© Andrey Tikhomirov, 2018

© Abubakar Damilare, 2018

© Sergey Smetanin, 2018

ISBN 978-5-4493-4579-0

Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero

English version

The Qur’an of Argun Shah. Egypt. 1368—1388.

In the artistic treasury of mankind, one of the most important places belongs to the medieval art of peoples inhabiting now large areas of Asia and Africa from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Indonesia and from the Mediterranean to the upper Nile. The main focus of the formation of this art were the countries of the Near and Middle East, North Africa and Southern Spain at the time when a huge feudal state, the Caliphate, was formed on their territory. It was created by the Arabs who inhabited the Arabian Peninsula.

The culture of settled and nomadic tribes of Arabia is known since ancient times. In the south, in the fertile Yemen, and in the western part of the peninsula (the Hijaz region), as early as the 1st millennium BC, there were rich kingdoms. Their prosperity, as well as the emergence of large-scale Arab cities, was determined by a favorable economic situation on the world caravan routes and extensive mediation trade with Egypt, Asia and India. Especially the people of the city of Hijaz became rich – the agricultural Medina and the commercial Mecca.

The main population of Central and Northern Arabia was cattle breeding nomadic tribes. They were called Bedouins – «people of nomadic life.» In search of pastures and water sources, Bedouins with herds of camels roamed the boundless arid steppes and semi-deserts of Arabia, crossed by dry riverbeds. The tent served as tents or tents, in which lived individual families. Each tribe believed in his patron god, performing sacrifices to his rough stone idol. Arabs deified the forces of nature, heavenly bodies, stones, trees, streams.

The general Arabian sanctuary was the Kaaba (literally: the cube) in Mecca.

The Arabian nomads created beautiful verse-songs, usually performed under musical accompaniment. The storytellers memorized the verses by heart. In Bedouin oral poetry, in vivid images, that which surrounded man was glorified – severe nature, people, animals. Poetry, characterized by simplicity, vitality, sincere feeling, were real works of poetic art. Moreover, the ability to write poetry was valued by Bedouins no less than military valor.

The population of Arabia lived in conditions of the disintegration of the tribal system and the formation of class society. One of the means of uniting numerous Arab tribes into a single state was the Muslim religion, or Islam. In Arabic, «Islam» means «submission», and the name «Muslims» comes from the word «Muslim» -translated to Allah, in the plural – «Muslimon.» Polytheism of the tribes, Islam opposed the cult of the one, only, eternal and all-powerful God of Allah.

The founder of the religion, an Arab merchant from the city of Mecca, Mohammed, on the representation of Muslims, is the messenger of Allah, the last prophet, sent to the people with God’s word embedded in his mouth. The revelations of God to Muhammad were collected by the followers of the prophet in the Qur’an. In this Holy book of Muslims for the first time received a clear design in written form in the Arab language as a language of religion, the state, literature and science. Founded by Muhammad, the Muslim community-the core of the future state-became the religious and political center of the unification of Arabia. However, at first Muhammad and his followers were subjected to severe persecution. Therefore, in 622 there was a resettlement (in Arabic: Hijra) of the creed and his entourage from Mecca to Medina, which marked the beginning of the Muslim chronology, which is still on the lunar calendar. By the end of 630, as a result of a long struggle, Muslims had subjugated all of Arabia. The pagan Kaaba was recognized as a common Muslim Shrine, and the idols surrounding it were broken. The center of the state became a Mecca. Pilgrimage to Mecca was imputed to Muslims as a duty. During prayers, performed five times during the day at the exact time, Muslims are facing in this direction.

«Deputy» Muhammad became the caliphs – both secular and spiritual leaders of the state.

