NAGSR5: Key Eras and Art in Islamic Formation

Homines Mundi

AD 660 to 1031 from Islam to Spain. People of the Muslim world then, are the same as people of the world today, with Muslim populations living throughout different parts of the world.

The Painting

Some who grow up in a Catholic upbringing will know about the three kings, or three wise men who came to visit Jesus after his birth. This is one of the church stories or bible stories you would hear. Sometimes it would be alongside a reading of letters or a subset of the teachings in the bible. There would be references to certain parts, but not a thorough reading

Alois Musil, the first Westerner who encountered the painting of the six kings

The ‘Amra complex, long known to and used by local nomads, was rediscovered for the West by the Czech scholar Alois Musil in 1898. The frescos were painstakingly cleaned and preserved between 1971 and 1973 by a team from the Madrid National Archeological Museum, under the direction of Martin Almagro.

Christ, as the Cord of Life

A rope is something that is made and can serve many purposes. Thick rope can be crafted to pull extremely heavy loads, and is a useful tool. Thin ropes can break if the fibers are of short length. Thick ropes carry a lot of weight but require many strands and have weight of their own.

Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT)

Follow in Christ, the Cord of Life. Live in ways that put you into the Book of Life.

A cord is something flexible and made from several twisted strands. Muslim, Jew, Christian… the People of the World. On their own, weak and imperfect. Together they are strong and can achieve greater purpose.

People Evolved

Thanks to Aurochs (ox/cattle) migrating west from Asia. Combined with Maize from America, these powerful sources fed the world and we have continued to grow since then. Honoring religious freedom as well as freedom to live (and eat!) is critical to one’s well-being. Our capacity to learn grew as our diets changed, and the word of man grew, not in importance but in impact. This continued until recently, where words have been broken down and decoded into generative bits, swept up and spit out by tools of man. Our capacity to evolve our understanding of the piety shared across the world is evolving as well. The sheer volume of information that is behind paywalls, library doors or virtual databases is immense, and many of us are not learning as completely as we could be.

Not knowing one’s past makes it harder to know oneself. Knowing more of one’s past, makes it easier to know oneself. The lack of this balance is self-evident in people and history but is difficult to see as it’s happening from the perspective of an individual. ☯

What Are We Doing?

Two examples anyone can recognize. Corn and Beef, are under attack - with so much going to the soybean and various false meats. Governments can control what companies are allowed to form and operate, and how land is used - to a degree. The manner in which farmers are being driven out of their livelihoods by high costs of policy, limited access to materials or just competition due to international food production that is poorly set up to depend on each other instead of function independently, with technology support and materials to accomplish a higher purpose, as a world. What should be the number one priority for each country is perfecting and doing the best farming of beef and corn, with everything else following that lead. This is how new supply chains are formed and forged. Let countries compete in the worlds biggest cook off every 4 years and celebrate what people can make and do.

During the Olympics, you see teams fly in their own beef, etc. so they can continue training and recovering and be in peak form. One should lead into the other, ideally. Great sunny day activity, once the warmongers are all voted out or pass on., with followers clearly identified and called out. Anyone preventing the natural and responsible production of maize/cattle should be seen and called out as well. Wise countries will foster and develop large scale co-op systems of farming, in order to regenerate surface ecosystems, and foster collaboration between groups. Energy independence will be another key tenet, in order to avoid pressure from outside and corrupt forces. As time grows and faith grows in peoples, the public faces of those in power will be forced to see the light.

Early writing is showing that there were pilgrimages from the west (to Spain, Jerusalem), and that the region had seen unprecedented growth due to trade in and through the region. In A History of the Crusades, this is discussed.

Quite simply, the manner in which power was expressed changed over the centuries.

Oleg Grabar (2000)

That is the new globalist lifestyle.

Regarding the Cord of Life, one concept or act would be to create a series of cords, wrapped around the 33rd parallel which connects all major points of the world. Facing north (the only direction blocked from view while entering the Amra’s northern entrance).

