0 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:15,000 1 00:00:00,868 --> 00:00:03,704 [music playing] 2 00:00:12,379 --> 00:00:14,547 NARRATOR: The narrative of human history 3 00:00:14,648 --> 00:00:18,122 is punctuated by war and conquest, 4 00:00:18,499 --> 00:00:21,419 triumph and catastrophe. 5 00:00:22,123 --> 00:00:26,333 But in the end, what endures? 6 00:00:26,860 --> 00:00:30,698 It is not the struggle that has lasting in our consciousness 7 00:00:30,798 --> 00:00:32,981 and treasured in our museums. 8 00:00:34,825 --> 00:00:39,161 It is the outpouring of creativity and intelligence 9 00:00:39,407 --> 00:00:42,692 that is civilization's greatest gift. 10 00:00:43,344 --> 00:00:45,246 The true legacy of Islamic culture 11 00:00:45,346 --> 00:00:48,382 is revealed in the nuance and ingenuity 12 00:00:48,482 --> 00:00:50,770 of its art and architecture. 13 00:00:54,855 --> 00:00:55,789 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: That feeling 14 00:00:55,889 --> 00:00:58,489 of the encounter with majesty, 15 00:00:58,514 --> 00:01:00,528 the encounter with monumentality, 16 00:01:00,553 --> 00:01:01,786 it transcends culture. 17 00:01:01,862 --> 00:01:04,098 It transcends history. 18 00:01:04,198 --> 00:01:08,473 It is a kind of universal human experience of the arts. 19 00:01:08,801 --> 00:01:13,474 We use art, we use architecture to crystallize our deepest 20 00:01:13,574 --> 00:01:16,410 emotions and our deepest aspirations 21 00:01:16,510 --> 00:01:19,848 for an understanding of our place in the world. 22 00:01:20,145 --> 00:01:21,615 NARRATOR: These monuments and artifacts 23 00:01:21,715 --> 00:01:24,223 continue to inspire us. 24 00:01:24,552 --> 00:01:27,786 They herald the finest qualities of Islamic culture 25 00:01:27,942 --> 00:01:31,887 and show us the best of individual achievements. 26 00:01:32,083 --> 00:01:35,763 Each contributes a crucial part in the ascent 27 00:01:35,863 --> 00:01:37,765 of world civilization. 28 00:01:37,865 --> 00:01:41,269 [music playing] 29 00:01:48,942 --> 00:01:52,280 [music playing] 30 00:02:14,657 --> 00:02:18,024 The seventh century was a turning point in history. 31 00:02:20,697 --> 00:02:21,683 In Europe, 32 00:02:21,707 --> 00:02:25,174 the Germanic tribes that had overrun the Roman Empire 33 00:02:25,199 --> 00:02:29,119 struggled for supremacy as they shaped their feudal kingdoms. 34 00:02:31,775 --> 00:02:35,994 To the east, the once great empires of Byzantium and Persia 35 00:02:36,061 --> 00:02:40,002 were weakened by centuries of mutually destructive wars. 36 00:02:42,763 --> 00:02:45,333 At that moment, the tribes of Arabia 37 00:02:45,433 --> 00:02:47,835 began one of history's greatest revolutions 38 00:02:47,935 --> 00:02:51,986 in power, religion, culture, and wealth, 39 00:02:52,011 --> 00:02:55,556 united under the new faith of Islam. 40 00:02:55,976 --> 00:02:58,679 From its birth in the Arabian Peninsula, 41 00:02:58,779 --> 00:03:02,583 Islam spread across the basin of the Mediterranean Sea, 42 00:03:02,683 --> 00:03:07,127 eventually we changed from Indonesia to Spain. 43 00:03:07,821 --> 00:03:10,324 And from this diverse civilization, 44 00:03:10,424 --> 00:03:13,080 and the extraordinary wealth of its rulers, 45 00:03:13,197 --> 00:03:15,900 came an outpouring of artistry. 46 00:03:16,330 --> 00:03:19,533 Objects and buildings, gardens and paintings 47 00:03:19,633 --> 00:03:22,150 reflect how this new culture grew 48 00:03:22,275 --> 00:03:25,502 in a varied and complex world. 49 00:03:26,087 --> 00:03:27,841 RUBA KANA'AN: It's not only about beautiful things. 50 00:03:27,941 --> 00:03:30,678 It's not only about looking at specific techniques 51 00:03:30,778 --> 00:03:33,514 or how a beautiful object looks in a museum. 52 00:03:33,614 --> 00:03:37,236 It's more like a window on a culture. 53 00:03:37,718 --> 00:03:42,923 Islamic art is a reflection of the people and the context 54 00:03:43,023 --> 00:03:45,728 in which it was produced. 55 00:03:45,906 --> 00:03:47,900 AFSHAN BOKHARI: And that, of course, makes 56 00:03:47,925 --> 00:03:50,190 art even that much more important because 57 00:03:50,215 --> 00:03:52,877 it is a reflection of who we are, 58 00:03:53,041 --> 00:03:54,892 and what we are, and 59 00:03:55,043 --> 00:03:58,548 will be memorialized in the years to come. 60 00:04:00,841 --> 00:04:04,158 NARRATOR: The themes that emerged as Islamic art developed 61 00:04:04,246 --> 00:04:07,064 show us the similarities in our common cultures, 62 00:04:07,168 --> 00:04:11,932 how our techniques and styles are shared and transformed. 63 00:04:12,533 --> 00:04:14,788 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Well, there are aspects of art and architecture 64 00:04:14,888 --> 00:04:17,525 that are universal, that you don't need to learn 65 00:04:17,564 --> 00:04:19,493 to appreciate to get it. 66 00:04:19,593 --> 00:04:22,463 So I might have to learn Arabic to read the inscriptions, 67 00:04:22,563 --> 00:04:25,877 but I don't have to read Arabic to appreciate 68 00:04:25,986 --> 00:04:28,569 the purity of simple black script 69 00:04:28,669 --> 00:04:30,671 on a white background on a plate. 70 00:04:30,771 --> 00:04:32,595 It is elegance, 71 00:04:32,738 --> 00:04:35,681 and it's elegance that speaks through the centuries. 72 00:04:48,021 --> 00:04:49,752 NARRATOR: In Muslim tradition, 73 00:04:49,784 --> 00:04:51,868 Islam began in 610 74 00:04:51,894 --> 00:04:53,752 in a cave in Mecca, 75 00:04:53,927 --> 00:04:56,764 where an angel came upon the prophet Muhammad 76 00:04:56,864 --> 00:04:59,733 and revealed to him the words of the Koran. 77 00:04:59,832 --> 00:05:03,102 In the first revelation, God proclaimed himself the creator 78 00:05:03,150 --> 00:05:07,587 and said, "Read, for your Lord is the most generous, 79 00:05:07,704 --> 00:05:10,103 the one who taught the use of the pen, 80 00:05:10,236 --> 00:05:13,236 taught man what he did not know." 81 00:05:13,728 --> 00:05:16,697 More than poetry, more than a holy book, 82 00:05:16,814 --> 00:05:20,048 it was the very word of God. 83 00:05:20,821 --> 00:05:23,767 SHEILA S. BLAIR: For Christians, God's gift was his son. 84 00:05:23,869 --> 00:05:26,681 He sent down his son to save mankind. 85 00:05:26,759 --> 00:05:29,363 For Muslims, god sent down a revelation. 86 00:05:29,463 --> 00:05:33,634 So the parallel is between Christ and an oral revelation. 87 00:05:33,734 --> 00:05:39,361 Because God's gift to mankind in Islam is the Koran, 88 00:05:39,673 --> 00:05:42,330 writing becomes the central feature of Islamic culture. 89 00:05:42,650 --> 00:05:44,712 And the use of the word everywhere, 90 00:05:44,812 --> 00:05:47,981 from day-to-day objects to Koran manuscripts, 91 00:05:48,181 --> 00:05:50,584 is the one feature that separates Islamic culture 92 00:05:50,684 --> 00:05:52,478 from all others. 93 00:05:54,688 --> 00:05:56,757 NARRATOR: The earliest dated words of the Koran 94 00:05:56,857 --> 00:05:59,893 are found in a stone building in Jerusalem, 95 00:06:00,095 --> 00:06:02,496 one of the most sacred and politically charged cities 96 00:06:02,596 --> 00:06:03,897 in the world. 97 00:06:04,127 --> 00:06:08,377 Built in 692, it is called the Dome of the Rock. 98 00:06:09,127 --> 00:06:09,870 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: The Dome of the Rock 99 00:06:09,970 --> 00:06:12,906 would have been a familiar building in terms of form, 100 00:06:13,006 --> 00:06:15,976 that is, that the shape, the arches, the techniques 101 00:06:16,076 --> 00:06:17,678 of decoration would have all been 102 00:06:17,778 --> 00:06:21,017 within the local Christian vocabulary. 103 00:06:21,649 --> 00:06:23,083 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: It borrows the form 104 00:06:23,183 --> 00:06:25,486 from a Byzantine martyrium. 105 00:06:25,586 --> 00:06:27,054 And a martyrium is simply a building 106 00:06:27,154 --> 00:06:28,756 that marks the place of a martyrdom 107 00:06:28,856 --> 00:06:32,041 or perhaps the burial place of a saint. 108 00:06:32,693 --> 00:06:34,662 NARRATOR: But instead of a burial site, 109 00:06:34,762 --> 00:06:38,532 the dome covers a massive rock believed by Muslims 110 00:06:38,632 --> 00:06:40,834 to be the sacred place from which Mohammad ascended 111 00:06:40,934 --> 00:06:43,804 to heaven on his mystical night journey 112 00:06:43,904 --> 00:06:47,548 to pray with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. 113 00:06:48,241 --> 00:06:49,710 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: The thing that 114 00:06:49,810 --> 00:06:52,646 makes this a uniquely Islamic building is 115 00:06:52,746 --> 00:06:55,015 the Arabic inscription that runs around it. 116 00:06:55,115 --> 00:06:57,851 That is, in effect, the sign that says, 117 00:06:57,951 --> 00:07:00,588 this is from a new culture. 118 00:07:00,688 --> 00:07:03,023 This isn't just somebody putting up words. 119 00:07:03,123 --> 00:07:04,892 This is somebody who cares. 120 00:07:04,992 --> 00:07:06,727 This is carefully composed. 121 00:07:06,827 --> 00:07:10,127 This is beautiful writing, calligraphy. 122 00:07:10,439 --> 00:07:13,133 SHEILA S. BLAIR: The interior inscription talks constantly 123 00:07:13,233 --> 00:07:17,431 about how God is the one not three. 124 00:07:17,771 --> 00:07:20,841 And this is clearly a rebuttal to Christianity 125 00:07:20,941 --> 00:07:24,745 where the primary focus is that God sent down his son 126 00:07:24,845 --> 00:07:26,146 and God is tripartite. 127 00:07:26,246 --> 00:07:27,881 And for Muslims, this is anathema. 128 00:07:27,981 --> 00:07:29,683 God is one, not three. 129 00:07:29,783 --> 00:07:31,752 So clearly there is some kind of response 130 00:07:31,852 --> 00:07:34,755 to the Christian presence in the city. 131 00:07:34,855 --> 00:07:38,592 That inscription is made in gold cubes. 132 00:07:38,692 --> 00:07:41,629 They're small glass cubes with gold foil on them. 133 00:07:41,729 --> 00:07:45,465 They are by far the most expensive kind of cube. 134 00:07:45,566 --> 00:07:49,102 And in Christian buildings often are used for halos 135 00:07:49,202 --> 00:07:51,639 or used behind the figure of Christ. 