At first, especially revered, «righteous» caliphs – Abu-Bekr, Omar, Osman, Ali – and when they replaced the caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty (661—750) Arabs conquered vast territories in Asia, Africa and South-Western Europe. Their military expansion was opposed by such powerful powers as Byzantium and Iran. However, weakened by the long and exhausting internecine war, they could not stand the rapid onslaught of the young Arab state. The Arabs conquered the Byzantine Empire, Syria and Palestine (640), Egypt (642) and the region of North Africa – the future of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco (in 709 troops commander Musa Ibn Nusayri came to the shores of the Atlantic ocean). In 633—651, the Arabs conquered all the provinces of the vast Iranian state of the Sassanid dynasty, which covered the lands from the Euphrates to modern Afghanistan and from the Caucasus to the Persian Gulf. In 711 the armies of the Arabs, together with the forces of the Berbers (the indigenous population of North Africa) under the leadership of Tariq Ibn Ziyad compressed Strait through the rocks (he later named Gibraltar, meaning «Mountain of Tariq») invaded from North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula. Began the conquest of al-Andalus-so the Arabs called Spain. Most of the country was captured, with the exception of the inaccessible Northern mountain regions. After crossing the Pyrenees, Muslims tried to seize southern Gaul, but were defeated by the military, the Franks in the battle of 732 at Poitiers. They were forced to stop further offensive in Western Europe and moved beyond the Pyrenees. At the same time, Arab troops penetrated far to the East, conquering the whole of Central Asia by the middle of the 8th century and reaching the borders of China. So within a relatively short time, there was a Grand feudal state – the Caliphate. In the hands of the caliphs were vast lands and untold wealth.

Going beyond the Arabian Peninsula and rushing to the East and West, the Arabs, most of yesterday’s nomads, faced with the culture of countries where in ancient times there were centers of world civilization. Beautiful cities, decorated with palaces and temples, statues and paintings, became at first mainly a source of military production. It took a long time for Muslim conquerors to assimilate the spiritual and aesthetic values of the conquered peoples. The Caliphate included lands with traditions of Greek and Roman culture (for example, rich Byzantine colonies – Syria and Palestine). On the other hand, the impact of Iranian culture, which reached a special solemnity and perfection in the Sasanian era, was greatly affected.

Born from a combination of its own pre-Islamic past and the traditions of other ancient civilizations, Arab culture has achieved great and independent success in many areas of knowledge and artistic creativity. Arabs made a serious contribution to the world literature and poetry, philosophy and medicine, mathematics and astronomy, geography and history, created beautiful and original works of art.

The culture of Muslim countries has influenced many States in different parts of the world, has become a link between antiquity and the middle ages of Western Europe. The territories of Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and southern Spain were decorated with beautiful, densely populated, landscaped cities with magnificent buildings. There were new types of monumental buildings: mosques that could accommodate thousands of worshipers, minarets-towers, madrasahs – buildings of Muslim educational institutions, hospitals, libraries, palaces buried in the greenery of gardens, covered markets for several kilometers, Inns – caravanserais, which were erected in cities and on the ways of caravan trade. Sultry climate led to the construction of open and underground water pipes, tanks, ponds, fountains. The richness of the decoration was distinguished by numerous public bathhouses, using the experience of the Roman baths. Construction equipment has created a special design made of mud, brick and stone. Various forms of arches were created – Lancet, horseshoe – shaped, multi-lobed, scalloped, – special systems of vaulted ceilings were invented. Unlimited and whimsical imagination differed all kinds of decorative art, from the ornamentation of buildings to the decoration of household utensils. The refined tastes of court culture coexisted with the powerful rise of arts and crafts in the cities, the highest peak that spans the 10—15 century. A wide trade and cultural exchange contributed to the flourishing of Sciences and various fields of creativity. The culture of the peoples of the Middle East in the first centuries of Islam stood above the European. Thanks to the active translation activity, many achievements of ancient philosophy and science were preserved and transferred to the peoples of Europe.

The idea of a medieval Muslim civilization would have been many times brighter and more grandiose had it not been for the heavy losses and brutal destruction it has been subjected to over the centuries. Time itself destroyed. Natural disasters, relentless sun, the winds, the advancing Sands turned blooming inhabited oases in the abandoned ruins of the dead. But the most destructive force was people. Society lived in the atmosphere of countless wars, foreign invasions, troubles, conspiracies, Palace coups. The years of relative prosperity were followed by periods of chaos, epidemics and a severe famine, carried off tens of thousands of lives. The foundations of the feudal system were shaken by popular uprisings.

