Iconography and Iconology of Islamic Art

Рецензия на монографию С.М. Червонной «Современная мечеть.
Отечественный и мировой опыт Новейшего времени» (Торунь, 2016) / The Architecture of the Contemporary Mosque: an Experience of Systematization (A review of “Contemporary Mosque. Domestic and International Experience in the Recent History” by S.M. Chervonnaya. Тoryn, 2016)

Zusammenfassung:
1. Die Beschreibungen zur Erscheinung des dābbat al-arḍ im Koran wie auch in der Bibel sind äußerst spärlich und bieten eigentlich keinen Ansatz für eine visuelle Ausgestaltung.
2. Eine eindeutige Textvorlage konnte noch nicht identifiziert werden, es finden sich aber weitergehende Beschreibungen in den Hadithen.
3. Die frühesten, bislang nachweisbaren Darstellungen des dābbat al-arḍ stammen aus der Zeit um 1600 und finden sich in osmanischen Handschriften aus dem religiösen Kontext.
4. Bei diesen Handschriften handelt es um folgende Texte:
a. Miftāḥ Jefr el-JāmiʿTercümesi
b. Aḥvāl-i Kıyāmet
c. Fālnāme
d. Fāl-i Ḳurʾān.
5. Ikonographisch können wir zwei sich deutlich unterscheidende Typen fassen:
a. Typus A: geflügelte Giraffe
b. Typus B: frontaler Dämon.
6. Unabhängig von diesen beiden Typen sind zwei Attribute kennzeichnend: der
Stab des Moses und der Ring Salomons.
7. Unklar ist bislang, inwieweit die unterschiedlichen Darstellungen (Typus
Giraffe und Typus Dämon) eindeutig bestimmten Handschriften zuzuordnen
sind und inwieweit ein direkter Bild-Text-Bezug vorliegt.
8. Eine interessante, sehr enge Übereinstimmung zwischen einer Darstellung im
Miftāḥ Jefr el-Jāmiʿ und einer Textstelle bei Evliyā Çelebi (X. Buch) lässt sich nachweisen.

In this work, we analysed the intertwining
of social transformations and evolution of
lived religion through the kaleidoscope
of Alid iconographic worship in a postsocialist
context such as Albania. In this
framework, the Bektashi community
restored and renewed Alid iconography,
at first supported by transnational Iranian
and Alevi networks, in order to hold social
and political legitimation within the fragmented
religious field. The embodying
experiences of iconographic worship
could shape the cognitive perceptions
and moral dispositions of believers who
partly play, critically and individually, their
own religiosity. Finally, the spread of the
icons seems to indicate a marketization of
religious piety and a surfacing of public
Islam, promoted by the Bektashiyya, in
order to renegotiate power relations
within Albanian society.

The mathematical discussion around the presence of the 17 crystallographic groups in the Alhambra became fertile after Edith Müller presented her doctoral thesis in 1944. However, from the history of art, only M. C. Escher has been mentioned for the use of planimetric symmetry in his study of the patterns of the Alhambra alicatados (mosaics tilings) for artistic purposes. The present work establishes a methodology of iconographic analysis of the Alhambra tilings from the chromatic asymmetry present in four of the examples found by mathematicians, as well as the search for a symbolic meaning in the mathematical use of work constructed by the Nasrids (1232-1492).

The mathematical discussion around the presence of the 17 crystallographic groups in the Alhambra became fertile after Edith Müller presented her doctoral thesis in 1944. However, from the history of art, only M. C. Escher has been mentioned for the use of planimetric symmetry in his study of the patterns of the Alhambra alicatados (mosaics tilings) for artistic purposes. The present work establishes a methodology of iconographic analysis of the Alhambra tilings from the chromatic asymmetry present in four of the examples found by mathematicians, as well as the search for a symbolic meaning in the mathematical use of work constructed by the Nasrids (1232-1492).

Short version (without footnotes, less images) of the article in Islamic Art, vol. 6, 2009, pp. 51-79

The Seljuqs of Anatolia, sometimes called the Rum-Seljuqs, are known for their frequent use of figural representations, especially in the decoration of their architectural commissions. This tradition, however, was already well established by the end of the 11th century in southeastern Anatolia, and it continued under the emirates, or Beyliks, all over Anatolia during the 14th and early 15th centuries. If we take into account this entire period, altogether some hundred stone reliefs on more than fifty monuments are recorded. Only the Ottomans, generally speaking, did not continue this tradition.

