Before Muhammad, the
Arabs were mostly nomadic farmers or traders. They had little art of their own.
But as Arab rule expanded, they settled down among Greeks and Syrians in the
north, Persians in the east and Egyptians and Berbers in the west. They therefore
discovered the art of all these people. As they built their new towns, mosques
and palaces, they used the best local craftsmen to help them. But the Arabs
didn’t just take the art of other people. They influenced the work they had
done. So a new, typically Islamic, style of art arose. It can be seen in the
years 600-1000 all around the Muslim world-local styles with a clear Arab
influence.
For example, the Arabs
learned about mosaics from the Byzantines. These are pictures on walls or
floors made of small pieces of tile, stone or glass. The Dome of the Rock in
Jerusalem and the Great Mosque in Damascus have large mosaics. Following Arab
tastes, scenes from nature are common. But so are shapes and pattern. The Arabs
liked work in stucco, fine plaster to decorate walls and columns. Patterns can
also be seen in window grills, carved from stone or marble or made of metal. Early
Muslims also made patterns on gold and silver and on ornaments carved from
ivory, wood and rock crystal. The most famous pattern is called arabesque (a
design of flowing lines, often with leaves and flowers). There were probably
many wall painting in the Umayyad mosques and palaces. But there is a problem
with these. Many early mosques and palaces were made from brick, not stone. Brick
is soft and does not last well. Some buildings were also destroyed later by
invaders.
The Arabs also
developed new ways of decorating pottery. One was a new shiny look called lusterware,
which was also used on tiles. There were also splendid carpets, sometimes woven
from silk. But no carpets survive from this period. Everyday articles such as
pots and carpets were used and thrown away by their owners. They didn’t make an
effort to save them for us!
Early Arabic writing,
known as Kufic, looks very simple. But the Koran was written in Arabic. So Muslims
developed more and more attractive forms of writing, until it became an art
form. This art of beautiful writing is called calligraphy and can be seen on
Islamic books, paintings, pottery, mosaics and carpets. It is the most common
feature of Islamic art.
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