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Banna'i
In Iranian architecture, banna'i (, "builder's technique" in Persian) is an architectural decorative art in which glazed tiles are alternated with plain bricks to create geometric patterns over the surface of a wall or to spell out sacred names or pious phrases. This technique originated in Syria and Iraq in the 8th century, and matured in the Seljuq and Timurid era, as it spread to Iran, Anatolia and Central Asia. If the brickwork design is in relief then it is referred to as hazarbaf (, compound of ''hazar'' "thousand" and ''baf'' "weavings", referring to the woven appearance of the bricks). History The earliest surviving example of decorative brick work with colored bricks is found in the city gate of Raqqa (c. 772). The earliest known example of ''hazārbāf'' is found in the Ukhaydir Palace near Baghdad, built around 762. The technique appeared in Iran and central Asia more than a century later but with more sophisticated designs. The tomb of the Samanid ruler Ismā ...
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Kufic
The Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It developed from the Arabic alphabet in the city of Kufa, from which its name is derived. Kufic is characterized by angular, rectilinear letterforms and its horizontal orientation. There are many different versions of Kufic, such as square Kufic, floriated Kufic, knotted Kufic, and others. The artistic styling of Kufic led to its use in a non-Arabic context in Europe, as decoration on architecture, known as pseudo-Kufic. History Origin of the Kufic script Calligraphers in the early Islamic period used a variety of methods to transcribe Quran manuscripts. Arabic calligraphy became one of the most important branches of Islamic Art. Calligraphers came out with the new style of writing called Kufic. Kufic is the oldest calligraphic f ...
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Banna'i Tiling Technique
In Iranian architecture, banna'i (, "builder's technique" in Persian) is an architectural decorative art in which glazed tiles are alternated with plain bricks to create geometric patterns over the surface of a wall or to spell out sacred names or pious phrases. This technique originated in Syria and Iraq in the 8th century, and matured in the Seljuq and Timurid era, as it spread to Iran, Anatolia and Central Asia. If the brickwork design is in relief then it is referred to as hazarbaf (, compound of ''hazar'' "thousand" and ''baf'' "weavings", referring to the woven appearance of the bricks). History The earliest surviving example of decorative brick work with colored bricks is found in the city gate of Raqqa (c. 772). The earliest known example of ''hazārbāf'' is found in the Ukhaydir Palace near Baghdad, built around 762. The technique appeared in Iran and central Asia more than a century later but with more sophisticated designs. The tomb of the Samanid ruler Ismā'īl ...
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Iranian Architecture
Iranian architecture or Persian architecture (, ''Me'māri e Irāni'') is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Turkey and Iraq to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Persian buildings vary greatly in scale and function, from vernacular architecture to monumental complexes. In addition to historic gates, palaces, and mosques, the rapid growth of cities such as the capital Tehran has brought about a wave of demolition and new construction. According to American historian and archaeologist Arthur Upham Pope, Arthur Pope, the supreme Iranian art, in the proper meaning of the word, has always been its architecture. The supremacy of architecture applies to both pre- and post-Islamic periods. Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, from a variety of traditions and experience. Without sudden innovatio ...
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Arslan Ibn Mas'ud
Arslan-Shah of Ghazna (full name: ''Sultan ad-Dawlah Abul-Moluk Arslan-Shah ibn Mas'ud'') ( 1092 – 1119) was the Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire from 1116 to 1117. Biography In 1116, Arslan Shah overthrew his older brother Shir-Zad, took the Ghaznavid throne, and blinded or imprisoned his remaining brothers, except Bahram who was in Zamindawar. Arslan-Shah also appointed Abu'l-Fath Yusuf as his ''vizier''. After being initially defeated by Arslan at Tiginabad, Bahram, appealed to Seljuk Sultan Ahmad Sanjar, whose sister, Gawhar Khatun, was greatly offended at the conduct of her eldest son Arslan ibn Mas'ud, towards the rest. Incited by her and perhaps by his own ambitious views Sanjar called on Arslan to release his brothers and on his refusal marched against him with an army of 30,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry. Arslan was defeated after an obstinate engagement and fled to Ghazna. There, on the plain outside Ghazna, Arslan was decisively defeated and fled to India, wher ...