There are many more narratives that could be woven around the Haram and the task of finding congruencies among various of these in some significant moment of time or of composing a well-integrated description of a grand religious space is still awaiting its historian and, probably, its poet.

The fact that all of these narratives are even possible is primarily the result of the rich texture of piety and of memories entwined arund every stone of the sanctuary and nurtured, in Jerusalem itself and all over the world, by generations of Jews, Christians and, Especially, Muslims.

Oleg Grabar “The Haram Al-Sharif: An Essay In Interpretation” (BRIIFS vol. 2, no. 2 Autumn 2000)

Based on the provided sources, several time periods and key figures are particularly interesting for understanding the formation of Islamic art, especially as illuminated by monuments like Quṣayr ʿAmra. These sources also offer insights into cultural interactions and the nature of historical documentation from this era.

8 Interesting Time Periods and Key Figures (Estimated Julian Dates):

Here are eight notable time periods and figures identified in the sources, based on their estimated Julian Calendar dates:

• The Period of Early Islamic Conquests (634-751 AD) [1, 2]: This era marks the expansion of Islam beyond Arabia [1]. It represents the broad foundational period across the lands taken over by the new faith, where a new artistic tradition began to emerge [1]. The relative time for this emergence likely varied from region to region [1].

• Mid-7th Century Iraq: According to the sources, the earliest definable monuments of Islam are found in Iraq and date from as early as the middle of the seventh century [3]. These represent the very beginning of a new artistic tradition within the conquered territories [1, 3].

• The Reign of ʿAbd al-Malik (685–705 AD): This Umayyad caliph is significant for coinage reform [4, 5]. His reign saw the adaptation of earlier solidus/dinar designs (like those of Heraclius) and later the introduction of the first Islamic coinage to abandon imitation of East Roman and Sasanian models and use only religious texts, exemplified by the dinar dated 77 AH (696/697 AD) [4-6].

• The Period of the Spanish Conquest and its Aftermath (c. 711-715 AD): The conquest of Spain by Tariq b. Ziyad in 711 or 712 AD and the subsequent arrival of Musa b. Nusayr in Damascus shortly before the death of Caliph al-Walid I on February 24, 715 AD [7]. This event, particularly the defeat of the last Visigothic ruler Roderic, is linked to the earliest possible date for the creation of the Six Kings fresco at Quṣayr ʿAmra, which features Roderic among other powerful rulers [7-10].

• The Reign of Hisham (724-743 AD): This Umayyad caliph’s reign is associated with the construction of significant sites like Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Gharbī and Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Sharqī [11, 12]. These sites reflect the courtly life and building activities of the Umayyad elite in Syria [12]. Significant art associated with this period includes the gateway decorated in stucco at Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Gharbī [4, 13].

• The Reign of al-Walīd II (743-744 AD / AH 125-126): This short reign is crucial as al-Walīd II is identified as the patron of Quṣayr ʿAmra [14, 15]. The frescoes there are considered to have been completed during this time [15], offering an unrivaled visual resource for the preoccupations of the Umayyad court milieu at this moment [15]. Significant art: The extensive fresco programme at Quṣayr ʿAmra is directly associated with him, including depictions of the enthroned prince, the dynastic icon, hunting scenes, bathing figures, personifications, the zodiac, builders, and the six kings [41, 53, 54, 95, 96, various index entries].

• The Study Period of Quṣayr ʿAmra (Late 19th - Early 20th Century): Beginning with the rediscovery and initial documentation by figures like Alois Musil and Alphons Leopold Mielich in the late 19th century, leading to the 1907 publication [8, 16-18]. This period involved scholarly debate over the dating and interpretation of the site by figures such as Joseph Karabacek, Alois Riegl, Franz Wickhoff, K.A.C. Creswell, and Ernst Herzfeld [17, 19-21]. Significant art: The Quṣayr ʿAmra frescoes themselves became the central focus of study and debate during this time [17, 19-22].