136 00:07:51,739 --> 00:07:53,473 In the Dome of the Rock, they are 137 00:07:53,574 --> 00:07:57,830 used for this inscription that runs around the building. 138 00:08:01,314 --> 00:08:03,717 NARRATOR: The Koran became the focus of devotion, 139 00:08:03,824 --> 00:08:06,626 but it also became the focus of art. 140 00:08:08,689 --> 00:08:10,558 SHEILA S. BLAIR: From the earliest times on, 141 00:08:10,658 --> 00:08:14,662 Muslims try to make Koran manuscripts as 142 00:08:14,762 --> 00:08:16,730 beautiful as possible. 143 00:08:16,830 --> 00:08:19,032 Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, 144 00:08:19,132 --> 00:08:22,548 is considered more important than all the other arts. 145 00:08:26,073 --> 00:08:27,941 NARRATOR: Today, one of the most well-respected 146 00:08:28,041 --> 00:08:29,777 Muslim calligraphers in the world 147 00:08:29,877 --> 00:08:32,439 is a convert from California. 148 00:08:32,780 --> 00:08:36,083 After teaching himself Arabic, and working for over 20 years 149 00:08:36,183 --> 00:08:39,219 to perfect his art, Mohamed Zachariya 150 00:08:39,319 --> 00:08:44,377 finally traveled to Turkey to learn from the masters in 1983. 151 00:08:44,758 --> 00:08:46,560 MOHAMED ZAKARIYA: Basically, they made a deal. 152 00:08:46,660 --> 00:08:51,899 They said, if you want to start all the way from the beginning, 153 00:08:51,999 --> 00:08:54,702 if you want to forget everything you learned about calligraphy 154 00:08:54,802 --> 00:08:58,606 for a while and sort of go from blank from start, just 155 00:08:58,714 --> 00:09:01,249 like you'd never picked up a pen before, 156 00:09:01,341 --> 00:09:03,103 and go through the lessons, 157 00:09:03,244 --> 00:09:06,847 we'll be behind you all the way with this thing and help you out. 158 00:09:06,947 --> 00:09:10,851 But if you can't do that, have a nice time in Istanbul. 159 00:09:10,951 --> 00:09:12,953 [laughs] 160 00:09:13,053 --> 00:09:15,222 NARRATOR: Zachariya accepted the challenge 161 00:09:15,322 --> 00:09:17,822 and began to learn his craft again, 162 00:09:17,900 --> 00:09:20,728 just as the first masters had before him. 163 00:09:20,828 --> 00:09:22,596 SHEILA S. BLAIR: Traditionally Muslims always 164 00:09:22,696 --> 00:09:24,564 wrote with a reed pen. 165 00:09:24,665 --> 00:09:27,901 So you went out and you had reeds or you imported reeds. 166 00:09:28,001 --> 00:09:29,970 Trimming the pen is even more important. 167 00:09:30,070 --> 00:09:32,339 Cutting the nib is even more important 168 00:09:32,439 --> 00:09:34,842 than actually the reed itself. 169 00:09:34,942 --> 00:09:37,310 And you have a tool on which you lay the reed when 170 00:09:37,417 --> 00:09:39,415 you cut it and a special knife. 171 00:09:39,517 --> 00:09:41,849 And people collected these tools and gathered them 172 00:09:41,949 --> 00:09:44,275 in their little tool boxes. 173 00:09:44,752 --> 00:09:46,654 NARRATOR: Decorated with geometric designs 174 00:09:46,754 --> 00:09:49,222 and calligraphy, these toolboxes alluded 175 00:09:49,322 --> 00:09:51,502 to the practical use of the box, 176 00:09:51,595 --> 00:09:54,595 as well as the mystical power of the pen. 177 00:09:58,431 --> 00:10:00,901 MOHAMED ZAKARIYA: I've always had a facility for carving. 178 00:10:01,001 --> 00:10:03,637 But to cut a pen, you need a knife of a certain shape 179 00:10:03,737 --> 00:10:05,486 and a certain curvature in the blade. 180 00:10:05,666 --> 00:10:06,740 If it isn't that curvature, 181 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,634 you're never going to cut a good tip. 182 00:10:11,779 --> 00:10:12,846 NARRATOR: In the seventh century, 183 00:10:12,946 --> 00:10:16,611 calligraphers wrote the Koran on treated animal skins 184 00:10:16,658 --> 00:10:18,439 called parchment. 185 00:10:18,719 --> 00:10:20,053 SHEILA S. BLAIR: The parchment was 186 00:10:20,153 --> 00:10:22,990 so important and so expensive that sometimes they 187 00:10:23,090 --> 00:10:24,041 even reused it. 188 00:10:24,095 --> 00:10:26,861 And they scraped away an earlier text 189 00:10:26,886 --> 00:10:28,322 and rewrote on top of it. 190 00:10:28,408 --> 00:10:31,555 And what's happened over time is the earlier text has darkened, 191 00:10:31,580 --> 00:10:34,767 and you can actually see it underneath. 192 00:10:35,368 --> 00:10:37,337 MOHAMED ZAKARIYA: Most of them-- they're readable, 193 00:10:37,437 --> 00:10:38,371 or legible, or practical. 194 00:10:38,471 --> 00:10:40,470 They're very, very interesting. 195 00:10:40,774 --> 00:10:42,710 But they don't rise to the level of art. 196 00:10:42,810 --> 00:10:44,923 But every now and then you see one of them, 197 00:10:45,152 --> 00:10:45,903 and you look at it 198 00:10:45,978 --> 00:10:48,047 and say, how on earth could this guy have done that? 199 00:10:48,148 --> 00:10:48,704 You know? 200 00:10:48,736 --> 00:10:49,817 How did they do their reed? 201 00:10:49,842 --> 00:10:50,650 How'd they cut their pen? 202 00:10:50,675 --> 00:10:52,652 We don't even know what angle the pens were cut. 203 00:10:52,763 --> 00:10:55,720 But it simply takes your breath away. 204 00:11:01,061 --> 00:11:02,830 NARRATOR: Islamic calligraphy was forever 205 00:11:02,930 --> 00:11:07,533 altered by a new invention from the east, paper. 206 00:11:08,001 --> 00:11:10,771 AMY LANDAU: Paper was introduced into the Islamic world 207 00:11:10,871 --> 00:11:14,341 in the eighth century due to interaction between China 208 00:11:14,441 --> 00:11:17,044 and the Islamic caliphate. 209 00:11:17,144 --> 00:11:22,816 So the technique of paper making and actual paper makers 210 00:11:22,916 --> 00:11:25,853 were transported from China to Islamic lands. 211 00:11:25,953 --> 00:11:30,165 And paper just takes off in an Islamic context. 212 00:11:30,523 --> 00:11:32,893 NARRATOR: Just as important as the pen, 213 00:11:32,993 --> 00:11:35,929 the paper must be specially treated and prepared 214 00:11:36,029 --> 00:11:37,939 for calligraphy. 215 00:11:38,408 --> 00:11:40,467 MOHAMED ZAKARIYA: The man who taught me paper making or paper 216 00:11:40,567 --> 00:11:42,702 prep took me aside one day and said, 217 00:11:42,803 --> 00:11:44,738 I'm going to show it all to you. 218 00:11:44,838 --> 00:11:47,808 The paper is rubbed with a rag that has a bit of soap on it. 219 00:11:47,908 --> 00:11:50,744 The soap is dry rubbed on the rag. 220 00:11:50,844 --> 00:11:53,747 It's a wool felt, and it's rubbed all over the paper 221 00:11:53,847 --> 00:11:55,215 to give it lubrication. 222 00:11:55,315 --> 00:11:57,450 Otherwise, the burnisher would snag the-- the surface 223 00:11:57,550 --> 00:11:59,283 and digress the heck out of it. 224 00:11:59,439 --> 00:12:00,854 You want to have it smooth so the pen will 225 00:12:00,954 --> 00:12:02,389 glide across the surface. 226 00:12:02,489 --> 00:12:04,424 But you also don't want it slippery. 227 00:12:04,524 --> 00:12:09,096 You want to have the paper have a grab to it, just enough so it 228 00:12:09,196 --> 00:12:09,997 holds the pen. 229 00:12:10,097 --> 00:12:11,098 Doesn't slip. 230 00:12:11,376 --> 00:12:14,101 The ink sits undersurface, doesn't penetrate. 231 00:12:14,408 --> 00:12:15,903 NARRATOR: For the calligrapher, the process 232 00:12:16,003 --> 00:12:17,737 of copying the words of the Koran 233 00:12:17,838 --> 00:12:21,942 is, in itself, a meditation, a prayer, 234 00:12:22,042 --> 00:12:24,689 as God speaks through the pen. 235 00:12:25,212 --> 00:12:28,882 MOHAMED ZAKARIYA: And when you write, it just writes itself. 236 00:12:28,982 --> 00:12:32,085 Your own connection with it feels minimal 237 00:12:32,185 --> 00:12:36,456 because your concentration is concentration without 238 00:12:36,556 --> 00:12:39,092 thinking about it being concentration. 239 00:12:39,191 --> 00:12:44,790 It's what the old Arabs used to call [arabic], 240 00:12:44,931 --> 00:12:50,003 which is the ease that comes from practice that 241 00:12:50,103 --> 00:12:52,806 makes the hard thing look easy. 242 00:12:53,204 --> 00:12:54,174 SHEILA S. BLAIR: Now, it is impossible 243 00:12:54,199 --> 00:12:57,377 if you are writing with a reed pen to write more than two 244 00:12:57,477 --> 00:12:59,908 or three letters with one pen stroke. 245 00:12:59,947 --> 00:13:01,281 You have to recharge your pen. 246 00:13:01,381 --> 00:13:03,851 You have to dip it back into the ink. 247 00:13:03,951 --> 00:13:08,155 But the point with calligraphy is to not see those strokes, 248 00:13:08,255 --> 00:13:10,490 to not see the difference between one and the next, 249 00:13:10,590 --> 00:13:14,461 to imagine that it was written with an unending pen. 250 00:13:15,079 --> 00:13:15,896 MOHAMED ZAKARIYA: The old guys used 251 00:13:15,996 --> 00:13:18,131 to hold their breath under the theory 252 00:13:18,231 --> 00:13:21,134 that if you hold your breath when the pen is in motion, 253 00:13:21,234 --> 00:13:24,204 the breath goes down into your hand, through the pen 254 00:13:24,304 --> 00:13:26,139 and into the paper. 255 00:13:26,239 --> 00:13:29,204 And that's what would give it that life, 256 00:13:29,402 --> 00:13:32,312 and the, or breath, as they would call it. 257 00:13:32,412 --> 00:13:33,813 SHEILA S. BLAIR: You are not looking 258 00:13:33,914 --> 00:13:36,915 to see any human interaction. 259 00:13:36,954 --> 00:13:41,111 You are looking to see the divine. 260 00:13:41,388 --> 00:13:44,124 When you see a manuscript that has all these little marks 261 00:13:44,224 --> 00:13:47,160 on it, that's a later manuscript because it's 262 00:13:47,260 --> 00:13:51,331 meant to be used by someone who's actually reading the text 263 00:13:51,431 --> 00:13:54,892 not just using it to recall what he already had memorized. 264 00:13:55,235 --> 00:13:59,572 AMY LANDAU: We also have chapter headings that are illuminated. 265 00:13:59,672 --> 00:14:04,011 Illumination is a very important art form 266 00:14:04,111 --> 00:14:06,914 in the production of Islamic manuscripts. 