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← Islamic art and architecture: calligraphy, pattern and the mosque ·

Islamic art and architecture: calligraphy, pattern and the mosque

Grade 11 · World Religions and Belief Traditions: Perspectives, Issues, and Challenges, Grade 11, University/College Preparation (HRT3M) · Strand F · F1 · 75 min

Mapped by the museum, not endorsed by the Ministry.

An HRT3M pathway on how a religion expresses itself in culture: the Arabic script and Islamic calligraphy, the arabesque and interlacing stars, the parts of a mosque, buildings from Jerusalem, Cordoba, Granada and Istanbul, and an ornamented scientific instrument.

Lesson goal

Students analyse how Islamic beliefs are expressed in art and architecture, and why calligraphy and geometry prevailed over figurative images.

What the lesson does, in the museum's words

The lesson shows how Islam expresses itself in the culture of its peoples, in calligraphy, ornament and architecture, and how these expressions vary from region to region while sharing common roots, and asks students to explain an artistic choice by a belief or a practice.

The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013

Seventy-five minutes, best in a room with a screen: the museum's images come from licensed museums and from labelled illustrations. No images of people appear on this pathway, by the museum's rules.

Lesson steps

  1. The Arabic script — How the script in which the Qur'an was written came to be, and what the sources say of its beginnings. · The Arabic script
  2. Islamic calligraphy — Kufic, naskh and thuluth: writing as the noblest of the arts. · Islamic calligraphy
  3. The arabesque — The endless plant: ornament that fills a surface without an image. · Arabesque
  4. Girih and the stars — The geometry of interlacing straps: mathematics on the wall. · Girih
  5. The mosque and its parts — Mihrab, minbar, minaret and courtyard: function before form. · Mosque
  6. The Dome of the Rock — The oldest standing Islamic building with its ornament: Jerusalem, 691. · Dome of the Rock
  7. The Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alhambra — Arches and calligraphy on the walls: al-Andalus in two buildings. · Great Mosque of Córdoba · The Alhambra
  8. The Suleymaniye — The Ottoman dome and its architect Sinan: light as a material. · Süleymaniye Mosque
  9. An ornamented astrolabe — A scientific instrument from Yemen bearing script and ornament: science and art in one hand. · Astrolabe of Umar ibn Yusuf
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Worksheet

Answer in your own words after each step; every question points back to a museum page.

  1. Why did calligraphy become 'the noblest of the arts' for Muslims? Tie the answer to the Qur'an.

  2. Draw an eight-pointed star from two interlacing straps. How does this shape relate to mathematics?

  3. Name four parts of a mosque and give the function of each.

  4. Compare the Dome of the Rock with the Suleymaniye: what changed in nine centuries and what stayed?

  5. Why does a scientific astrolabe carry ornament and script? What does that say about science, religion and art?

Answer key

Each worksheet question is answered by one step; the number points to the step.

  1. Why did calligraphy become 'the noblest of the arts' for Muslims? Tie the answer to the Qur'an.

    1 The Arabic script — How the script in which the Qur'an was written came to be, and what the sources say of its beginnings. · The Arabic script

    2 Islamic calligraphy — Kufic, naskh and thuluth: writing as the noblest of the arts. · Islamic calligraphy

  2. Draw an eight-pointed star from two interlacing straps. How does this shape relate to mathematics?

    4 Girih and the stars — The geometry of interlacing straps: mathematics on the wall. · Girih

  3. Name four parts of a mosque and give the function of each.

    5 The mosque and its parts — Mihrab, minbar, minaret and courtyard: function before form. · Mosque

  4. Compare the Dome of the Rock with the Suleymaniye: what changed in nine centuries and what stayed?

    6 The Dome of the Rock — The oldest standing Islamic building with its ornament: Jerusalem, 691. · Dome of the Rock

    8 The Suleymaniye — The Ottoman dome and its architect Sinan: light as a material. · Süleymaniye Mosque

  5. Why does a scientific astrolabe carry ornament and script? What does that say about science, religion and art?

    9 An ornamented astrolabe — A scientific instrument from Yemen bearing script and ornament: science and art in one hand. · Astrolabe of Umar ibn Yusuf

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