The Production of Meaning in Islamic Architecture and Ornament

Presents transformations in Islamic architecture and ornament in relation to parallel theological and political changes

This volume collects Yasser Tabbaa's investigative and interpretive articles on medieval Islamic architecture, ornament and gardens in Syria and Iraq, with comparative expansions into Anatolia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The monuments in question, many of which have vanished in recent years, are examined within the context of the political divisions and theological ruptures that characterised the Islamic world between the 11th and 13th centuries.

The writings cover such significant forms as muqarnas vaulting, proportioned Qur'anic scripts and cursive public inscriptions, and monument types such as the madrasa, the hospital, the tribunal (dar al-'adl) and the citadel palace. Collectively, they present medieval Islamic architecture as a transformative process that echoes Abbasid glory and signals future developments in later Islamic architecture.

Key Features
¿ Discusses monuments in Syria and Iraq, many of which have vanished without being properly studied
¿ Explores innovations in medieval Islamic architecture within the shifting political and theological landscape
¿ Reaffirms the centrality of the Abbasid Caliphate in these innovations and their dispersion throughout the Islamic world
¿ Expands on the role of poetry in the transmission of garden and fountain types from the eastern to the western Islamic world
¿ Explores the unprecedented expansion of Shi'i shrines in Syria, largely due to Iranian patronage

Yasser Tabbaa has taught Islamic art and architecture for 35 years in several major US universities, including MIT, the University of Michigan, and Oberlin College. He is the author of several books including Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo (1997) and The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival (2001).