المقدمة .. كتاب العمارة العربية الاسلامية

the introduction

To study an art, it is necessary to analyze its elements and identify what is original and innovative in it or what is copied and adapted from the arts of other nations. This is because art is a manifestation of the civilizations of nations. The product of civilizations is an accumulated effort that nations exchange and influence, and take and give in proportions that differ from one nation to another.

Therefore, I found it necessary to preface the study of Arab-Islamic art with a brief presentation of the characteristics of the arts that preceded it. By these arts I mean those that were influenced by Arab-Islamic art during its inception and period of establishment. When Islam spread at the hands of the conquering Arabs, in the Levant, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, and North Africa, the prevailing arts in these countries at that time were limited to two international arts: Byzantine art and Sassanian art. The first spread in the Levant, Egypt, and North Africa, and the second spread in Iraq, Persia, and the outskirts of the Arabian Peninsula.

These arts were the direct and main source upon which artists in the Arab Islamic country relied, so they quoted from them and developed their elements. This is the case with every new art in its infancy stage. We must note here that both Byzantine and Sassanid architecture, if we analyze it, we see that it goes back to major origins that preceded it, some of which were Eastern, made by the ancient Arab peoples who formed civilizations in Mesopotamia and the Levant, and some of which were Western, which entered with the Greek and Roman occupation and developed. In his shadow.

Therefore, we are forced to take a look at the characteristics of these origins, Eastern and Western, even if briefly, in order to understand the emergence of Arab-Islamic art and clarify what these origins represent and the development of its elements and the styles and arts that he created after that.

We then talk about the emergence of Islamic architecture as a global school with a wide reach, geographically and temporally, and about the characteristics that characterized this school, the development that accompanied it during its long history, and the artistic schools that branched out from it for which the Levant was famous in the Arab-Islamic era.

Through this, we counted and studied all the historical buildings and architectural monuments in the country, trying to date them, classify them according to historical eras and artistic schools, and distinguish between their parts that were added to or renewed in recent eras, and the ancient original. This is because historical buildings are often subjected to demolition, renovation, and restoration over time. We may find parts and elements from multiple eras in a single wall or a single triangle.

Although such research and investigation requires a great deal of effort and time, my work over twenty-five years as an official responsible for historical buildings in the Syrian Arab region has helped me with it. Thus, I was allowed to study this huge heritage and collect a lot of information about it, by referring to ancient sources, Arab and foreign references, and to the observations I recorded, during my repeated visits to these buildings, or what I extrapolated from inscriptions and writings.

The reader will find that, in order not to bloat the book and to facilitate reference to it, I deliberately shortened the discussion in describing the buildings and selected one building from each era that is more suitable than others as a model to represent the artistic school to which it belongs, and I separated the discussion from it.

Finally, I hope that I have succeeded in making this book useful, filling the void that surrounds our Arabic library, especially in this section of culture, and meeting the needs of students of knowledge and those wishing to study our architectural and artistic heritage.

Here I must note the importance of the pictures and plans, some of which I prepared myself and some of which I took from documents available at the General Directorate of Antiquities and Monuments. Others are from what is published in the books of scholars such as Socaja, Creswell, and Herr Zefeld, or from what was provided to me by my friend, the German scientist Michel Meinke. Thanks and gratitude to all of them.

Finally, I cannot help but mention the merit of the Minister of Culture and National Guidance, Dr. Najah Al-Attar, who was keen to include this book in the ministry’s publications. It is a commendable interest and sincere care for our nation’s heritage and the landmarks of its eternal civilization.

Damascus in 1879, Abdul Qadir Al-Rihawi