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Ghazni
Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategically located along Highway 1 (Afghanistan), Highway 1, which follows the path that has served as the main road between Kabul and Kandahar for thousands of years. Situated on a plateau at 2,219 metres (7,280 ft) above sea level, the city is south of Kabul and is the capital of Ghazni Province. The name Ghazni derives from the Persian word ''ganj'', meaning "treasure." Citadel of Ghazni, Ghazni Citadel, the Ghazni Minarets, Minarets of Ghazni, the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III, and several other cultural heritage sites have brought travelers and archeologists to the city for centuries. During the Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan, pre-Islamic period, the area was inhabited by various tribes who practiced different religions including Zoro ...
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Turquoise (color)
Turquoise ( ) is a cyan color, based on the turquoise, mineral of the same name. The word ''turquoise'' dates to the 17th century and is derived from the French language, French , meaning 'Turkish', because the mineral was first brought to Europe through Turkey from mines in the historical Greater Khorasan, Khorasan province of Iran (Persia) and Afghanistan today. The first recorded use of ''turquoise'' as a color name in English language, English was in 1573. The Web colors#X11 color names, X11 color named turquoise is displayed on the right. Turquoise gemstones Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrate, hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula copper, Cualuminium, Al6(phosphorus, Poxygen, O4)4(Ohydrogen, H)8·4water, H2O. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone, gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. In many cultures of the Old world, Old and New Worlds, t ...
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Cobalt Blue
Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminium(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighter and less intense than the (iron-cyanide based) pigment Prussian blue. It is extremely stable, and has historically been used as a coloring agent in ceramics (especially Chinese porcelain), jewelry, and paint. Transparent glasses are tinted with the silica-based cobalt pigment "smalt". Historical uses and production Ores containing cobalt have been used since antiquity as pigments to give a blue color to porcelain and glass. Cobalt blue in impure forms had long been used in Chinese porcelain. In 1742, Swedish chemist Georg Brandt showed that the blue color was due to a previously unidentified metal, cobalt. The first recorded use of ''cobalt blue'' as a color name in English was in 1777. It was independently discovered as an alumina ...
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Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia's republic of Dagestan to the north, Georgia (country), Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city. The territory of what is now Azerbaijan was ruled first by Caucasian Albania and later by various Persian empires. Until the 19th century, it remained part of Qajar Iran, but the Russo-Persian wars of Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), 1804–1813 and Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), 1826–1828 forced the Qajar Empire to cede its Caucasian territories to the Russian Empire; the treaties of Treaty of Gulistan, Gulistan in 1813 and Treaty of Turkmenchay, Turkmenchay in 1828 defined the border between Russia and Iran. The region north o ...
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Naskh (script)
Naskh is a small, round script of Islamic calligraphy. Naskh is one of the first scripts of Islamic calligraphy to develop, commonly used in writing administrative documents and for transcribing books, including the Qur’an, because of its easy legibility. Origin The Naskh style of writing can be found as early as within the first century of the Islamic calendar. The Naskh script was established in the first century of the Hijri calendar by order of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan due to the presence of defects in the Kufic script. Two centuries before it was recorded by Ibn Muqla Like Al-Muwatta written by Malik ibn Anas in a soft, rounded script Ibn Muqla is credited with standardizing the "Six Pens" of Islamic calligraphy, also including , , , , and . These are known as "the proportioned scripts" () or "the six scripts" (). Kufic is commonly believed to predate naskh, but historians have traced the two scripts as coexisting long before their codification by Ibn Muqla, as the tw ...
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Jameh Mosque Of Saveh
The Jameh Mosque of Saveh (; ) is a Friday mosque, located in Saveh, Saveh County, in the province of Markazi, Iran. Completed during the 12th century, the Seljuk mosque was built to coincide with the establishment of the city itself. The mosque was added to the Iran National Heritage List on 6 January 1932, administered by the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran. History Like so many monuments of central Iran, the Jameh Mosque of Saveh's core is of the 12th century, and its single surviving minaret is dated in 1110 CE and 1061. The proportions of its façade are also related to systems of proportion established in the 12th century, although the work itself is, apparently, of the early 16th century. Recent discoveries indicate that the mosque might have been constructed on the foundations of an older mosque dating back to the 10th. Several inscriptions found in the mosque date back to the 10th century. Architecture and design The Jameh Mosque of Sa ...
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