• The Later Abbasid Period (9th-10th Centuries): While after the Umayyad period, figures like Ya’qubi (d. c. 905), Eutychius (d. 940), al-Tabari (d. 923), al-Madaini (752-839), and Ibn al-Faqih (wrote 902/3) compiled histories and literary works [23-28]. These sources, despite potential biases and selectivity [24, 25, 28], provide essential written context for understanding the Umayyad era’s history, court life, and cultural milieu [24, 25, 29, 30].

Shared Traditions and Pilgrimage:

The sources indicate that Umayyad art drew heavily on the artistic and cultural traditions of the conquered lands, including Late Antique, Roman, Byzantine, and Sasanian influences [11, 13, 31, 32]. The Umayyad elite borrowed ideas, images, and architectural forms from their neighbors [11].

While the sources mention pilgrimage in the context of the function of quṣur (country residences), noting that sites like Ziza and al-Humayma provided hospitality to pilgrims [12, 33-36], they do not directly detail Grabar’s specific ideas about Christian, Jewish, and Muslim populations honoring similar themes during pilgrimages based on these provided excerpts.

However, the sources do highlight instances of shared cultural and religious points of reference:

• Umayyad art incorporated elements from earlier traditions, such as Christian iconography, which was then reinterpreted through an Islamic lens [13, 32]. For example, the enthroned prince at Quṣayr ʿAmra may be indebted to the Christian iconography of Adam but would be understood by a Muslim viewer in relation to the Quranic Adam, seen as God’s first caliph [13].

• The Old Testament is identified as a source from which both Christians and Muslims drew inspiration [37]. An Arabic text at Quṣayr ʿAmra refers to Abraham and David [37].

• Artisans working on Umayyad sites like Khirbat al-Mafjar included Christians, Muslims, and possibly Jews [38]. This suggests a shared professional environment where different populations contributed to the art.

• The figural decoration at sites like Quṣayr ʿAmra and Dura Europos challenged later conventional contrasts between aniconic Muslims and image-loving Greeks, suggesting a more complex reality in the early Islamic period [21].

Thus, the sources show evidence of shared cultural heritage and artistic influences among different populations in the Umayyad era, rooted in late antiquity and including Christian and Jewish traditions, although they don’t explicitly link this sharing to specific themes honored during pilgrimage from Grabar’s perspective within these texts.

Guidance from Proverbs 4:23:

Please note that the following interpretation of Proverbs 4:23 is information from outside of the given sources.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV translation) states: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.“

This proverb emphasizes the critical importance of one’s inner state—mind, intentions, and character—as the source from which all actions and perceptions arise.

For an “outsider” engaging with historical sources or different cultural perspectives, this guidance could be interpreted and applied in several ways:

1. Awareness of Bias: Recognizing that one’s own background, beliefs, and biases (”heart”) will inevitably influence how one interprets historical information (like the potentially biased later Arab histories mentioned in the sources [24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 39]) or understands art from a different culture (like interpreting Umayyad art that blends various traditions [13, 31, 32]). Guarding one’s heart involves being mindful of these internal filters.

2. Intellectual Humility: Approaching unfamiliar material or perspectives with a willingness to learn and avoid imposing preconceived notions or judgments based on one’s own “heart.” This resonates with the sources noting how early interpretations of Umayyad art were sometimes hindered by pre-existing ideas (e.g., about aniconism [21]) or by the limitations of the available information [18, 21].

3. Seeking Understanding: Focusing on understanding the internal context, intentions, and worldview (”heart”) of the creators of the art or sources, rather than just evaluating them from an external standpoint. This aligns with the source’s emphasis on contextualizing Quṣayr ʿAmra within its specific historical and social moment to understand its meaning [40, 41].

In essence, Proverbs 4:23 suggests that clear and accurate understanding, as well as respectful interaction, begins with cultivating an honest, open, and critically aware inner self.

References

1. Fowden, Garth. Qu3ayr ªAmra: Art and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria. 2004.

2. Grabar, André. Christian Iconography: A Study of Its Origins. Princeton University Press, 1968.

3. Grabar, Oleg. The formation of Islamic art. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1973.

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