267 00:14:07,014 --> 00:14:10,517 It serves to navigate the reader through the different sections 268 00:14:10,617 --> 00:14:12,119 of the text. 269 00:14:12,219 --> 00:14:14,087 MOHAMED ZAKARIYA: Because calligraphy basically 270 00:14:14,187 --> 00:14:15,622 is for reading, you know? 271 00:14:15,722 --> 00:14:20,160 It's not really about paper, pens, ink, and stuff like that. 272 00:14:20,260 --> 00:14:21,995 It's about meaning. 273 00:14:22,095 --> 00:14:24,431 And in my case, you know, I'm an American. 274 00:14:24,531 --> 00:14:28,001 Obviously, wherever I go, you know, I'm the pink on, 275 00:14:28,101 --> 00:14:28,892 you know? 276 00:14:28,923 --> 00:14:32,698 And, uh-- you see a photograph of all the calligraphers, 277 00:14:32,723 --> 00:14:33,079 you know? 278 00:14:33,104 --> 00:14:34,658 And I'm in there, you know. 279 00:14:34,683 --> 00:14:36,743 It's-- that guy looks really funny, you know? 280 00:14:37,077 --> 00:14:40,213 But it's-- what am I doing with it? 281 00:14:40,313 --> 00:14:43,250 So I try to-- I try to bring it out what it means. 282 00:14:43,350 --> 00:14:47,320 And for me, that's absolutely the number one thing. 283 00:14:47,474 --> 00:14:51,954 I have access to this material, and I have to pass it on. 284 00:14:57,130 --> 00:14:59,032 NARRATOR: It is that divine presence embodied 285 00:14:59,132 --> 00:15:02,369 in the word that appears throughout Islamic art 286 00:15:02,469 --> 00:15:05,538 as writing becomes ornament. 287 00:15:06,322 --> 00:15:07,140 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: I am always 288 00:15:07,165 --> 00:15:12,245 moved when I hold a plate or a ceramic object or a metal pen 289 00:15:12,345 --> 00:15:18,151 case, and think of myself, I'm holding the same thing 290 00:15:18,251 --> 00:15:23,323 that someone 1,000 years ago or 600 years ago held. 291 00:15:23,423 --> 00:15:25,392 I'm repeating the experience. 292 00:15:25,492 --> 00:15:27,927 I'm in a different place, a different moment in history. 293 00:15:28,028 --> 00:15:29,596 I'm a different human being. 294 00:15:29,696 --> 00:15:33,033 Everything about my world is different except that object. 295 00:15:33,133 --> 00:15:36,503 And that object comes forward intact. 296 00:15:36,728 --> 00:15:38,853 That's very moving. 297 00:15:40,673 --> 00:15:43,043 NARRATOR: Many buildings in the Islamic world 298 00:15:43,143 --> 00:15:46,713 are imbued with the voice of God as elaborate inscriptions speak 299 00:15:46,813 --> 00:15:49,376 from their stone walls. 300 00:15:51,151 --> 00:15:53,720 They really are beautiful to look at. 301 00:15:53,820 --> 00:15:55,222 Even if one doesn't understand them, 302 00:15:55,322 --> 00:15:58,058 one can always appreciate their beauty. 303 00:15:58,158 --> 00:16:00,060 RUBA KANA'AN: And those inscriptions are usually 304 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,562 in places that you cannot really read. 305 00:16:02,662 --> 00:16:04,731 You're not expected to read. 306 00:16:04,831 --> 00:16:07,134 But you expect to relate to them because you 307 00:16:07,234 --> 00:16:08,401 know what's going to be there. 308 00:16:08,501 --> 00:16:13,006 You just know what sorts of verses of the Koran 309 00:16:13,106 --> 00:16:15,342 are used, for example, in certain buildings 310 00:16:15,442 --> 00:16:20,048 or in the case of Alhambra it's the beautiful poetry. 311 00:16:20,347 --> 00:16:23,416 NARRATOR: The Alhambra was built in the 14th century 312 00:16:23,516 --> 00:16:27,743 by the last Muslim rulers of Granada, Spain. 313 00:16:28,221 --> 00:16:31,024 Part fortress, part palace, the Alhambra 314 00:16:31,124 --> 00:16:33,626 provided a princely refuge from the ravages 315 00:16:33,726 --> 00:16:36,384 of the fading empire. 316 00:16:36,596 --> 00:16:38,298 OLEG GRABAR: In order to feel Alhambra, 317 00:16:38,382 --> 00:16:41,337 to know what was meant, 318 00:16:41,730 --> 00:16:46,114 you have to go slowly and read 319 00:16:46,198 --> 00:16:49,257 the poetry that is written just at eye 320 00:16:49,290 --> 00:16:51,743 level inside the building. 321 00:16:52,112 --> 00:16:55,115 I could spend hours standing by a window, 322 00:16:55,215 --> 00:16:57,317 reading an inscription, looking at this. 323 00:16:57,417 --> 00:16:59,552 That's what it was made for. 324 00:16:59,652 --> 00:17:01,521 It is meant to be lived in. 325 00:17:01,621 --> 00:17:04,124 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: In some cases, some of the writing actually 326 00:17:04,224 --> 00:17:07,260 is as if the building is speaking about itself. 327 00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:10,097 You have the dome or the wall or the fountain 328 00:17:10,197 --> 00:17:13,233 talking to the viewer and telling you what it's about 329 00:17:13,333 --> 00:17:18,986 and how it functions or how it's set within the building itself. 330 00:17:19,206 --> 00:17:21,408 NARRATOR: The water basin whispers. 331 00:17:21,508 --> 00:17:24,811 Melted silver flows through the pearls which it resembles 332 00:17:24,911 --> 00:17:28,047 in it's pure, don beauty. 333 00:17:28,148 --> 00:17:31,056 Water and marble seem to be as one. 334 00:17:33,820 --> 00:17:37,257 GARY VIKAN: The calligraphy as it melds into ornament, 335 00:17:37,357 --> 00:17:40,127 the boundary between the two is so subtle 336 00:17:40,227 --> 00:17:43,163 that they become so extraordinarily 337 00:17:43,263 --> 00:17:46,433 good at just weaving shapes in and out of one another. 338 00:17:46,533 --> 00:17:47,600 Are these zoomorphic? 339 00:17:47,634 --> 00:17:50,415 Are they-- do they come out of vegetable life? 340 00:17:50,548 --> 00:17:51,738 You know, you can't really tell, and it 341 00:17:51,838 --> 00:17:53,306 doesn't make any difference. 342 00:17:53,406 --> 00:17:56,443 Because they arrive at a place that totally 343 00:17:56,543 --> 00:18:00,189 masks and has left the place from which they came. 344 00:18:12,259 --> 00:18:13,826 NARRATOR: The cities of the Muslim world, 345 00:18:13,926 --> 00:18:16,296 extending across three continents, 346 00:18:16,396 --> 00:18:18,831 are as diverse as their people. 347 00:18:18,931 --> 00:18:23,836 But the fundamental human need for shelter is common to all. 348 00:18:23,936 --> 00:18:25,605 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: We put tremendous effort 349 00:18:25,705 --> 00:18:27,474 in what we build. 350 00:18:27,574 --> 00:18:30,410 And therefore, they reflect a great deal about us, 351 00:18:30,510 --> 00:18:33,112 about our values-- economic values, social values, 352 00:18:33,213 --> 00:18:34,681 cultural values. 353 00:18:34,765 --> 00:18:35,876 You have mosques. 354 00:18:35,908 --> 00:18:37,584 You have palaces. 355 00:18:37,684 --> 00:18:40,453 You have very impressive military architecture, 356 00:18:40,553 --> 00:18:43,223 and you have the whole spectrum of buildings 357 00:18:43,323 --> 00:18:46,087 that cover what people use. 358 00:18:49,962 --> 00:18:53,336 NARRATOR: The first mosques were made from simple unadorned mud 359 00:18:53,361 --> 00:18:55,165 brick. 360 00:18:55,835 --> 00:18:57,770 Hearing the call to prayer, Muslims 361 00:18:57,870 --> 00:19:00,640 gathered in open courtyards all facing the side 362 00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:04,267 of the mosque closest to Mecca. 363 00:19:04,577 --> 00:19:07,180 Later, direction is shown by niche 364 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,501 in the wall called the mihrab. 365 00:19:10,850 --> 00:19:13,686 RUBA KANA'AN: Other than the mihrab, in real terms, 366 00:19:13,786 --> 00:19:17,190 there is no other standard element that 367 00:19:17,290 --> 00:19:19,361 has to be in a mosque. 368 00:19:19,592 --> 00:19:22,161 The mosque is one of the elements that are 369 00:19:22,262 --> 00:19:24,531 ubiquitous to Muslim societies. 370 00:19:24,631 --> 00:19:30,182 Yet, it is built, expressed in very different ways, 371 00:19:30,207 --> 00:19:32,778 historically. 372 00:19:33,306 --> 00:19:34,541 NARRATOR: One of the oldest surviving 373 00:19:34,641 --> 00:19:37,510 mosques is in Damascus, Syria. 374 00:19:37,610 --> 00:19:41,381 Finished in 715, it was built a little over 100 years 375 00:19:41,481 --> 00:19:43,762 after the birth of Islam. 376 00:19:47,254 --> 00:19:49,722 The Great Mosque of Damascus reveals 377 00:19:49,822 --> 00:19:53,226 how Islamic architecture quickly adapted to the changing 378 00:19:53,326 --> 00:19:56,067 needs of a growing religion. 379 00:19:56,463 --> 00:19:58,798 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: More and more specialization 380 00:19:58,898 --> 00:20:00,800 develops within mosque spaces. 381 00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:02,569 You have special places for the prints 382 00:20:02,669 --> 00:20:06,151 and special places for ablution and special places 383 00:20:06,176 --> 00:20:07,507 for the call to prayer. 384 00:20:07,607 --> 00:20:11,199 It becomes more hierarchical. 385 00:20:11,611 --> 00:20:14,213 NARRATOR: A pulpit called a minbar 386 00:20:14,314 --> 00:20:16,849 was added for the reading of the Friday sermon, 387 00:20:16,949 --> 00:20:21,848 making the speaker visible to the entire congregation. 388 00:20:22,322 --> 00:20:24,557 In order to create a large enough space 389 00:20:24,657 --> 00:20:28,253 to house the city's entire Muslim population for Friday 390 00:20:28,278 --> 00:20:30,897 prayer, the great mosque of Damascus 391 00:20:30,997 --> 00:20:33,933 was built in the hypostyle form. 392 00:20:34,033 --> 00:20:35,802 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: The hypostyle mosque simply 393 00:20:35,893 --> 00:20:39,761 is the idea of a series of columns built along a grid. 394 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,408 So what you end up with is a forest 395 00:20:41,508 --> 00:20:43,476 of columns, an infinite space. 396 00:20:43,576 --> 00:20:45,778 So you look and just see column after column after column. 397 00:20:45,878 --> 00:20:48,381 It's a very spiritual experience. 398 00:20:48,481 --> 00:20:51,451 And you find it very often in the mosques 399 00:20:51,551 --> 00:20:53,353 that were built during the first three, four 400 00:20:53,453 --> 00:20:56,489 centuries of Islamic history. 