Vita in Early Islamic Syria: The Evidence of Later
Umayyad Palaces,” in Art History, 1982, Vol. 5, No. 1, pgs. 1 - 35. (available online
through UTD Library Catalog)

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Luke Treadwell, “The Formation of Religious and Caliphal Identity in the Umayyad
Period: The Evidence of Coinage,” in A Companion to Islamic Art and
Architecture, pgs. 89 - 108. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

BOOK: Garth Fowden, Art and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria: Quṣayr
ʻAmra, WHOLE BOOK. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Claus-Peter Haase, “Qasr al-Mshatta and the Structure of Late Roman and Early Façades,” in
Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World.

Mattia Guidetti, “The Byzantine Heritage in the Dār al-Islām: Churches and Mosques in Al-
Ruha Between the Sixth and Twelfth Centuries.” in Muqarnas, 2009, Vol. 26, pgs. 1 - 36.
(available online through UTD Library Catalog)

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WEEK 5: February 14th

Sasanian Roots and the Genesis of Abbasid Art

Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates (Second Edition), pgs. 123 - 155 (on
reserve shelf)

Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, The Art and Architecture of Islam 650 -
1250, pgs. 75 - 125. (on reserve shelf)

Robert Hillenbrand, “What Happened to Sassanian Hunt in Islamic Art?” in The

Rise of Islam (The Idea of Iran. Vol IV), pgs. 84 - 101.

Oleg Grabar, “Sarvistan: A Note on Sasanian Palaces,” in Early Islamic Art: 650 - 1000,
pgs. 291 - 297.

Alastair Northedge, “Early Islamic Urbanism,” in A Companion to Islamic Art and

Architecture, pgs. 155 - 176. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Marcus Milwright, “Samarra and Abbasid Ornament,” in A Companion to Islamic

Art and Architecture, pgs. 177 - 196. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Eva Hoffman, “Between East and West: The Wall Paintings of Samarra and the
Construction of Abbasid Princely Culture.” in Muqarnas, Vol. 25 (2008), pgs. 107 -
132. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

BOOK: Richard Ettinghausen, Arab Painting.

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WEEK 6: February 21st

Entering the Mediterranean: Towards a Mediterranean/“Islamic” Art

Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates (Second Edition), pgs. 156 - 197 (on
reserve shelf)

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Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, The Art and Architecture of Islam 650 -
1250, pgs. 75 - 125. (on reserve shelf)

Glaire D. Anderson and Jennifer Pruitt, “The Three Caliphates, a Comparative

Approach,” in Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, pgs. 223 - 249. (available
online through UTD Library Catalog)

* BOOK: Christophe Picard, Sea of the Caliphs. (on reserve shelf)

Corisande Fenwick, “From Africa to Ifrīqiya: Settlement and Society in Early Medieval North
Africa (650 - 800), in al-Masaq, vol. 25 (2013), pgs. 9 -33.

Glaire Anderson, “Intergrating the Medieval Iberian Peninsula and North Africa
in Islamic Architectural History.” in The Journal of North African Studies (2014),
83 - 92. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Rosser-Owen, Mariam. 2012. “Mediterraneanism: How to Incorporate Islamic Art into an

Emerging Field.” in Journal of Art Historiography, 6: 1–33. (available online through UTD
Library Catalog)

Oleg Grabar, “Islamic Spain: The First Four Centuries,” in Al-Andalus: The Art of
Islamic Spain, pgs. 3 -10. (on reserve shelf)

Renata Holod, “Luxury Arts of Caliphal Period,” in Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic
Spain pgs. 41 - 49. (on reserve shelf)

Look through KEIR COLLECTION METALWORK, Geza Fehervari, Islamic Metalwork of the
Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection. [Explore]

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WEEK 7: February 28th

The Image of the Word: Religious and Secular Iconography in the

Islamic Manuscript Tradition
Alain George, “The Quran, Calligraphy, and the Early Civilization of Islam,” in
Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, pgs. 109 - 129. (available online through
UTD Library Catalog)
Erica Cruikshank Dodd, “The Image of the Word: Notes on the Religious
Iconography of Islam,” in Late Antique and Medieval Art of the Mediterranean,
pgs. 185 -212.

