Decorative Arts and Crafts of the Middle East

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Decorative Arts and Crafts of the Middle East

• Beth Turner, Jess Im, Kelli Lewis, Kyra Singh
  Mod 11

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Islamic Art

• To many Islamic people there is a disagreement on
  what role art should play with in their society
• Many Muslims believe that there should be no
  pictures or statues of people at all, they
  consider it like the making of idols
• Others believe that paintings should not be a
  part of religious art but there could be
  illistrations in book and such
• Never should there be paintings of people in
  mosques though
• The three main types of Islamic art are
  calligraphy, religious art, and secular art

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Calligraphy

• Arabic calligraphy is a symbol representing
  unity, beauty, and power
• Calligraphy is the reflection of the cultural
  values of the Muslim world
• While many religions have made use of figural
  images to display their beliefs, Islam has used
  the shapes and sizes of words or letters
• Calligraphy is a highly respected art in the
  Middle East it is the art of writing

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Religious Art

• Although the Quran forbids the use of of human
  and animal forms as part of islamic religious art
  some minature paintings that show religious art
  which include paintings of the prophet
• Religious paintings are usually found within
  Turkey, Iran, and India even though many people
  today dont except this practice

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Secular Art

• Small paintings were often used to illustrate
  books
• The paintings accompanied heroic poems, stories,
  and histories of the royal family
• Many rulers wanted to have portraits of
  themselves to show they were important in history

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Egyptian Art

• Many pieces of Egyptian jewelry served to perform
  magic in the dead
• Jewelry included Amulets, small charms that were
  created and placed throughout the various layers
  of wrappings of the mummy

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Scarab Beetle

• Most popular amulet in ancient Egypt, viewed as a
  symbol of new life or resurrection

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Hieroglyphics
One example of a hieroglyphic is the Udiat eye.
This eye is a representation of the eye of the
god Horus, which was torn from his head by the
storm god.
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Pyramids

• Pyramids served as a place for dead Pharohs and
  their possessions that they needed with in the
  afterlife

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Persian /Iranian Art

• The animal style which includes decorative
  animal motifs is very strong in the Persian
  culture
• Early painting was used to decorate manuscripts
• Persian architecture has a very long and complex
  history and is where Persia made its greatest
  contribution to the world
• Iranian art has always been uniquely different
  from the rest of the world, it is still prevalent
  today even with very strong international
  influences

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Persian Crafts

• Through out history Persia has remained the
  centerpiece of the carpet making craft, where it
  has developed into an art form
• Pottery is one of the oldest Persian art forms,
  and examples have been found in burial mounds
  dating back to the 5th millennium BC.

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Bibliography

• http//www.lacma.org/islamic_art/intro.htm
• http//www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Art/Art1.
  html
• http//www.factmonster.com/ce6/ent/A088922.html
• http//www.yale.edu/ynhti/cirriculum/units/2002/2/
  20.02.03.html