401 00:20:57,056 --> 00:20:58,925 NARRATOR: Outside in the mosque courtyard, 402 00:20:59,025 --> 00:21:01,994 glass mosaics sparkle in the sunlight, 403 00:21:02,094 --> 00:21:06,799 evoking a protected and sacred natural space within the stone 404 00:21:06,899 --> 00:21:08,879 walls of the mosque. 405 00:21:09,402 --> 00:21:10,503 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: It incorporated 406 00:21:10,551 --> 00:21:13,440 the largest service of mosaics ever created anywhere 407 00:21:13,540 --> 00:21:14,841 in the world. 408 00:21:14,941 --> 00:21:17,910 You have rivers and houses and trees 409 00:21:18,010 --> 00:21:21,614 and some have read that as an expression of Damascus, 410 00:21:21,714 --> 00:21:23,916 a city that is known for its Barada river 411 00:21:24,016 --> 00:21:26,419 and also for its orchards. 412 00:21:26,519 --> 00:21:28,309 Another was that this is a representation 413 00:21:28,379 --> 00:21:29,856 of what paradise would be like. 414 00:21:29,956 --> 00:21:31,991 So you have that reading of the mosque, 415 00:21:32,091 --> 00:21:33,826 which is very interesting. 416 00:21:33,926 --> 00:21:35,695 NARRATOR: But the leaders of the dynasty that 417 00:21:35,795 --> 00:21:38,531 created the wealth and power of Damascus 418 00:21:38,631 --> 00:21:41,957 would perish later in the eighth century. 419 00:21:44,571 --> 00:21:46,639 After a violent political rebellion, 420 00:21:46,739 --> 00:21:50,343 a young Syrian prince named Abd al-Rahman 421 00:21:50,443 --> 00:21:52,812 was forced to flee Damascus, narrowly 422 00:21:52,912 --> 00:21:57,957 escaping a certain death at the hands of his family's rival. 423 00:21:58,651 --> 00:22:02,021 Abd al-Rahman made his way to North Africa 424 00:22:02,121 --> 00:22:05,625 and on to Cordoba, Spain, seeking refuge 425 00:22:05,725 --> 00:22:09,699 in the struggling European outpost of the Islamic empire. 426 00:22:11,631 --> 00:22:15,809 There, the prince founded a dynasty of his own. 427 00:22:16,202 --> 00:22:20,184 His subjects called him al-Dakhil, or the immigrant. 428 00:22:20,540 --> 00:22:24,067 But Abd al-Rahman made Cordoba his home. 429 00:22:26,646 --> 00:22:29,682 As he set out to create a great mosque for his new capital, 430 00:22:29,782 --> 00:22:32,385 he used the hypostyle mosque of Damascus 431 00:22:32,485 --> 00:22:36,122 as his blueprint, longing for the Syrian homeland 432 00:22:36,222 --> 00:22:38,825 to which he could never return. 433 00:22:38,925 --> 00:22:39,992 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: Abd al-Rahman I 434 00:22:40,092 --> 00:22:41,661 who built one of the masterpieces 435 00:22:41,761 --> 00:22:44,664 of Islamic architecture and world architecture. 436 00:22:44,764 --> 00:22:47,767 He had access to older Visigothic columns 437 00:22:47,867 --> 00:22:50,102 that he found in Spain. 438 00:22:50,202 --> 00:22:52,439 These were relatively short columns. 439 00:22:52,539 --> 00:22:54,707 They didn't have a sense of monumentality 440 00:22:54,807 --> 00:22:57,677 that we could find in an earlier building such as the Great 441 00:22:57,777 --> 00:23:00,098 Mosque of Damascus. 442 00:23:00,613 --> 00:23:03,783 So what he did is he put two rows of arches 443 00:23:03,883 --> 00:23:05,485 on top of each other to raise the ceiling 444 00:23:05,585 --> 00:23:07,754 and get a higher building. 445 00:23:07,854 --> 00:23:12,459 And it actually created this wonderful spatial effect. 446 00:23:12,559 --> 00:23:14,894 And whenever the building was expanded, 447 00:23:14,994 --> 00:23:17,332 that system was maintained. 448 00:23:19,031 --> 00:23:20,533 SHEILA S. BLAIR: One of the extensions 449 00:23:20,633 --> 00:23:23,002 was to add this fabulous mihrab, which 450 00:23:23,102 --> 00:23:25,438 is right now on the qibla wall. 451 00:23:25,538 --> 00:23:28,107 And it's done in the same technique of mosaic that had 452 00:23:28,207 --> 00:23:30,655 been used earlier in Damascus. 453 00:23:32,779 --> 00:23:34,647 NARRATOR: Added 200 years after the mosque was 454 00:23:34,747 --> 00:23:38,485 first constructed, the mosaics required a skill unknown 455 00:23:38,585 --> 00:23:40,853 to the artisans of Cordoba. 456 00:23:40,953 --> 00:23:43,089 SHEILA S. BLAIR: They had to write to the Byzantine Empire 457 00:23:43,189 --> 00:23:47,357 and say, send us a mosaicist and the glass cubes 458 00:23:47,382 --> 00:23:49,679 so we can learn how to do this. 459 00:23:50,062 --> 00:23:51,598 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: You make sheets 460 00:23:51,698 --> 00:23:53,633 of glass in different colors, and then you 461 00:23:53,733 --> 00:23:56,102 cut it up into little pieces, little cubes. 462 00:23:56,202 --> 00:24:00,006 And then you set them in plaster to make designs. 463 00:24:00,106 --> 00:24:02,842 NARRATOR: Mixing Byzantine and Roman techniques 464 00:24:02,942 --> 00:24:06,713 with Islamic style, the great mosque of Cordoba 465 00:24:06,813 --> 00:24:11,584 created a striking juxtaposition of old and new. 466 00:24:11,684 --> 00:24:13,486 SHEILA S. BLAIR: You take a look at the arches 467 00:24:13,586 --> 00:24:15,021 as opposed to the round arches that are 468 00:24:15,121 --> 00:24:17,924 used in Damascus in Syria. 469 00:24:18,024 --> 00:24:19,759 We have slightly horseshoe arches. 470 00:24:19,859 --> 00:24:22,595 So there's a little bit of a local tradition. 471 00:24:22,695 --> 00:24:24,130 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Islamic architecture 472 00:24:24,230 --> 00:24:28,968 has this ability to absorb the best, the kind of the solutions 473 00:24:29,068 --> 00:24:31,904 that are already on the ground in these regional areas, 474 00:24:32,004 --> 00:24:35,708 and to realize what is in fact a continuous tradition 475 00:24:35,808 --> 00:24:39,017 of a mosque in all of those different areas using 476 00:24:39,042 --> 00:24:41,437 different adaptive techniques. 477 00:24:45,985 --> 00:24:48,888 NARRATOR: By the 14th century, Muslim Spain 478 00:24:48,988 --> 00:24:52,387 had developed its own distinct style of architecture, 479 00:24:52,527 --> 00:24:57,002 shown nowhere more magnificently than in Grenada's Alhambra 480 00:24:57,027 --> 00:24:58,931 Palace. 481 00:24:59,031 --> 00:25:01,834 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: Palaces express another aspect of life, 482 00:25:01,934 --> 00:25:06,839 more a life of luxury, a life of refinement. 483 00:25:06,939 --> 00:25:10,743 There is spirituality even in those buildings. 484 00:25:10,843 --> 00:25:13,780 In many ways, they also express the power of the ruler 485 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,684 partly in terms of how space is manipulated, how as a visitor, 486 00:25:17,784 --> 00:25:22,254 you have to go through a certain series of spaces to enter it. 487 00:25:22,354 --> 00:25:26,348 But you see, I think, how there is a sense of refinement 488 00:25:26,402 --> 00:25:28,728 and sophistication in the use of visual form 489 00:25:28,828 --> 00:25:31,731 and natural resources in those buildings. 490 00:25:31,831 --> 00:25:34,100 NARRATOR: Courtyards open to the sky, but still 491 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:39,305 inside the palace walls blend the interior with the exterior, 492 00:25:39,405 --> 00:25:42,566 creating a varied and vast domain. 493 00:25:42,879 --> 00:25:46,145 RUBA KANA'AN: But also, there is the light and how it plays, 494 00:25:46,245 --> 00:25:49,248 the color, even the smell. 495 00:25:49,348 --> 00:25:53,910 And of course, architecture embodies that. 496 00:25:54,420 --> 00:25:58,658 NARRATOR: In 1453, the Islamic world and beyond 497 00:25:58,758 --> 00:26:02,061 was forever changed when the Muslim Ottomans captured 498 00:26:02,161 --> 00:26:06,488 Constantinople from the Christian Byzantines. 499 00:26:07,512 --> 00:26:11,003 The conquest signaled a new era of expansion and empire 500 00:26:11,103 --> 00:26:13,940 for the Ottomans who would reach eventually 501 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:19,245 into North Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Arabian Gulf. 502 00:26:19,345 --> 00:26:23,184 Their capital became known as Istanbul. 503 00:26:23,684 --> 00:26:26,352 To display their increasing preeminence, 504 00:26:26,452 --> 00:26:29,922 the Ottoman sultans created the Topkapi Palace, 505 00:26:30,022 --> 00:26:33,693 an expansive court exemplifying royal life 506 00:26:33,793 --> 00:26:37,897 for the powerful Islamic empire at its peak. 507 00:26:37,997 --> 00:26:41,868 Its most famous resident, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, 508 00:26:41,968 --> 00:26:46,205 easily outshone his 16th century European counterparts 509 00:26:46,305 --> 00:26:49,008 in wealth and influence. 510 00:26:49,277 --> 00:26:52,178 The Ottoman Empire was very hierarchical 511 00:26:52,278 --> 00:26:54,613 and so is the space in Topkapi, that you 512 00:26:54,714 --> 00:26:58,985 are moving linearly in toward the most restricted space, 513 00:26:59,085 --> 00:27:01,387 which is where the sultan was. 514 00:27:01,487 --> 00:27:03,089 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Palaces, of course, 515 00:27:03,189 --> 00:27:04,657 were only for the elite. 516 00:27:04,746 --> 00:27:08,695 They were for the delectation of the prince and his court 517 00:27:08,795 --> 00:27:10,830 and whoever visited him there. 518 00:27:10,930 --> 00:27:15,348 So it's part of that elite world of art. 519 00:27:15,768 --> 00:27:17,403 NARRATOR: A great cultural patron, 520 00:27:17,503 --> 00:27:20,740 Suleiman also wrote poetry, espousing the traits 521 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,009 of a benevolent prince. 522 00:27:23,109 --> 00:27:24,210 "Do not sleep. 523 00:27:24,310 --> 00:27:25,912 Be awake on your throne. 524 00:27:26,012 --> 00:27:31,449 Our strong hands hold the fate of the world." 525 00:27:32,985 --> 00:27:36,022 OLEG GRABAR: 16th century is a time of princes 526 00:27:36,122 --> 00:27:40,026 all over the world making beautiful things in order 527 00:27:40,126 --> 00:27:41,861 to compete with each other. 