Eva Hoffman, “The Beginnings of the Illustrated Arabic Book: An Intersection

between Art and Scholarship,” in Muqarnas vol. 17 (2000), pgs. 37 - 52. (available
online through UTD Library Catalog)

Sheila Blair, “Transcribing God's Word: Qur'an Codices in Context,” in Journal of Qur’anic Studies,
Vol. 10, No. 1 (2008) , pgs. 71 - 97. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Jonathan Bloom, “The Blue Quran Revisited,” in Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, 6, 2015, pgs. 196 -
218. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

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Ernst Grube, “ A Coloured Drawing of the Fatimid Period in the Keir Collection,” in Rivista degli
studi orientali, Vol. 59 (1985), 147 - 174. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Rachel Milstein, “Hebrew Book Illumination in the Fatimid Era,” in Late Antique and Medieval Art
of the Mediterranean World, pgs. 229 - 241.

BOOK: Jonathan Bloom, Paper Before Print. (on reserve shelf)

Look through, KEIR COLLECTION: See Ernst Grube, Islamic Painting and the Arts of the Book
(The Keir Collection). [Explore and See Fostat Fragments]

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WEEK 8: March 7th

Ifrīqiya and the Broader Mediterranean: Cartagrophy, Connections,

and Ceramics

BOOK: Tarek Kahlaoui, Creating The Mediterranean: Maps and the Islamic Imagination.

BOOK: Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith, The Lost Maps of the Caliphs:
Drawing the World in Eleventh-Century Cairo.

Paul Sebag, The Great Mosque of Kairouan. (on reserve shelf)

Jonathan Bloom, “The Marble Panels in the Mihrab of the Great Mosque of Kairouan,” in The
Aghlabids and Their Neighbors, pgs. 190 -206.

Hsueh-man Shen, “The China- Abbasid Ceramics Trade during the Ninth and
Tenth Centuries: Ceramics Circulating in the Middle East”, in Companion to
Islamic Art and Architecture, pgs. 197 - 218. (available online through UTD Library
Catalog)

Matthew Saba, “Abbasid Lustreware and the Aesthetics of ʻAjab,” in Muqarnas, 29 (2012), pgs.
187 - 212.

Guillermo Rosello Bordoy, “The Ceramics of al-Andalus,” in Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic
Spain, pgs. 97 - 105. (on reserve shelf)

KEIR COLLECTION: See: Ernst J. Grube, Islamic Pottery of 8th to the 15th Century in the Keir
Collection. [Explore]

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WEEK 9: March 14th

The Rise of the Fatimids in the Mediterranean World

BOOK: Jonathan Bloom, Art of the City Victorious. (on reserve shelf)

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BOOK: Paula Sanders, Ritual, Politics, and the City in Fatimid Cairo. (available
online through UTD Library Catalog)

Asadullah Souren Elikian-Chirvani, “Fatimid Art and Its Unresolved Enigmas,” in

The World of the Fatimids. pgs. 70 - 142.
Bernard O’Kane, “Monumental Calligraphy in Fatimid Egypt,” in The World of the
Fatimids, pgs. 142 - 159.

David Bramoullé, “Itinerant Objects in the Fatimid World,” in The World of the Fatimids, pgs.
246 - 256.

Paul Walker, “Literary Culture in Fatimid Egypt,” in The World of the Fatimids, pgs. 160 - 177.

Paula Sanders, “Jewish Books in Fatimid Egypt,” in The World of the Fatimids, pgs. 218 - 229.
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WEEK 10: March 28th

Weaves of Splendor and Rank: The Importance of Textiles in

Medieval Islamic Culture
Jenny Rose, “Sasanian Splendor: The Appurtenances of Royalty,” in Robes and Honor: The
Medieval World of Investiture, pgs. 35 - 56. (on reserve shelf)

Lisa Golombek, “The Draped Universe of Islam,” in Romanesque and the Mediterranean, pgs.
97 -114.

