The aesthetical analysis of mural decorative elements in the Great Mosque of Damascus

المعلومات العلمية للعدد

المؤلف

کلية الفنون التطبيقية - جامعه دمياط

المستخلص

The Great mosque of Damascus is an iconic masterpiece of Islamic architecture of the Umayyad period. Greek, Byzantine and Persian cultures influenced and promoted the development of early Islamic art and architecture displayed in all aspects of this mosque.
This paper will highlight the strong influence of pre-Islamic cultures and societies which distinguish the Great mosque of Damascus from other early Islamic buildings.
This paper widens the scope of knowledge of the Great Mosque of Damascus by showing both similarity and the strength of influence of the pre-Islamic era, not limited to the inherited architecture, but mainly in the significant artistic features, showing the creativity of the early Muslim designer in planning and decorating early Islamic buildings.
Moreover, the Great mosque of Damascus is considered one of the oldest and most admired mosques in early Islamic architecture. It is also one of the significant buildings that has great mosaic mural panels on the facades and interior walls, sculptures on column capitals and marvelous patterns carved in wood, stucco and marble work, that are distinctive features of this unique mosque. The choice of materials, the technique, colors scheme, and stories that were chosen to be brought vividly to life on its murals, are all witness to its greatness.
In this regard, the research delves into the details of the building’s similarities and differences that trace it to its historical roots, which seldom are found or have been repeated in any of the holy Muslim places.

الكلمات الرئيسية

الموضوعات الرئيسية


Blair (1992);pp.186-7
xiiIbn al-Faqih (1885), 107.
xiii Al-Muqaddasi (1906), 158; Bell(1910), Nos. 1315, 1341, 1368
xiv Pharos, pp. 214-17.
xv Also reproduced in Diehl, Manuel d’Art byzantine, fig. 55; and Colasanti, L’Artbisantina in itali, tav.24
xvi In Quatremere, Sultans Mamlouks, II!, p.273.
xvii II, p.284, II. 10-11.
xviiiReynalds’tranl., p. 419.
xix Fol. 6 a; Sauvaire’s transl., los. Cit., VII, p. 423.
xx Creswell Early Muslim Architecture , V. 1,p 1, pp. 341.
xxi The nave of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome(fourth and fifth centuries), how the long shade of the two figures of the Angel and Joshue.
xxii The identical border is to be found in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (plate 20 a and fig. 350). It is frequently seen in Syria, Palastine, and North Africa on mosaic pavements before the advent of Islam- for instance, the mosaic of Kabr Hiram in Syria, discovered by Kenan, and now in the Museum of Louvre, and in the baptistery of an early Christian church in Timgad in Algeria,etc.
xxiii Creswell p. 365
xxiv Creswell p. 365…
xxv Creswell p.364
xxvi The gold smalts of the background were set at an angle of 35 degree.
xxvii Creswell pointed out, this may be due to the fact that gold cubes much fragile and costly than colored ones.
xxviii Creswell p. 364
xxixA.Bahnassi p.138
xxxA.Bahnassi , p.138
xxxiA.Bahnassi ,p 139
xxxii Creswell p.366
xxxiii Blair (1990), 70
xxxiv Flood (1997)
xxxv Creswell 367
xxxviFodwen (1993), pp.64
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Quatremere (1845), vol.2, part iii, Sauvaire
The Great Omayyad Mosque of Damascus, AfifBahnassi,Damascus : TLASS, 1989.
The Great Mosque of Damascus, studies on making of an Umayyad Visual Culture, Finbarr Barry Flood, Brill, Boston,2001 History of the Arabs from the earliest times to the present, Philip K Hitti, [New York] St Martin's Press [1970]
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الترقى 1928