528 00:27:41,961 --> 00:27:46,065 Sultan Suleiman was the first sultan 529 00:27:46,165 --> 00:27:51,437 who realized that he was not just continuing old empires, 530 00:27:51,537 --> 00:27:55,141 but he was creating a new empire. 531 00:27:55,241 --> 00:27:57,910 NARRATOR: Suleiman was named for the wise King Solomon, 532 00:27:58,010 --> 00:28:01,213 and his signature graces many of his creative endeavors, 533 00:28:01,313 --> 00:28:03,793 including the Topkapi Palace. 534 00:28:06,118 --> 00:28:09,922 His vision for the new empire was far reaching and even 535 00:28:10,022 --> 00:28:12,859 extended into Jerusalem to the venerated site 536 00:28:12,959 --> 00:28:15,684 of the Dome of the Rock. 537 00:28:16,162 --> 00:28:18,464 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: Originally it was covered with mosaics, 538 00:28:18,564 --> 00:28:20,399 and the dome was not gold leafed. 539 00:28:20,499 --> 00:28:22,701 I think it was just lead covered. 540 00:28:22,802 --> 00:28:24,904 Under the Ottomans in the 16th century, 541 00:28:25,004 --> 00:28:28,174 the mosaics had deteriorated, so basically ugly stars 542 00:28:28,274 --> 00:28:30,476 were put in its place. 543 00:28:30,576 --> 00:28:31,944 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: The renovations, 544 00:28:32,044 --> 00:28:34,480 instead of thinking of them as changes, 545 00:28:34,580 --> 00:28:36,182 what I love to say about it is it 546 00:28:36,282 --> 00:28:39,986 shows how meaningful the building remains. 547 00:28:40,086 --> 00:28:41,487 That is, people always thought it was 548 00:28:41,587 --> 00:28:45,551 worth redoing and repairing. 549 00:28:46,025 --> 00:28:48,160 NARRATOR: Suleiman asserted his power 550 00:28:48,260 --> 00:28:51,263 across the Ottoman Empire, but his legacy 551 00:28:51,363 --> 00:28:54,762 endures most in Istanbul. 552 00:28:55,001 --> 00:28:59,138 Completed in 1558, Suleiman's imperial mosque, 553 00:28:59,238 --> 00:29:02,241 the Suleymaniye, represents the coming together 554 00:29:02,341 --> 00:29:07,848 of a great patron and a great architect, Mimar Sinan. 555 00:29:08,114 --> 00:29:10,817 The son of a Greek stonemason, Sinan 556 00:29:10,917 --> 00:29:13,419 rose in the ranks of the Ottoman court, 557 00:29:13,519 --> 00:29:16,989 becoming a military architect before designing the greatest 558 00:29:17,089 --> 00:29:19,934 monuments of the Ottoman Empire. 559 00:29:20,159 --> 00:29:23,462 SHEILA S. BLAIR: Sinan was trained as an engineer. 560 00:29:23,562 --> 00:29:25,898 And you can see his engineering ability 561 00:29:25,998 --> 00:29:28,832 come to the fore in buildings like the Suleymaniye. 562 00:29:29,152 --> 00:29:29,869 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: What you have is 563 00:29:29,969 --> 00:29:32,271 a large, dominating, overwhelming dome that 564 00:29:32,371 --> 00:29:34,473 just defines an enormous space beneath it. 565 00:29:34,573 --> 00:29:37,262 And the Ottoman, especially imperial Ottoman architecture, 566 00:29:37,293 --> 00:29:39,363 has always emphasized that. 567 00:29:42,114 --> 00:29:45,184 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: The structure is very, very clear. 568 00:29:45,284 --> 00:29:49,555 And the ornament is used in a very, very restrained way 569 00:29:49,655 --> 00:29:53,949 to emphasize the structure but not overwhelm it. 570 00:29:57,096 --> 00:29:59,966 NARRATOR: Perhaps the greatest source of inspiration for Sinan 571 00:30:00,066 --> 00:30:02,168 was the nearby dome of the Byzantine church 572 00:30:02,268 --> 00:30:05,137 of Hagia Sophia, built in the sixth century 573 00:30:05,237 --> 00:30:08,941 and converted to a mosque by the Ottomans. 574 00:30:09,387 --> 00:30:10,910 SHEILA S. BLAIR: We know from written documents 575 00:30:11,010 --> 00:30:14,881 that Sultan Suleiman and his architect Sinan 576 00:30:14,981 --> 00:30:18,150 tried to outdo what was there before. 577 00:30:18,250 --> 00:30:23,189 So the dome is slightly larger than the dome in Hagia Sophia. 578 00:30:23,289 --> 00:30:24,523 It's much better proportioned. 579 00:30:24,623 --> 00:30:26,458 The spaces are opened up much more. 580 00:30:26,558 --> 00:30:30,162 There are all kinds of better and more adventuresome 581 00:30:30,262 --> 00:30:31,397 things in it. 582 00:30:31,629 --> 00:30:34,426 But it is clearly within the same tradition. 583 00:30:38,204 --> 00:30:42,341 NARRATOR: Whether domed or hypostyle, plain or ornamented, 584 00:30:42,441 --> 00:30:46,215 all mosques serve the same purpose. 585 00:30:46,946 --> 00:30:50,434 RUBA KANA'AN: They reflect how people perceived and understood 586 00:30:50,527 --> 00:30:51,951 prayer. 587 00:30:52,051 --> 00:30:54,220 And they expressed that from different places 588 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,410 and different ideas in different ways. 589 00:30:57,762 --> 00:30:58,257 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: The differences 590 00:30:58,357 --> 00:31:03,629 between their very simple mosques and the very complex, 591 00:31:03,729 --> 00:31:06,265 highly engineered buildings have to do 592 00:31:06,365 --> 00:31:11,237 with local cultural traditions, the availability of materials, 593 00:31:11,337 --> 00:31:15,715 and of course the availability of money and technologies. 594 00:31:16,442 --> 00:31:19,511 NARRATOR: In the West African Muslim country of Mali, 595 00:31:19,611 --> 00:31:22,414 the buildings of Djenne evoke the simplicity 596 00:31:22,514 --> 00:31:25,644 of early Islamic architecture. 597 00:31:26,426 --> 00:31:29,421 Settled between the Niger and Bani rivers, 598 00:31:29,521 --> 00:31:31,557 Djenne survives despite the torrents 599 00:31:31,657 --> 00:31:34,460 of monsoons and flooding. 600 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,997 Shelter has always been made from what is locally available. 601 00:31:38,097 --> 00:31:40,166 And during the rainy season, Djenne 602 00:31:40,273 --> 00:31:43,081 is rich in water and earth. 603 00:31:46,538 --> 00:31:49,108 The Great Mosque of Djenne celebrates 604 00:31:49,208 --> 00:31:52,480 these natural resources. 605 00:31:53,279 --> 00:31:54,746 [non-english speech] 606 00:31:56,282 --> 00:31:59,918 INTERPRETER: It unique, made entirely of mud brink. 607 00:32:00,019 --> 00:32:03,222 I have traveled to many places and seen many mosques, 608 00:32:03,322 --> 00:32:06,871 but none look like the mosque of Djenne. 609 00:32:07,159 --> 00:32:08,460 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: In some ways, it 610 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:12,031 redefines our conception of what a mosque is. 611 00:32:12,131 --> 00:32:16,969 And it emphasizes the fact that diversity is a very important 612 00:32:17,069 --> 00:32:19,338 issue to keep in mind whenever thinking about the architecture 613 00:32:19,438 --> 00:32:21,440 of the Islamic world. 614 00:32:21,540 --> 00:32:24,510 NARRATOR: Rebuilt many times on its original 13th century 615 00:32:24,610 --> 00:32:27,479 site, the massive mud structure's shape 616 00:32:27,579 --> 00:32:31,283 comes from a millennia old West African tradition 617 00:32:31,383 --> 00:32:33,746 not Islamic design. 618 00:32:34,153 --> 00:32:36,322 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: However different the outside may be, 619 00:32:36,422 --> 00:32:41,627 the inside has all the elements that a Muslim coming 620 00:32:41,727 --> 00:32:46,198 in from Iraq or Saudi Arabia would find familiar. 621 00:32:46,298 --> 00:32:48,634 NARRATOR: The hypostyle mosque's flat roof 622 00:32:48,734 --> 00:32:52,071 is supported by 99 columns, one for each 623 00:32:52,171 --> 00:32:54,894 of the 99 names of God. 624 00:32:58,044 --> 00:33:01,013 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: And these pillars go up three stories. 625 00:33:01,113 --> 00:33:04,183 They're not shaped like the pillars 626 00:33:04,283 --> 00:33:08,620 of the Greek temple that gives you the image of soaring space. 627 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:10,422 They are quite squat. 628 00:33:10,522 --> 00:33:13,692 But still, there's this sense that you're in a force, 629 00:33:13,792 --> 00:33:16,562 that the light is streaming through, being broken up 630 00:33:16,662 --> 00:33:19,665 by those network of pillars. 631 00:33:19,765 --> 00:33:21,133 It's a very different light. 632 00:33:21,233 --> 00:33:24,002 It's a very different use of light and space 633 00:33:24,103 --> 00:33:27,339 than you find in your everyday life. 634 00:33:27,439 --> 00:33:30,242 NARRATOR: For Muslims entering the mosque to pray, 635 00:33:30,342 --> 00:33:33,312 its towering space is informed by their faith, 636 00:33:33,412 --> 00:33:37,168 the mystical branch of Islam called Sufism. 637 00:33:37,449 --> 00:33:39,751 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: The West African brand of Sufism 638 00:33:39,851 --> 00:33:42,054 is very, very tolerant. 639 00:33:42,154 --> 00:33:45,091 And the tolerance comes from the fact 640 00:33:45,191 --> 00:33:47,159 that everyone is allowed to have-- 641 00:33:47,259 --> 00:33:49,027 within certain boundaries-- but everyone 642 00:33:49,128 --> 00:33:52,064 is allowed to have their own experience 643 00:33:52,164 --> 00:33:55,767 and to celebrate their own experience with God. 644 00:33:55,867 --> 00:33:59,605 It's something about we humans that we 645 00:33:59,705 --> 00:34:04,510 need to make space where we can be alone with our own thoughts, 646 00:34:04,610 --> 00:34:07,213 with the knowledge that we're only 647 00:34:07,313 --> 00:34:12,059 a very small speck in this larger universe. 648 00:34:12,351 --> 00:34:14,453 RUBA KANA'AN: The Great Mosque of Djenne 649 00:34:14,553 --> 00:34:17,156 doesn't have what people think of as mosque architecture, 650 00:34:17,256 --> 00:34:20,259 the big dome, the tall minarets. 