Im dem Beitrag wird die Frage diskutiert, in wieweit bestimmte figürliche Darstellungen an Stadttoren im Sinne einer “visualisierten Herrschaftspropaganda“ zu lesen sind. Ausgangspunkt der Überlegungen ist das sog. Urfa bzw. Aleppo Tor (579 H./ 1183-84) der Stadtbefestigung von Diyarbakir, dessen figürliche Reliefs auf die Machtübernahme der Artuqiden, die seit 579 H. für ein Jahrhundert die Stadt und Region beherrschen, anspielen. Diese Interpretation wird anhand weiterer Monumente in Diyarbakir und im Norden Iraks, die zwischen dem 11. und 13. Jahrhundert errichtet wurden, überprüft. Trotz unterschiedlicher figürlicher Darstellungen und Interpretationen im Detail kristallisiert sich heraus, daß im südostanatolisch - nordmesopotamischen Raum mit dem Eindringen verschiedener Turkstämme im 11. Jahrhundert, insbesondere unter den Groß-Seldschuken und Artuqiden offensichtlich ein Interesse bestand, politisch-historische Inhalte (Propaganda, Herrschafts-Legitimation) zu visualisieren. Dies geschieht, indem zumeist großformatige Tierreliefs in direktem Bezug zu den Bauinschriften, vor allem an Stadtmauern und -toren, in auffälliger Weise plaziert werden. Wenngleich den Stadttoren als Anbringungsort bestimmter “Bildprogramme“ dabei eine wichtige Rolle zukommt, so haben sie doch keine “Monopolstellung“ diesbezüglich inne. Eine vergleichende Analyse mit den seldschukisch-anatolischen Monumenten, z.B. mit dem Portal der Ulu Camii in Divrigi und der Burg- bzw. Stadtmauer in Konya (die hier ausgespart bleiben mußten), kِönnte u.U. zu einer Präzisierung führen, was die Auswahl und Darstellung bestimmter Aussagen bzw. Themen anbelangt. Vor allem ist aber eine breiter angelangte, ikonographische Studie zur islamischen “Herrschaftsikonographie“, d.h. zu “imperialen Motiven und ihrer Deutung im Kontext“ unter Berücksichtigung regionaler wie dynastischer Eigenheiten nach wie vor ein Desiderat.

Turbah, called “Sajdah” in Lebanon, plural Turab, is a small object made of sun dried clay in different shapes and designs with elaborate carving, calligraphic text, and pictorial presentations in mold relief sculpture. The literal meaning of turba is soil or dust, generally refereeing to the soil –and the burial site of Imam Husain in the city of Kerbala, Iraq. Traditionally, Shi`i Muslim pray on turba for purity and commemoration of Imam Husain martyrdom. Turba is usually manufactured in the “holy” Shi`i city of Kerbala, and made from the clay of the river “Husainiyyah” which originates from the Euphrates south of Baghdad. Shi`is believe that praying on turba is a tradition practiced by the Prophet Mohammed and his companions to keep clean. They believe that the soil of Kerbala is sacred because it contains the blood and corpse of Imam Husain, the second Shi`i imam who was killed along with members of his family by the Umayyad forces in 681 in Kerbala. Main virtue of praying on a turbah therefore, is to connect with the memory of the martyrdom of Imam Husain.  Although turab (pl.) are traditionally made and sold in Kerbala but also manufactured in Iran, and found abundantly all over Shi`i mosques in the world.

The research discuss the pictorial representation, text, iconography, and symbolism of visual images on selected turab used by “Shi’i” Muslims- especially Lebanese in Michigan. Traditional use of the turbah has become a sectarian identity for Shi’ism, but the present use of imagery on certain turbah may express a transnational political concept emanates from the political reality in the Middle East.
It also examines and analyzes major examples of turab’s  iconography in relation to the imagery and text found on these ritualistic objects. The source of Shi`i population in Michigan: Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and other places and its ramification as an indicator of certain politics expressed through pictorial imagery and text on these turab.
The research argues for the use of pictorial and textual vocabulary on the turbah as political symbols- rather than ritualistic religious object. Typical depictions on the turbah include interpretive images of God “the Creator” and Mecca “the Ultimate Qibla or direction of prayer”. Images or reference to Imam Husayn and /or the twelve shi’i Imams are commonly depicted on the turbah to represent Kerbala.  More recently a depiction of Jerusalem interpreted through “al-Masjid al-Aqsa”, the precinct of the Aqsa Mosque- represented by a stylized image of the Dome of the Rock has emerged on turbah used in prayers among Shi’i Lebanese in Michigan, and possibly aboard. The paper discusses the political inference and historic breadth of the use of such imagery in light of the present occupied Palestine, and especially the city of Jerusalem.