1. Word List
Timeline
‘Abbasid
Absolutism
( )
Shi‘i
Century
( )
Baghdad River Tigris
Sawad
hadith shari‘a (Islamic Law)
Reign of al-Saffah.
Reign of al-Mansur.
Reign of Harun
al-Rashid.

2. Map Link: The ‘Abbasid Caliphate:
<
A24F0844.jpg>

3. Word List
Timeline
dhimmis (non-
Muslims under
Muslim rule)
Bayt al-Hikma
(House of Wisdom)
Khurasan
Sufis
Reign of al-Amin.
Civil war.
Reign of al-Ma’mun.
Reign of
al-Mu‘tasim.

4. Word List
Timeline
Sawad
al-Muwaffaq
khariji
836 Caliphate moves
to Samarra.
Reign of
al-Mutawakkil
Reign of al-Muhtadi.
Reign of
al-Mu‘tamid

5. Map Link: Regional Dynasties, 9th, 10th Century:
<

6. Word List
Timeline
Bahrayn
Qarmatians
Daylam
Mu‘izz al-Dawla
Ahmad ibn Buya
amir al-umara’
Reign of
al-Mu‘tadid.
892 Caliphate returns to
Baghdad.
Qarmatians hold
Black Stone.
945 Buyids take Baghdad.

7. Word List
Timeline
Buyids
shahanshah ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib
imam (spiritual leader)
ithna ‘asharis/“Twelvers”/Imamis
mahdi (fore-ordained leader)
Reign of al-Qadir.

8. Word List
Timeline
Ghaznavids
Saljuqs/Seljüks
1055 Saljuqs/Seljüks take
Baghdad.

9. Creating Lustreware
Sulphur
Metallic
Oxides
Ochre
Vinegar

10. Object List
Mosque of Mutawakkil, or Great Mosque; Samarra (Iraq); view from
the north. AD (F)
Mosque of Mutawakkil, or Great Mosque; Samarra (Iraq); Minaret
and exterior wall, begun c (F)
and exterior wall, begun c (F [different view])
Ziggurat. (Livius.Org: <
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Exterior view. Aerial view. (F)
Minaret of Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun. (A)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

11. Object List
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Exterior view. NE corner of
Sahn (open court with fountain) with arcade and minaret. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Exterior view. Sanctuary
arcade, west view (sanctuary is open to the north). Mosque for
Ahmad Ibn Tulun (governor of Cairo from Baghdad).
Mesopotamian influence. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Ornamental detail. Close
detail of column capitals and decorative frieze. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Ornamental detail. Open court
spandrel. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Ornamental detail. Decorative
plasterwork. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

12. Object List
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Interior view. Mihrab and
Minbar. (F)
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo AD. Ornamental detail. Outer detail.
(F)
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. The only surviving whole structure of
the Samani period. 907 AD. (F)
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. Detail, brick work. (A)
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. Detail of entrance decoration. (A)
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. Plan. (A)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

13. Object List
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. Southeast corner with the “tomb of
Sultan Ismail”. (A)
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. Interior, the southeastern corner of the
zone of transition. (A)
Tomb of the Samanids, Bukhara. Interior, dome. (A)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; palace floor plan. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; the palace. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; entrance. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

14. Object List
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; detail of the battlements of Ukhaidir.
(F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; south façade of the Court of Honor
and Boundary wall. c. 774/775. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; interior view of the stoa from the
Ukhaidir palace mosque. (F)
Ukhaidir, near Baghdad, 8th c AD; north façade of the Court of Honor,
restored. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

15. Object List
Earthenware dish: lustre painted abstract bird. Samarra (Iraq). Possibly
Cygnus constellation? 9th c. 27cm. (Niall Christie, Private
Collection: <
and <
Cygnus constellation? 9th c. 27cm. (F)
Earthenware bowl: polychrome lustre: Iraq, 9th c. Twirling half
palmettes. (F)
Earthenware dish: vegetal decoration: lustre painted. Iraq, mid-9th c.
19cm. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

