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About
The Collection
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Abbasid
& Tulunid Style hall3
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By
the fall of the Omayyad in 750 A.D. The
Abbasids established their dynasty and removed the capital
from Damascus to Baghdad which was founded by the Abbasid caliph
al-Mansur in 762, with this removal of the capital, the emphasis
shifts towards the eastern art traditions of the
Turkes of central
Asia and the local Hellenistic and
Sassanian traditions of Iraq and
Persia, thus a new chapter in the history of Islamic art begins.
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Egypt
under the domination of the
Abbasid dynasty,
was controlled by
a
prefect appointed by
the caliph in Baghdad, Mousa Ibn Ka’ab the prefect of Egypt
forwarded a warning message in 758 A.D. to the king of Nubia,
southern Egypt, complaining
from
irregularities on Nubian
end
in its dealings with Egypt
he was
asking to send the blood money of the
killed merchant and
his wealth
he urged them to continue
dealing correctly if
they
wish to fulfill
their compact with Egypt.
a
rich and impressive papyrus document excavated in 1972 at Qasr Ibrim
in Egyptian Nubia, consisting of 12 joined gummod pieces to a length
of 264.5 cm., written in simple and developed Arabic Kufic script (
pl. 11-12).
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In
836 A.D. the
Abbasid capital was temporary removed to
Samaraa, a new city
built on the east bank of Baghdad to be the official residence
of
the caliph. Of the elaborate plaster decorations of this city,
enough has survived to give us a good idea of the richness and
originality of Samaraa art and its three main phases.
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Stucco
panel represents the earliest phase of Samaraa plaster decoration,
the designs deeply undercut into the plaster by hard in naturalistic
manner betraying the influence of the late classical art traditions.
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At
this stucco panel represents the second phase of Samaraa plaster
decoration. The patterns become less deep and more abstract drawing
away from the classical style.
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The
3rd phase of Samaraa plaster decoration :
abstract linear ornaments, no longer cut into the plaster but
molded to meet the increased demand for the plaster wall
decoration.
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The
style of Samaraa,
marked by its abstract and stylized decorative motifs, was brought
to Egypt by Ahmed Ibn Tuloun the founder of the politically
independent Tulunid dynasty 870 - 905 A.D.
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The
influence of the 3rd style of Samaraa which was widely
employed , is clearly evident on the plaster wall decoration of a
private Tulunid house excavated north of the area of Fustat, the
first Islamic capital of Egypt. Replicas for this decoration were
made to show the close
infleunce of Samaraa style ( pl -16).
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The
most brilliant technical achievement invented by the Muslim potters
in the Abbasid period was the
painting on the surface of the glaze with a metallic pigment
called. Luster which produces a metallic shine resembling the
shine of gold in different shoals. This technique seems to have been
practiced nowhere.
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