Szabist civilization 4 written word

The Importance of the Written Word

Monday, February 6, 2012

Surah al-Alaq (Chapter 96, Verses 1-5)

Read in the Name of thy Sustainer, who has created (2) created man out of a germ-cell (3) Read - for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One (4) who has taught [man] the use of the pen (5) taught man what he did not know


Parchment: thin writing or drawing sheet prepared from the skin of a sheep or goat. Parchment was used as early as 2nd century BCE in Rome and the Near East. The skin is dehaired with lime then scraped, rubbed, and polished with abrasives (pumice) and fillers (chalk or talc) on one side to provide a smooth writing surface. Thin translucent sheets of parchment made from stillborn or newly born calves or lambs are called vellum.

Paper: A thin, man-made sheet of matted cellulose fibers. Paper sheets are molded from a slurry of macerated fibers. The technique for making early handmade paper from vegetable fibers was patented in 105 CE by Ts'ai Lun in China. Ancient Egyptians made papyrus from coarse fiber strips of the paper reed plant. Paper is made from a variety of cellulose sources, such as grass, linen, cotton, wood, paper mulberry, straw, bagasse, esparto, bamboo, and jute. Good quality paper contains a high proportion of cellulose, such as those made from cotton or linen rags. Poor quality paper, such as produced by mechanical pulping of wood chips, contains one or more of the following: lignin, residual chlorine from bleaching, or excess alum from sizing. Each of these components increases the acidity of the paper leading to the decomposition of the cellulose fibers.


KuficNaskhiRayhani

MuhaqqaqThuluth

TawqiNastaliqGhubar

ShatranjiMaghribi

Calligraphic Scripts


Ibn Muqla’s system


Quran (dispersed), 630-700 C.E., likely Saudi Arabia


Quran, 710-15 C.E., Sana’a (Yemen), Umayyad, ink on parchment


Quran frontis/finispiece, 8th Century, (Yemen), Umayyad, ink on parchment


Quran bifolio (opening of Chapter 53), 9th Century, (North Africa), gold, ink & colours on vellum


Quran detached folio, 9th century, Cairo (Egypt) Mamluk


Quran Verse Marker, 9th Century, Abbasid, ink, colours, & gold on parchment (vellum), tooled leather binding



“Blue Quran”, late 9th/early 10th Century, Kairouan (Tunisia), gold & silver ink on indigo dyed parchment


Quran of Ibn al-Bawwab, 1000-1001 C.E., Buyid, ink & gold on paper


Amulet, 11th Century, (North African), Fatimid, ink on paper



Quran manuscript, 13th-14th Century, (Spain), Nasrid, ink, colours & gold on parchment


Quran printed in Arabic, 1537-38 C.E., Venice (Italy), Paganino Paganini, ink on paper, cardboard binding


Binding for a Quran, outer & inner covers ca. 1850 C.E., (Iran), Qajar, lacquer painted


Panel, 1499-1500 C.E., (India), black carved schist


Bowl, 10th Century,

Nishapur (Iran), Samanid, slip

painted, incised & glazed

Inscription in Arabic: “Planning before work protects you from regret; prosperity and peace.”


Tiraz fragment, 9th Century, Baghdad (Iraq), Abbasid, silk


Tiraz fragment with painted inscription, c. 963-999 C.E., reign of Rashid Imams, ikat, plain weave cotton with gold leaf.


Tiraz fragment with painted inscription, c. 963-999 C.E.,

reign of Rashid Imams, ikat, plain weave cotton

with gold leaf. Kufic inscription: “...[a]l-Dá'i ilá

al-Haqq, Commander of the Believers, Yusuf b. Yahya b.

al-Nasir li-Din Allah Ahmad, son of the apostle

of God, may God bless them all."


Talismanic Shirt associated with

Sultan Mehmed II, c. 1451-81 C.E.,

Istanbul (Turkey), Ottoman, cotton;

ink & pigment




Mosque Lamp, ca. 1285, (Egypt/Syria), Mamluk,

glass; free blown, enameled

& gilded


Surah Nur (Chapter 24, Verse 35)

God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass as it were a shining star. (This lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree…



Research Proposal

DUE: February 20 (A) & 23 (B)

Pick a research topic based within the subject of this course. Proposals should include the following:* A short summary (about 800 words) of the topic which will include some background of your research area and clearly articulates your research question.* An annotated bibliography of at least seven sources to be used in your paper. Annotated bibliographies contain a full citation of sources used and in 2-3 sentences explain the content of the source and why it is useful for your research.NOTE: Wikipedia and other similar websites (i.e. those that do not have peer review systems) are not acceptable sources of research.


How to Cite

There are three manners in which to cite references:1. Direct Quote: “… attention increasingly shifted towards how artistic practices are conferred with meaning through their presentation and mediation…” (Richter & Wieder, 1)2. Indirect reference: Current art discourse and art production both place emphasis upon the importance of contextual space in the interpretation of the object. (Richter & Wieder, 1)3. Longer Quotes (>3.5 lines)

In artistic production as well as in theoretical and historical reflection, the attention increasingly shifted towards how artistic practices are conferred with meaning through their presentation and mediation (from aspects of interior design or labeling, to questions of accessibility), and not only through the works themselves.


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Szabist civilization 4 written word