For architecture especially harmful was the change of dynasties. The new dynasty, which usually reigned, destroying the previous one, sought to destroy everything that was created before it. This primarily concerned the Palace buildings. Newly built or significantly changed, and many mosques, for the construction of new mosques was considered for the Muslim charity case. With the fate of the ruling dynasties were associated flourishing and desolation of cities. Only a relatively few of them managed to outgrow the framework of dynastic residences, to avoid destruction, to rise and acquire an independent value. The new buildings absorbed the old medieval quarters, which were preserved only as inclusions in the urban landscape. And yet an unforgettable experience to this day leave the old quarters of Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo, Tunisia, Kairouan and especially the cities of Morocco.

After the lands of Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and North Africa became part of the Caliphate, their culture, without losing the distinct local peculiarities began to develop in a different direction, gaining new features. In each of the Arab countries, art had its own identity, which distinguished the monuments of Syria from the monuments of Iraq, the works of medieval Egypt from what was created in North Africa and Muslim Spain.

The historical and cultural destinies of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, which were relatively short-lived under Arab rule, were formed differently. Often entering into a single state education, they developed independently, in close cultural interaction with each other.

However, the similarity of the forms of development of feudalism, active trade and cultural ties and the fact of subordination of different peoples to one religion, one language, and one legal and social institution could not but give rise to the features of community in art. Fine arts as a means of propagating religious ideas were excluded from the sphere of Islam. The new religion based its power of influence on the word, not on the depiction of living beings. The main shrines were not icons and statues, but old handwritten Korans.

Highly developed calligraphy, which was a letter not only of religion, but also of poetry, philosophy, science, was regarded as an art, taking an honorable place among its other types. Reaching extraordinary sophistication in the application of various complicated handwriting, calligraphy has become one of the forms of the ornament played a significant role in the arts of the Muslim Middle Ages.

God in the countries of Islam could not be portrayed, but could be denoted by letters and signs. Therefore, in art, especially in the design of religious buildings, a geometric ornament was developed, often consisting of signs and motifs that had a religious symbolic meaning. For example, four vertical lines that schematically expressed the letters of this Arabic word denoted the word «Allah» («God»). Made in a square, they became a symbol of the Kaaba. Two crossed squares formed an eight-pointed star-the most common element of Muslim ornamentation.

Meanwhile, even before the Muslim religion similar elements took place in other cultures. The ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II created a sanctuary near Abu Simbel (now near the Sudanese border), deep in the rock. Before his entrance rise 4 sitting giant-with the features of the Pharaoh. In the mountain, it is home to several successive buildings. The first of them is supported by eight ten-meter statues depicting the God Osiris. Eight ten-meter statues depicting the God Osiris! «The One father» «father Moon» – that’s what was the form of address to God for many centuries and even in the IV century BC Nectaneb I said: «The Great built a house for his father Thoth, twice great, God of Simona (Hermopolis), the great God, which came from the nose of RA (i.e. the Sun), the Creator of his own beauty.»

Archaeologists found the Royal graves of Ur, reproduces the funeral ceremony of the III Millennium BC. Killed all who will help the king in the «next world». The women participating in this procession, according to archaeological excavations, were dressed in bright red robes, which sparkled various jewels. Warlords have been going with all signs differences musicians – with harps or lyres. They were followed by wagons pulled by bulls, or sleds. On the wagon sat the pages or driverless, sled led sled’s bridle. In the end, everyone took a pre-allocated place for them; duty soldiers, closing the procession, stood guard at the exit. All the men and women in their hands had a small bowl – the only item needed to complete the rite. Some victims in the last minutes of their earthly life had to perform certain tasks. At least, it is known that the musicians played their instruments until the very end. When through the centuries the tomb was opened, their hands still convulsively clutching the strings of the harp or lire.