Jochen Sokoly, “Textiles and Identity,” in A Companion to Islamic Art and

Architecture, pgs. 275 - 300. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Dominique Sourdel, “Robes of Honor in ʻAbbasid Baghdad During the Eighth to

Eleventh Centuries, in Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture, pgs.
137 - 146. (on reserve shelf)

Gavin Hambly, “From Baghdad to Bukhara, from Ghazna to Delhi: The Khil’a Ceremony in the
Transmission of Kingly Pomp and Circumstance,” Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of
Investiture, pgs. 193 - 222. (on reserve shelf)

Paula Sanders, Robes of Honor in Fatimid Egypt, in Robes and Honor: The
Medieval World of Investiture, pgs. 225 - 239. (on reserve shelf)

Bernard O’Kane, “The Egyptian Art of the Tiraz in Fatimid Times,” in The World of
the Fatimids, pgs. 178 - 189.

Look through, KEIR COLLECTION: See Friedrich Spuhler, Islamic Carpets and Textiles, (The
Keir Collection), 1978.

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WEEK 11: April 4th

Trade, Travel, and Connectivity in the Medieval Mediterranean

Eva Hoffman, Pathway of Portability: Islamic and Christian Interchange from the Tenth to
Twelfth Century, in Late Antique and Medieval Art of the Mediterranean World pgs. 317 - 349

Book: J.C. Broadhurst, The Travels of Ibn Jubayr. (on reserve shelf)

Book: Wheeler Thackston, Nasr - i Khusraw’s Book of Travels: Safarnamah.

Book: Olivia Remie Constable, Trade and and Traders in Muslim Spain: The Commercial
Realignment of the Iberian Peninsula, 900 - 1500. (on reserve shelf)

Book: Jessica Goldberg, Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Geniza
Merchants and their Business World. (available online through UTD Library Catalog)
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WEEK 12: April 11th

Sicily - The Crown Jewel of the Mediterranean

BOOK: Sarah Davis-Secord, Where Three Worlds Met.

Alessandra Bagnera, “From a Small Town to a Capital: The Urban Evolution of

Islamic Palermo (9th - Mid-11th Century),” in A Companion to Medieval Palermo.

Lev A. Kapitaikin, “Sicily and the Staging of Multiculturalism,” in A Companion to

Islamic Art and Architecture, pgs. 378 - 404. (available online through UTD Library
Catalog)

Jeremy Johns, “Muslim Artists and Christian Models in the Painted Ceilings of the Cappella
Palatina,” in Romanesque and the Mediterranean, (2015), 59 - 89.

Francesca Manuela Anzelmo, “Dress and Textiles in the 12th-Century Painted

Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo,” in Romanesque and the
Mediterranean, (2015), 91 - 127.

Jeremy Johns, “A Tale of Two Ceilings: The Cappella Palatina in Palermo and the Mouchroutas
in Constantinople,” in Art Trade and Culture in the Islamic World and Beyond, pgs. 58 - 73.

Lev A. Kapitaikin, “‘The Daughter of al-Andalus’: Interrelations between Norman Sicily and the
Islamic West.” in al-Masaq, vol. 25 (2013), pgs. 113 - 134. (available online through UTD
Library Catalog)

William Tronzo, “The Mantle of Roger II of Sicily,” in Robes and Honor: The
Medieval World of Investiture, pgs. 241 - 253. (on reserve shelf)

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WEEK 13: April 18th

The Far Maghrib and al-Andalus

Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, The Art and Architecture of Islam 650 -
1250, pgs. 126 - 166. (on reserve shelf)

Abigail Balbale, “Bridging Seas of Sand and Water: The Berber Dynasties of the
Islamic Far West,” in A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, pgs. 356 - 378.
(available online through UTD Library Catalog)

Jerrilynn Dodds, “The Great Mosque of Cordoba,” in Al-Andalus: The Art of

Islamic Spain, pgs. 11 - 25. (on reserve shelf)

Ali Asgar H. Alibhai, “The Reverberations of Santiago’s Bells in Reconquista

Spain,” in La Coronica, Vol. 36, no. 2 (2008), pgs. 145 - 164.

Christian Ewert, “The Architectural Heritage of Islamic Spain in North Africa,” in Al-Andalus:
The Art of Islamic Spain, pgs. 85 - 95. (on reserve shelf)

Avinoam Shalem, “From Royal Caskets to Relic Containers: Two Ivory Caskets from Burgos and
Madrid.” in Muqarnas, Vol. 12 (1995), pgs. 24 - 38.

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WEEK 14: April 25th

Student Presentations

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WEEK 15: May 2nd

Student Presentations

END OF CLASS CELEBRATORY DINNER - TBA

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