Oriental languages and civilizations

MICHELINA DI CESARE

In consistency with the educational purposes of the whole teaching course, aim of the teaching unit is to give students a basic knowledge and comprehension skills in the field of ISLAMIC ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF ART, with the help of advanced textbooks. Moreover, it will make the student able to apply the acquired knowledge in an expert and reflective way, making autonomous judgments, communicating ideas, problems and reflections in a clear and correct way, and developing the knowledge required to go further in the studies.

The aim of the course is a basic knowledge of the origin and formation of Islamic material culture and artistic expression, deepening both the transition from late antiquity and the pre-Islamic Iranian civilization carried out during the first years of expansion from the Arabian Peninsula, and the resulting contributions of specific elements, from floor plans to iconography to symbols. The student will also be informed about the history of studies of the Islamic archaeology and the relations between the two Mediterranean cultures (Christian and Muslim) in the Middle Ages.

After attending the course, students will have acquired: a knowledge of the main problems and research prospects concerning early Islamic urban planning, architecture and artistic forms; the ability to analyse sites, buildings and artefacts dating to the early Islamic period and to insert them into their specific chronological, geographical and cultural contexts; the capacity to pursue research in the field of Islamic Archaeology and History of Architecture, and communicate its results.

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The course will introduce to the architectural typologies and artistic forms developed in the dar al-Islam between the 7th and the 10th centuries through the analysis of relevant sites and monuments.

Umberto Scerrato, Grandi Civiltà. Islam, Milano, Mondadori, 1972, pp. 8-42 e 45-46 (ultimo paragrafo escluso);
Oleg Grabar, Arte islamica. La formazione di una civiltà, Milano, Electa, 1989, pp. 1-234;
Ugo Monneret de Villard, Introduzione allo studio dell’archeologia islamica, Venezia-Roma, Olschki, 1968, pp. 1-136 (testo aggiuntivo per i non frequentanti).
Lettura consigliata: Leonardo Capezzone, Medioevo arabo. Una storia dell’Islam medievale (VII-XV secolo), Milano 2016.

Umberto Scerrato, Grandi Civiltà. Islam, Milano, Mondadori, 1972
Oleg Grabar, Arte islamica. La formazione di una civiltà, Milano, Electa, 1989
Ugo Monneret de Villard, Introduzione allo studio dell’archeologia islamica, Venezia-Roma, Olschki, 1968
Leonardo Capezzone, Medioevo arabo. Una storia dell’Islam medievale (VII-XV secolo), Milano 2016.

Lectures and discussions.

Recommended.

Attending students: 40% attendance (75% of the course at least); 60 % oral exam.
Non-attending students: 100% oral exam.

Most recurring topics:
The Haram of Mecca and the Ka'ba; the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina; the foundation of Basra, Kufa, and Fustat; the Haram of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock.

• Introduction
  to Islam
  • Books: Notes taken in the classroom


• Historical
  and cultural setting 
  • Books: Capezzone; Notes taken in the classroom


• Art and architecture  at the time of the Prophet Muhammad
  • Books: Monneret de Villard; Notes taken in the classroom


• Early
  Islamic settlements 
  • Books: Monneret de Villard; Scerrato; Notes taken in the classroom


• Material
  culture in the Umayyad period 
  • Books: Monneret de Villard;  Scerrato; Grabar; Notes taken in the classroom


• Material
  culture in the Early Abbasid period 
  • Books: Scerrato; Grabar; Notes taken in the classroom