651 00:34:20,359 --> 00:34:24,396 But it is local and that it's the same architectural style 652 00:34:24,496 --> 00:34:27,199 as the mosque in the village next door. 653 00:34:27,299 --> 00:34:31,670 And there is the sort of intimate picture, 654 00:34:31,770 --> 00:34:36,575 which is how the space is used by people in and around Djenne. 655 00:34:36,675 --> 00:34:40,668 It is a reflection of how people perceive their place of prayer. 656 00:34:55,661 --> 00:34:58,096 NARRATOR: In the hands of skilled craftsmen, 657 00:34:58,197 --> 00:35:02,234 threads become stars, words, and arabesques, 658 00:35:02,334 --> 00:35:06,638 repeated endlessly over colorful textiles. 659 00:35:06,738 --> 00:35:09,241 Patterns, intricate and interwoven, 660 00:35:09,341 --> 00:35:13,779 transform ceilings into the cosmos overhead. 661 00:35:14,262 --> 00:35:16,382 In these complex designs, Muslims 662 00:35:16,482 --> 00:35:21,699 can see the very possibility and promise of heaven. 663 00:35:22,421 --> 00:35:24,390 AFSHAN BOKHARI: When Prophet Muhammad comes down 664 00:35:24,490 --> 00:35:27,459 from the mountain with God's message, 665 00:35:27,559 --> 00:35:29,895 he tells these potential believers, here's 666 00:35:29,995 --> 00:35:31,697 what happened looks like. 667 00:35:31,797 --> 00:35:36,723 And he uses every flora, fauna aspect 668 00:35:37,236 --> 00:35:41,402 that is not in the landscape of these desert dwellers, 669 00:35:41,673 --> 00:35:49,480 starting with trees, water, shade, fruit, and, of course, 670 00:35:49,681 --> 00:35:53,452 what would you do if you had no concept of the afterlife 671 00:35:53,544 --> 00:35:55,315 and at that point you were just a pagan 672 00:35:55,348 --> 00:35:59,340 worshipping idols of your ancestors? 673 00:35:59,858 --> 00:36:04,530 It seems like a pretty provocative message 674 00:36:04,630 --> 00:36:06,465 and also promise. 675 00:36:06,565 --> 00:36:11,370 So this idea of heaven, you know, the afterlife and what's 676 00:36:11,470 --> 00:36:16,608 in there, in terms of the vegetable, floral abundance 677 00:36:16,708 --> 00:36:19,711 is emblazoned in the minds of most Muslims. 678 00:36:20,215 --> 00:36:21,380 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: What's interesting is 679 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,684 the patterns and the leaves and the tendrils 680 00:36:25,784 --> 00:36:31,423 and the vines that were used in previous artistic traditions 681 00:36:31,523 --> 00:36:34,626 to frame more important things in Islamic art 682 00:36:34,726 --> 00:36:36,528 become the subject itself. 683 00:36:37,519 --> 00:36:38,057 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: And I think 684 00:36:38,082 --> 00:36:41,933 there is the idea of infinity there, the idea of an ending. 685 00:36:42,033 --> 00:36:43,635 And what is it that is an ending? 686 00:36:43,735 --> 00:36:46,472 It is that abundance, the fertility 687 00:36:46,572 --> 00:36:50,476 of the earth, the ability to not just survive 688 00:36:50,576 --> 00:36:54,293 but to survive well. 689 00:36:55,747 --> 00:36:57,849 NARRATOR: The stunning effect of these patterns 690 00:36:57,949 --> 00:37:01,668 reflects Muslims' deep interest in geometry. 691 00:37:03,422 --> 00:37:06,392 OLEG GRABAR: Geometry is a very tricky, very difficult thing 692 00:37:06,492 --> 00:37:08,760 because it's something which to us seems 693 00:37:08,860 --> 00:37:11,229 on the whole rather boring. 694 00:37:11,330 --> 00:37:14,500 And they've managed to transform to something quite different. 695 00:37:15,129 --> 00:37:16,402 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: And of course, geometry 696 00:37:16,502 --> 00:37:20,439 was very central to Islam because there are so 697 00:37:20,539 --> 00:37:22,941 many religious and social practices that 698 00:37:23,041 --> 00:37:25,243 are dependent upon geometry. 699 00:37:25,344 --> 00:37:27,846 For example, they have to orient their mosque 700 00:37:27,946 --> 00:37:30,582 by looking at the stars and making calculations 701 00:37:30,682 --> 00:37:34,620 based on geometry to know the proper direction of prayer. 702 00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:37,956 They need geometry to determine the times of prayer. 703 00:37:38,056 --> 00:37:41,627 They need geometry to navigate as they 704 00:37:41,727 --> 00:37:44,463 move through the Mediterranean or through the deserts 705 00:37:44,563 --> 00:37:45,431 of Arabia. 706 00:37:45,504 --> 00:37:48,367 So geometry is a survival technique. 707 00:37:48,467 --> 00:37:50,402 Geometry is important to religion. 708 00:37:50,502 --> 00:37:54,059 And it becomes aestheticized in the arts. 709 00:37:54,540 --> 00:37:56,408 NARRATOR: Ordinary, everyday objects 710 00:37:56,508 --> 00:37:58,710 are made extraordinary, embellished 711 00:37:58,810 --> 00:38:02,129 with geometric and vegetal designs. 712 00:38:02,414 --> 00:38:04,049 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Some of the objects that 713 00:38:04,149 --> 00:38:07,586 are most delightful to look at today 714 00:38:07,686 --> 00:38:10,956 were made for utilitarian purposes, 715 00:38:11,056 --> 00:38:16,528 so plates, bowls, pitchers for pouring water, 716 00:38:16,628 --> 00:38:18,430 that may take very fanciful forms, 717 00:38:18,530 --> 00:38:21,500 may have a little bird on it or an inscription 718 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:23,301 around the outside. 719 00:38:23,402 --> 00:38:25,371 Or it may have a surface that is completely 720 00:38:25,471 --> 00:38:27,473 filled with vegetative ornament, you 721 00:38:27,573 --> 00:38:30,342 know, this kind of leafy vine scroll ornament or geometrical 722 00:38:30,442 --> 00:38:31,477 ornament. 723 00:38:31,577 --> 00:38:34,580 These things were made for use. 724 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,048 It was an elite patron who used it. 725 00:38:37,148 --> 00:38:39,050 It wasn't the ordinary person on the street 726 00:38:39,150 --> 00:38:43,689 who could afford a beautiful metal ewer to pour water. 727 00:38:43,789 --> 00:38:45,457 They would have used a clay jug. 728 00:38:45,557 --> 00:38:49,027 But it was in the princely environment, 729 00:38:49,127 --> 00:38:50,529 in the palace environment, something 730 00:38:50,629 --> 00:38:52,465 that would have been used. 731 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:56,402 NARRATOR: Enjoying the tremendous luxury 732 00:38:56,502 --> 00:38:59,037 their wealth afforded then, Muslim rulers 733 00:38:59,137 --> 00:39:02,841 were major players in the international world of princes 734 00:39:02,941 --> 00:39:05,110 and adopted many of the same practices 735 00:39:05,210 --> 00:39:07,679 of their contemporaries. 736 00:39:07,779 --> 00:39:10,916 OLEG GRABAR: The king was glorified and glorified 737 00:39:11,016 --> 00:39:13,952 not so much by the victories he won, [inaudible], 738 00:39:14,052 --> 00:39:16,888 but by the treasures he had. 739 00:39:16,988 --> 00:39:19,425 That was what counted. 740 00:39:19,525 --> 00:39:20,826 KJED VON FOLSACH: Muslim princes wanted 741 00:39:20,926 --> 00:39:23,529 to compare themself with Christian princes 742 00:39:23,629 --> 00:39:26,798 or Buddhist princes and so on. 743 00:39:26,898 --> 00:39:29,501 And they have wonderful sculptures 744 00:39:29,601 --> 00:39:33,972 of roaring lions and flying eagles. 745 00:39:34,072 --> 00:39:36,608 And so wanted the Muslim princes. 746 00:39:36,708 --> 00:39:39,578 We have a very nice example of an incense 747 00:39:39,678 --> 00:39:42,481 burner in the shape of a lion. 748 00:39:42,581 --> 00:39:44,149 But if you look at the body of the lion, 749 00:39:44,249 --> 00:39:48,654 it consists of plant ornaments instead of, 750 00:39:48,754 --> 00:39:51,389 you know-- had it been a European incense burner, 751 00:39:51,490 --> 00:39:53,925 you would see the hairs of the fur. 752 00:39:54,025 --> 00:39:56,995 And you will see the claws, and you will see 753 00:39:57,095 --> 00:39:59,598 a lot of naturalistic details. 754 00:39:59,698 --> 00:40:03,469 The Muslim artist is kind of more creating 755 00:40:03,569 --> 00:40:08,740 an idea of a lion not necessarily an image 756 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:11,176 which you would recognize-- an animal which you 757 00:40:11,276 --> 00:40:14,144 would recognize from the zoo. 758 00:40:14,813 --> 00:40:16,882 NARRATOR: Depictions of animals or people 759 00:40:16,982 --> 00:40:20,652 are surprising, as one of the greatest misconceptions 760 00:40:20,744 --> 00:40:25,716 about Islamic culture is that figurative art does not exist. 761 00:40:26,598 --> 00:40:27,493 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: If you look at this line 762 00:40:27,593 --> 00:40:29,795 because throughout the ages, in many parts 763 00:40:29,895 --> 00:40:32,631 of the Islamic world, figurative art and sculpture 764 00:40:32,731 --> 00:40:35,934 is very common, whether it is painting, 765 00:40:36,034 --> 00:40:39,543 whether it's sculpture, animals, human beings, and so on. 766 00:40:39,613 --> 00:40:41,769 It's very common, in fact. 767 00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:43,875 We even have pictures of Mohammad 768 00:40:43,967 --> 00:40:48,308 unveiled in manuscripts made by Muslims for Muslims. 769 00:40:48,445 --> 00:40:51,559 But they are not idols, and they are not meant to be worshipped. 770 00:40:55,086 --> 00:40:58,456 NARRATOR: Because early Muslims feared idolatry, in the mosque 771 00:40:58,557 --> 00:41:00,792 the divine presence is portrayed only 772 00:41:00,892 --> 00:41:06,012 through non-figural designs and the holy words of the Koran. 773 00:41:08,293 --> 00:41:09,601 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Figural imagery, 774 00:41:09,701 --> 00:41:12,804 images of people and animals, is really confined to the secular 775 00:41:12,904 --> 00:41:15,173 world, the sort of ordinary world 776 00:41:15,273 --> 00:41:17,108 where religion does not dominate, 777 00:41:17,208 --> 00:41:19,545 is not the primary interest. 