Islamic Art & Architecture

23/12/2025

Bab el Bhar (باب البحر), later called the Porte de France, was built in 1848 during the Husainid period as one of the main gates of the Medina of Tunis. It marked the boundary between the walled old city and the expanding European quarter under growing French influence.

25/01/2024

The Alhambra is a historic palace and fortress complex in Granada, Spain, located on Sabikah Hill. Originally not planned as a single complex, it grew over time. Under the Nasrids (1238 - 1492), the Alhambra became a magnificent residence with the addition of palaces, baths, mosques, schools, and gardens.

The Alhambra is a historic palace and fortress complex in Granada, Spain, located on Sabikah Hill. Originally not planned as a single complex, it grew over t...

25/01/2024

05/11/2022

Central Exhibition Hall of the Academy of Arts Uzbekistan was opened in 1974. In addition to modern exhibited works by famous uzbek artists, there will also take place special exhibitions.

05/11/2022

Navoi Theater is named after the famous poet ʿAli Shir Nawāʾi from Herat in the 15th century and is considered today a national hero in Uzbekistan. The building was designed by the Soviet architect Alexey Shchusev and completed in 1947.

05/11/2022

State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, completed in 1970, is like a cube floating above the earth. The exhibits are arranged chronologically - from the Stone Age to the present day.

26/09/2021

Rock Crystal Ewer of Caliph al-'Aziz Billah, 975 – 996 AD
rock crystal, gold, enamel
h: 230 mm; w: 125 mm
The object bearing name of early Fatimid Caliph al-'Aziz (r.975-996) with later additions of 16th C. gold and enamel

22/09/2021

Other typical leisure activities at the Ayyubid and Mamluk courts, which are depicted on enamelled vessels, besides horseback riding, were gathering, making music and drinking together in gardens.
A typical example of a courtly scene can be admired on the bottle from the Vienna Dommuseum, produced in the 13th century in Syria. In the medallions on the two broad sides, four figures are grouped around a tree: On the one side, they play lute, flute and tambourine. On the other side, two musicians play tambourine and lute, while other figures sit listening and drinking.

21/09/2021

✅ A new video about Mamluk & Ayyubid - Enamelled and Gilded Glass is now available on my YouTube channel. You can find the link on my profile.
…………………………………………. The artisans of glass production in Syria and Egypt during the Ayyubid (1169 - 1260) and the Mamluk period (1250 - 1517) brought the production of enamelled and gilded glass to its peak, technically and aesthetically. A speciality of the preserved enameled and gilded glass objects from this period are their figurative motifs, in addition to calligraphic inscriptions, arabesques and vegetal patterns.