16. Object List
Lustre-painted ceramic plate with floral palmettes. Inscription =
li-Malikna(?) (for our king). 37.0cm. 9th c, Iraq. (F)
Earthenware bowl, opaque white glaze painted blue: 9th c. Mesopotamia.
24cm. “Blessings to the owner, the work of Muhammad…” (F)
Ceramic bowl from Iraq. 9th c. 19.7cm. Inscription = baraka. (F)
Ceramic bowl, 19.7cm. 9th c Iraq. (F [side view])
Ceramic bowl with 6 petal blossom decoration. Indigenous. 9th c. Iraq.
(F)
Ceramic bowl showing 6 petal decoration. 9th c. Iraq. (F)
Earthenware plate: Caliphal period, 10th c. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

17. Object List
Earthenware bowl: brown and red slip painted. Iran. 10th c. 39cm in
diameter. (F)
Mystery object! 9th c. Egypt. (F)
Glass goblet with applied decoration. 9th c, Iraq. Found in Fustat. (F)
Moulded glass bowl in Roman style: 10th c. Egypt or Syria. (F)
Blue glass bowl. Iran. 9-10th c. Tri-lobed framing elements, split
palmettes. (F)
Mosaic glass vessel. 4.2cm. 9th c. Syria. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

18. Object List
Glass beaker. Polychrome lustre. Damascus (?). 9th c. Kufic calligraphy:
palmette-headed trees. (F)
Glass bottle, relief cut. Iran-Iraq, 9-10th c. 15cm. Green overlay, clear
glass. (F)
Mystery object! Glass. Eastern Mediterranean. 8th-9th c. (F)
Brass ewer. 8-9th c. Iraq. (F)
Brass/bronze ewer with engraved decoration. 9th c. Iran (but found in
Egypt). (F)
Mystery object! Iran, 9-10th c. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

19. Object List
Silver wine cup with poem by Ibn Sukkara al-Hashimi (d ).
(Metropolitan Museum of Art: <
Wine Poem at: <
hashimi-iran-wine-cup >.
Mystery object! 8-9th c. Syria. (F)
King being attended to. Gilt silver. Iran. 10th c. (F)
Sasanian Silver and Gilt Plate, 5th-7th Century. (Freer and
Sackler Galleries, Purchase F : <
Brass astrolabe cm. 10th c. (F)
F = Ferret, A = Archnet

20. Object List F = Ferret, A = Archnet Celestial sphere. 11th c. (F)
Andromeda from al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed Stars Ink and colour
on paper x 18.2 cm. (F)
Serpent and Serpent-Bearer from 12th c. copy of al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed
Stars. (Bodleian Library, Oxford:
<
Qur’an: Ibn al-Bawwab Brown ink, colour and gold on paper.
17.5 x 13.5 cm. (F)
Qur’an AD. Executed by Iraqi Calligrapher Ibn al-Bawwab.
(F [cover pages])
Qur’an 8:41. Illuminated by al-Warraq. Eastern Kufi. 11th c. (F)

21. Object List
Yellow tiraz. Mulham: woven red silk, caliph al-Mu‘tadid: Iran:
896 AD. (F)
White linen Tiraz, embr. Blue and yellow silk, caliph al-Mu‘tamid,
Alexandria: 885/6 AD. (F)
Tiraz fragment from a shawl, 10th century. Yemen. Cotton, ink, gold
leaf; plain weave with painted decoration; 23 x 16 in. (58.4 x
40.6 cm). (Metropolitan Museum of Art:
<
Textile fragment, late 10th century; ‘Abbasid. Probably Iraq. Cotton,
plain weave with painted inscription; 9 x 14 in. (22.9 x 35.6 cm).
(Metropolitan Museum of Art: <
F = Ferret, A = Archnet