778 00:41:19,645 --> 00:41:22,247 I think by denying that there are images 779 00:41:22,338 --> 00:41:24,762 and refusing to show images, 780 00:41:24,974 --> 00:41:26,527 you try to 781 00:41:26,644 --> 00:41:28,654 project the image that there were no differing 782 00:41:28,754 --> 00:41:30,622 views in Islam, where it's perfectly 783 00:41:30,722 --> 00:41:33,725 clear from the historical record that we have images 784 00:41:33,825 --> 00:41:35,961 and that different Muslims felt differently 785 00:41:36,061 --> 00:41:38,530 at different times in different places. 786 00:41:38,630 --> 00:41:40,866 And this is one of the great things about Islam. 787 00:41:40,966 --> 00:41:44,102 It is such a large religion, and it has so many adherents. 788 00:41:44,202 --> 00:41:46,504 Over the past 1400 years, the people 789 00:41:46,605 --> 00:41:49,887 saw things in different ways. 790 00:41:50,676 --> 00:41:52,210 NARRATOR: One of the most striking artifacts 791 00:41:52,310 --> 00:41:54,880 of figurative imagery in Islamic art 792 00:41:54,980 --> 00:41:58,149 is a small ivory box from Spain meant to hold 793 00:41:58,249 --> 00:42:01,293 precious objects like perfume. 794 00:42:01,753 --> 00:42:03,555 KJED VON FOLSACH: Our quart of an ivory box 795 00:42:03,655 --> 00:42:08,259 belongs to a very small and select group of objects which 796 00:42:08,359 --> 00:42:12,631 were made for the caliph in Cordoba 797 00:42:12,731 --> 00:42:14,666 and the circle very close to him-- 798 00:42:14,781 --> 00:42:20,621 his wives, his viziers, the princess. 799 00:42:20,706 --> 00:42:25,715 So they are works made for the court. 800 00:42:28,013 --> 00:42:29,547 NARRATOR: The box was made and kept 801 00:42:29,648 --> 00:42:33,613 here in the caliph's palace, Madinat az-Zahra. 802 00:42:35,020 --> 00:42:37,823 Built in the 10th century but now in ruins, 803 00:42:37,923 --> 00:42:41,559 the palace set a new standard of luxury and prestige, 804 00:42:41,660 --> 00:42:45,897 proclaiming the caliph's supremacy to all who saw it. 805 00:42:45,997 --> 00:42:48,834 KJED VON FOLSACH: The iconography or the images 806 00:42:48,934 --> 00:42:52,037 on the objects reflect that. 807 00:42:52,137 --> 00:42:54,590 They are kind of princely animals. 808 00:42:54,715 --> 00:42:56,684 They are falcons. 809 00:42:56,730 --> 00:42:58,871 They are griffins. 810 00:42:58,996 --> 00:43:01,379 They are lions. 811 00:43:01,813 --> 00:43:03,915 NARRATOR: Cut from a single tusk, 812 00:43:04,015 --> 00:43:07,085 the ivory is delicately carved, giving the illusion 813 00:43:07,185 --> 00:43:11,022 that the figures are emerging from this small case. 814 00:43:11,387 --> 00:43:13,358 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: What's really extraordinary about it is it 815 00:43:13,458 --> 00:43:16,962 shows us a whole other aspect of the artistic culture 816 00:43:17,062 --> 00:43:18,196 of the time. 817 00:43:18,324 --> 00:43:22,200 We have to look at the mosque and this box and say, 818 00:43:22,300 --> 00:43:23,635 these are the poles. 819 00:43:23,684 --> 00:43:26,972 One of them represents the religious public aspect 820 00:43:27,072 --> 00:43:29,607 of the artistic culture and then the box 821 00:43:29,708 --> 00:43:31,342 represents something that was meant 822 00:43:31,442 --> 00:43:33,278 for precious materials, that was meant 823 00:43:33,378 --> 00:43:37,324 for very private consumption rather than public display. 824 00:43:39,117 --> 00:43:42,654 NARRATOR: In Spain's Alhambra Palace, the ornament of the box 825 00:43:42,754 --> 00:43:48,191 is turned inside out, hidden inside plain stone walls. 826 00:43:48,794 --> 00:43:50,328 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: It's like a pearl in some ways. 827 00:43:50,428 --> 00:43:51,863 You have a shell around it. 828 00:43:51,963 --> 00:43:53,932 But then you go to the inside, and what you 829 00:43:54,032 --> 00:43:58,203 have is just a very delicate arrangement of decoration. 830 00:43:58,303 --> 00:44:02,640 You enter into some of the domed rooms in the Alhambra, 831 00:44:02,741 --> 00:44:05,110 such as the Hall of Abencerrajes, 832 00:44:05,210 --> 00:44:06,945 and you see these wonderful [inaudible] 833 00:44:07,045 --> 00:44:09,915 vaults, these [inaudible], honeycomb walls which 834 00:44:10,015 --> 00:44:12,317 short of hover over the person. 835 00:44:12,417 --> 00:44:14,319 You can get a sense of immateriality, 836 00:44:14,419 --> 00:44:17,684 as if you're watching the stars or the constellations. 837 00:44:18,089 --> 00:44:21,893 OLEG GRABAR: They used all kinds of ways 838 00:44:21,993 --> 00:44:27,298 of covering the walls that used stucco 839 00:44:27,398 --> 00:44:31,036 to make it look like textiles, so that in fact, 840 00:44:31,136 --> 00:44:36,007 as has been recently argued, the Alhambra tries to imitate 841 00:44:36,107 --> 00:44:38,810 a tent, a series of tents. 842 00:44:38,910 --> 00:44:41,847 So there is an aspect of it which 843 00:44:41,947 --> 00:44:45,116 is like a fairy tale, the fairy tale created 844 00:44:45,216 --> 00:44:49,020 by an ornament, which I think the fact that the ornament is 845 00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:51,356 so dependent on textile patterns, I think, 846 00:44:51,456 --> 00:44:54,043 is rather important too. 847 00:44:56,361 --> 00:44:59,030 NARRATOR: All over the Islamic world, textiles 848 00:44:59,130 --> 00:45:01,733 evoked a life of comfort through their sumptuous 849 00:45:01,833 --> 00:45:07,172 materials and bright colors but also through their decoration. 850 00:45:07,272 --> 00:45:11,877 AFSHAN BOKHARI: And often rulers who went to desolate areas 851 00:45:11,977 --> 00:45:14,112 in their military campaigns, they 852 00:45:14,212 --> 00:45:17,248 had to recreate that magnificence 853 00:45:17,348 --> 00:45:19,785 that they were accustomed to. 854 00:45:19,885 --> 00:45:22,888 Textiles are portable for those purposes, 855 00:45:22,988 --> 00:45:27,092 to recreate this concept, this idea, 856 00:45:27,192 --> 00:45:32,621 of a heavenly, abundant, lush, luxurious environment. 857 00:45:32,973 --> 00:45:33,865 SHEILA S. BLAIR: You have to imagine 858 00:45:33,965 --> 00:45:37,504 that textiles are the furniture of the Islamic lands. 859 00:45:37,936 --> 00:45:41,139 Tables and chairs are used in the European and American 860 00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:45,379 tradition to get you off the ground, which is cold and damp. 861 00:45:45,911 --> 00:45:50,081 In the Islamic lands, it's fairly warm and it's dry. 862 00:45:50,181 --> 00:45:52,483 So you just need something that separates you 863 00:45:52,583 --> 00:45:54,691 from that dirt on the ground. 864 00:45:54,824 --> 00:45:58,105 The rug is the perfect item. 865 00:45:58,223 --> 00:46:01,092 You can roll it up and carry it. 866 00:46:01,192 --> 00:46:02,902 You can sit on it. 867 00:46:03,059 --> 00:46:04,229 You can sleep on it. 868 00:46:04,293 --> 00:46:07,590 You can put another one on top of you, and you have a blanket. 869 00:46:08,299 --> 00:46:10,168 NARRATOR: The ancient skill of carpet weaving 870 00:46:10,268 --> 00:46:14,205 was perfected in Persia, as specialized dyes and techniques 871 00:46:14,305 --> 00:46:18,238 led to a thriving textile industry in Iran. 872 00:46:19,911 --> 00:46:23,214 During the 16th century, Persian textile designs 873 00:46:23,313 --> 00:46:25,883 spread into India with their descendants, 874 00:46:25,984 --> 00:46:28,121 the Mughal dynasty. 875 00:46:29,387 --> 00:46:32,490 In modern-day India, weavers make carpets by hand 876 00:46:32,590 --> 00:46:36,294 as their Mughal ancestors did centuries before, 877 00:46:36,386 --> 00:46:40,863 using a special hooked knife for cutting the thread. 878 00:46:41,967 --> 00:46:43,568 SHEILA S. BLAIR: Weaving is always done on a loom. 879 00:46:43,668 --> 00:46:45,503 You set up vertical threads. 880 00:46:45,603 --> 00:46:47,205 That's called warping the loom. 881 00:46:47,305 --> 00:46:50,508 And then you weave in and out horizontally with the weft. 882 00:46:50,608 --> 00:46:53,311 So it creates a grid like pattern. 883 00:46:53,411 --> 00:46:56,147 Weaving is basically a geometric technique. 884 00:46:56,247 --> 00:46:59,504 So it's very hard to weave a circle. 885 00:46:59,951 --> 00:47:02,287 You can knot a circle just like you 886 00:47:02,387 --> 00:47:06,124 can do it on a computer screen by making the knot so small. 887 00:47:06,224 --> 00:47:07,959 And in fact, this is one of the reasons 888 00:47:08,059 --> 00:47:11,462 that people invented what's the so-called Persian knot that's 889 00:47:11,562 --> 00:47:14,032 open only on one side because you could pack more of them 890 00:47:14,132 --> 00:47:16,935 together, and therefore, execute circles, 891 00:47:17,034 --> 00:47:21,690 or curves, or arabesques, or scrolls more easily. 892 00:47:22,407 --> 00:47:27,245 AFSHAN BOKHARI: The Mughals were particular in showing florals, 893 00:47:27,345 --> 00:47:31,149 especially to a botanic precision, 894 00:47:31,249 --> 00:47:35,586 and also to show-- I'd like to think-- the transience of life 895 00:47:35,686 --> 00:47:40,705 by showing flowers in their various stages of birth 896 00:47:40,730 --> 00:47:42,060 and death. 897 00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:47,137 In the Koran, God says to Muslims, "To know me, 898 00:47:47,238 --> 00:47:48,866 know my creations." 899 00:47:48,967 --> 00:47:50,902 And of course, you can't see God. 900 00:47:51,002 --> 00:47:53,338 God is never represented in Islamic art. 901 00:47:53,438 --> 00:47:58,076 But this sort of instruction to look at his creations 902 00:47:58,176 --> 00:48:04,282 deeper and at their essence will get us that much closer to God 903 00:48:04,382 --> 00:48:09,054 is another imperative, another objective for representing 904 00:48:09,154 --> 00:48:12,890 flora and fauna in Islamic art. 905 00:48:12,991 --> 00:48:16,061 That's what makes it all so very dramatic, 906 00:48:16,161 --> 00:48:18,629 you know, that here is a textile that 907 00:48:18,729 --> 00:48:23,101 is dated 300 years from today. 