تطور الفنون المعمارية في سورية قبل الاسلام ٤_a .. كتاب العمارة العربية الاسلامية

Decoration. The few buildings built with carved stone were influenced by classical architecture, which relied on porticoes and columns, and created innovative types of capitals for these columns, especially the crown made of bulls' heads.

(b) General characteristics of Islamic art

Islam appeared in the Arabian Peninsula, in a culturally poor environment. Until that date, the country of Hijaz had not known significant architectural works or the most important historical buildings known to the Arabs of Hijaz at that time. The Holy Kaaba, which is a simple building that does not contain any architectural art.

But on the outskirts of the Arabian Peninsula and in the Levant, there were flourishing architectural arts. In Yemen, we knew the buildings of the civilization of Sheba and Ma'in (Ma'rib Dam and Ghamdan Palace), and the Indian and Sassanian influences were apparent in the architectural arts. At the advent of Islam, Yemen was subject to the influence of the Persians and ruled by a Persian ruler (satrap).

The Arab Emirates in the Levant and the outskirts of Iraq (the Ghassanids and Manathira) had a taste for the prevailing arts of that era: Byzantine art in the Levant and Sassanid art in Iraq. However, nothing has reached us of the traces of their palaces mentioned in historical accounts, such as Al-Khornaq and Al-Sadir in Al-Hira, and Al-Baris, the Ghassanid palace in Damascus.

With the advent of Islam and the emergence of Arab-Islamic civilization, a new art appeared in the world, which is Arab-Islamic art, the longest-lived of the arts, which dominated during thirteen centuries (between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries AD) countries extending between China and northern Spain. This art originated at the hands of the Umayyad Arab Muslims and grew up in the Levant, home of ancient civilizations and arts. This international art school had characteristics and trends that distinguished it from others. Within its broad framework, there are many schools that differ from each other according to place and time.

Before we talk about Arab-Islamic art in Syria and its development, we must outline the characteristics of the mother school to which Syrian arts have belonged throughout these centuries.

It is true to say that the conquering Arabs did not carry with them to the conquered countries Arab art from their island, but rather their role in the emergence of art in the beginning was manifested in their tendency to create and reconstruct and encourage artistic production and in their interest in renewing and developing styles in order to harmonize with their tastes, beliefs and customs and achieve their desires. Especially since the arts in the past were used to fulfill the desires of the rulers and serve religion.

Islamic art has benefited from the arts we have reviewed, especially the Byzantine and Sassanian arts, and has taken from them and been influenced by them, just like the arts of other civilizations. Here we would like to say a word about the subject of quotation and transmission, which many art historians want to describe Islamic art, regardless of the similarity in general features or in architectural and decorative elements between Islamic structures and buildings and those built in previous eras, and whatever is said about the Arabs’ use of artists from Outside of Islamic society, the first century after the conquest witnessed a new architectural product in which creativity and original art were evident, in terms of construction and composition and in terms of the method of using the borrowed ancient elements.

The ability of the first artists to develop the borrowed elements, modify them, and use them in a different style consistent with the new taste and new culture was evident:

It also manifested itself in reconciling elements inspired by different places, in order to create a new work that distinguishes it from all previous artistic works.

This occurred during the founding period and during the first century. After that, artistic production began to move away from the principles from which it was taken as time progressed and as modification and renewal continued, until the similarity between the architectural and decorative elements in Arab art and their counterparts in the pre-Islamic arts disappeared. This was evident in the domes, ceilings, doors, column capitals, arches, and all decorative inscriptions, as well as geometry and planning.

The nature and function of the new facilities, which met the needs and requirements of the Islamic faith and Arab culture, were among the most important reasons for the emergence of the distinguished personality and originality in Islamic art.

One of the general characteristics that characterize Arab Islamic art is in the field of architecture and decoration. Diversify the decoration, take into account symmetry, include the decoration and cover every space, avoid depicting humans and animals, especially in religious buildings, and compensate for that with decorative themes, botanical and geometric, and nature scenes.

Such characteristics, which gave Islamic art its distinctive character, gave its production a general character and unity. What confirms this unity is that we can easily recognize his production wherever we encounter it, whether we see it in Syria, Egypt, or Andalusia. Whether the production was implemented in the ninth century or in the nineteenth century.

This is of course due to the unity of belief, civilization, and culture, and to political unity, when there is political unity, and to the similarity in the region in general and the conditions imposed by this region on form, planning, and the type of decorations. There are other factors that contributed to achieving artistic unity, which are summarized in the permanent ties between the countries of the Islamic world that were strengthened through travel and Hajj seasons, the exchange of goods, the travel of artists, and the competition of rulers to attract them.

However, it is not permissible to understand from this unity complete identicalness in works, since the facilities that are erected here and there and at every time are not an imitation of a specific model, no matter how perfect and beautiful the model is, and no matter how admired it is. Individual tastes and desires have contributed to the formation of architectural structures, as have inherited traditions and building materials available in every region and country. Finally, the political currents, and the certain influences they brought with them, had a major impact in changing the features of mainstream art and directing it in... which led to the existence of many artistic schools within the scope of Islamic art, the mother school, so it was Umayyad art, Abbasid art, Fatimid art, Seljuk art, Ayyubid art, and Mamluk art. And the Ottoman.

It is noted that the names of these artistic schools correspond to prominent political eras in history. The reason for this is that we notice a political era, or when a certain ruling family takes over, the emergence of new trends and influences on the features of the arts and industries, which soon become clear little by little, giving the products of that era a distinctive character.

In the following chapters, we will study the characteristics of these schools and follow the line of continuous development of architecture and its architectural and decorative elements through them.