908 00:48:23,201 --> 00:48:25,903 And yet, still sort of is moving, that you're almost 909 00:48:26,004 --> 00:48:29,240 catching it in a moment of transition, 910 00:48:29,340 --> 00:48:32,910 that it's not static, and it's not still 911 00:48:33,011 --> 00:48:37,480 but sort of speaks of the life that God had put into it. 912 00:48:40,418 --> 00:48:42,520 NARRATOR: Today India's diverse heritage 913 00:48:42,620 --> 00:48:45,991 is revealed in its art and architecture as well 914 00:48:46,091 --> 00:48:48,230 as day-to-day life. 915 00:48:50,161 --> 00:48:53,131 In workshops in Agra, India, Muslim artisans 916 00:48:53,231 --> 00:48:55,433 still practice an ancient Roman technique 917 00:48:55,533 --> 00:49:00,005 of stone inlay called pietra dura, first adopted 918 00:49:00,105 --> 00:49:03,465 by the Mughals in the early 17th century. 919 00:49:03,918 --> 00:49:04,409 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: So in India 920 00:49:04,509 --> 00:49:07,545 we have, again, that display of a willingness 921 00:49:07,645 --> 00:49:09,981 to borrow, and eclecticism, and a kind 922 00:49:10,081 --> 00:49:12,217 of cultural intermingling that I think 923 00:49:12,317 --> 00:49:14,519 must have been one of the artistic strengths 924 00:49:14,619 --> 00:49:16,387 of Islamic art. 925 00:49:16,821 --> 00:49:18,723 NARRATOR: Using hand-powered machines 926 00:49:18,823 --> 00:49:21,159 as they have for centuries, craftsmen 927 00:49:21,259 --> 00:49:25,230 cut and shaped tiny semiprecious stones. 928 00:49:25,330 --> 00:49:28,133 Then, with astonishing precision, 929 00:49:28,233 --> 00:49:32,370 they fit them together, creating arabesques and other floral 930 00:49:32,470 --> 00:49:35,059 and geometric patterns. 931 00:49:37,442 --> 00:49:41,646 The Mughals' colorful pietra dura designs cover every wall 932 00:49:41,746 --> 00:49:45,535 of Agra's tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah, 933 00:49:46,207 --> 00:49:51,422 commissioned by Emperor Jahangir for his father-in-law in 1622, 934 00:49:51,514 --> 00:49:55,213 the building is made from marble inlaid with Carnelian lapis 935 00:49:55,246 --> 00:49:59,043 lazuli, onyx, jasper, and topaz. 936 00:50:00,431 --> 00:50:02,300 But it is the building's form that 937 00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:06,337 reveals the most about the Mughals, a dynasty with Persian 938 00:50:06,437 --> 00:50:09,769 as well as local Indian heritage. 939 00:50:10,441 --> 00:50:12,743 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: It looks Persian in some respects, 940 00:50:12,843 --> 00:50:16,013 and it fits the end of a four square garden 941 00:50:16,114 --> 00:50:18,749 called the Chahar Bagh-- these are Persian art forms-- 942 00:50:18,849 --> 00:50:23,388 but that has these little corner umbrella-like cupulas that 943 00:50:23,488 --> 00:50:26,057 are called [inaudible] that are, in fact, 944 00:50:26,157 --> 00:50:28,809 borrowed from Hindu architecture. 945 00:50:33,564 --> 00:50:36,201 NARRATOR: Nearby, one of the most magnificent monuments ever 946 00:50:36,301 --> 00:50:39,537 created in Islamic art appears against the sky 947 00:50:39,637 --> 00:50:44,129 like a heavenly pearl, the Taj Mahal. 948 00:50:45,376 --> 00:50:47,478 A colossal mausoleum, it was built 949 00:50:47,578 --> 00:50:51,090 by Mughal Shah Jahan for his beloved wife, 950 00:50:51,184 --> 00:50:54,613 Mumtaz Mahal in 1628. 951 00:50:55,613 --> 00:50:57,722 AFSHAN BOKHARI: Mumtaz Mahal, first of all, 952 00:50:57,822 --> 00:51:00,291 is of Persian heritage and not Indian or mixed 953 00:51:00,391 --> 00:51:01,292 Indian heritage. 954 00:51:01,324 --> 00:51:05,263 So she hails from a Persian legacy. 955 00:51:05,363 --> 00:51:07,632 She wasn't his first and only wife. 956 00:51:07,732 --> 00:51:11,436 But he favored her, and he had the most children by her. 957 00:51:11,536 --> 00:51:14,339 Whether it was because she was beautiful above all or not 958 00:51:14,439 --> 00:51:17,242 is still up for question. 959 00:51:17,341 --> 00:51:20,112 But love transcends all. 960 00:51:20,944 --> 00:51:24,745 And I think that's a very powerful symbol of it 961 00:51:24,855 --> 00:51:26,590 and continues to be. 962 00:51:27,238 --> 00:51:29,086 OLEG GRABAR: He buried her very young, 963 00:51:29,187 --> 00:51:31,489 and she died, and he was so in love 964 00:51:31,589 --> 00:51:35,526 with her that he built her this beautiful mausoleum. 965 00:51:35,633 --> 00:51:38,236 And he mourned her forever and ever. 966 00:51:38,684 --> 00:51:39,630 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: The fact that she 967 00:51:39,730 --> 00:51:42,200 was buried in the central position 968 00:51:42,300 --> 00:51:46,704 under the summit of the tomb's dome is very telling. 969 00:51:46,804 --> 00:51:50,475 And it says something about certainly his respect for her 970 00:51:50,575 --> 00:51:52,710 and the importance that was accorded to her that she would 971 00:51:52,810 --> 00:51:55,413 have a monument of that size and that she 972 00:51:55,513 --> 00:51:58,183 would get that central spot. 973 00:51:58,283 --> 00:52:00,651 NARRATOR: Shah Jahan spent 10 years overseeing 974 00:52:00,751 --> 00:52:04,422 its construction, using an all white marble as well as pietra 975 00:52:04,522 --> 00:52:09,137 dura but refining the technique to achieve a rare subtlety 976 00:52:09,199 --> 00:52:10,488 and grace. 977 00:52:10,928 --> 00:52:13,231 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: The Taj Mahal is a very delicately 978 00:52:13,331 --> 00:52:15,266 ornamented building. 979 00:52:15,366 --> 00:52:17,435 In some ways, to me, it's the material 980 00:52:17,535 --> 00:52:22,340 that dominates the decoration not the other way around. 981 00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:25,776 So when the light falls at a certain way, 982 00:52:25,876 --> 00:52:28,513 the decoration emerges in a certain way. 983 00:52:28,613 --> 00:52:31,216 The delicacy of the marble absorbs the light. 984 00:52:31,316 --> 00:52:33,384 And so at sunset, you'll experience it 985 00:52:33,484 --> 00:52:35,620 in a very different way than you would at sunrise 986 00:52:35,720 --> 00:52:38,043 or in summer you would experience it very differently 987 00:52:38,074 --> 00:52:40,157 than you would at winter. 988 00:52:40,590 --> 00:52:41,526 AFSHAN BOKHARI: You're suddenly imbued 989 00:52:41,626 --> 00:52:43,328 with that perception of heaven. 990 00:52:43,428 --> 00:52:45,663 You feel you've entered an other worldly 991 00:52:45,763 --> 00:52:51,269 realm with a monument completely encased in marble, reflecting 992 00:52:51,369 --> 00:52:54,839 its ulterior identity in the pool in front of it, 993 00:52:54,939 --> 00:52:58,309 showing both realms, heavenly and earthly. 994 00:52:58,409 --> 00:53:01,779 And he basically models the entire complex 995 00:53:01,879 --> 00:53:06,559 on what the vision of paradise and heaven is. 996 00:53:07,318 --> 00:53:09,554 NARRATOR: In West Africa, the simplicity 997 00:53:09,654 --> 00:53:14,459 of Mali's small village mosques stands in stark contrast 998 00:53:14,559 --> 00:53:18,426 to the heavily decorated buildings in the East. 999 00:53:21,582 --> 00:53:23,934 Their minimal design of mud and timber 1000 00:53:24,034 --> 00:53:28,004 is echoed even in the more urban city of Djenne. 1001 00:53:28,574 --> 00:53:29,807 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: You look at the mosque of Djenne 1002 00:53:29,907 --> 00:53:32,310 where there is no applied ornamentation. 1003 00:53:32,410 --> 00:53:34,379 But you have something different. 1004 00:53:34,479 --> 00:53:35,813 There, the scaffolding is actually 1005 00:53:35,913 --> 00:53:37,482 built into the building. 1006 00:53:37,582 --> 00:53:40,451 And that is done for a very practical reason, which 1007 00:53:40,551 --> 00:53:43,321 is that these mud buildings, these dried mud buildings, 1008 00:53:43,421 --> 00:53:46,105 need constant maintenance. 1009 00:53:46,524 --> 00:53:47,992 RUBA KANA'AN: These beams protrude enough 1010 00:53:48,092 --> 00:53:49,794 to make a pattern on the wall. 1011 00:53:49,894 --> 00:53:51,762 So when you look at it, you're not looking only 1012 00:53:51,861 --> 00:53:54,479 at the plain earth building. 1013 00:53:54,590 --> 00:53:55,366 When you're looking at it, you're 1014 00:53:55,391 --> 00:53:57,568 looking at a building that has lines on it. 1015 00:53:57,593 --> 00:54:01,439 And those lines are making different patterns, mostly 1016 00:54:01,539 --> 00:54:05,184 in diagonal lines or herringbone pattern. 1017 00:54:05,301 --> 00:54:06,611 But this pattern changes. 1018 00:54:06,711 --> 00:54:07,778 It's sort of alive. 1019 00:54:07,878 --> 00:54:10,281 It reflects the sun in its movement. 1020 00:54:10,381 --> 00:54:14,385 On the interior, you have almost no ornament at all. 1021 00:54:14,485 --> 00:54:17,955 The ornament there, if we can call it that, 1022 00:54:18,055 --> 00:54:21,426 is the play of light through the lightwells 1023 00:54:21,526 --> 00:54:24,895 and how light is reflected on these huge columns that 1024 00:54:25,010 --> 00:54:27,144 formed the corridors inside. 1025 00:54:27,566 --> 00:54:28,899 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: That's what the Djenne mosque is all 1026 00:54:28,999 --> 00:54:31,602 about to the communicants who go there. 1027 00:54:31,702 --> 00:54:38,427 They have an experience with God, an unornamented experience 1028 00:54:38,452 --> 00:54:40,668 with God. 1029 00:54:50,855 --> 00:54:54,024 NARRATOR: Bereft of water and scorched by the unrelenting 1030 00:54:54,124 --> 00:54:58,629 sun, the urban landscapes of the traditional Islamic heartlands 1031 00:54:58,729 --> 00:55:03,300 were mostly dust colored, made from the surrounding earth. 1032 00:55:03,401 --> 00:55:05,770 In its scarcity, vivid color became 1033 00:55:05,870 --> 00:55:09,507 a treasure used to celebrate and elevate more 1034 00:55:09,606 --> 00:55:11,875 than buildings and objects. 1035 00:55:12,293 --> 00:55:14,379 SHEILA S. BLAIR: Imagine if you're coming on your camel, 1036 00:55:14,479 --> 00:55:19,016 and you come across this plain, and you see a mosque from afar. 1037 00:55:19,108 --> 00:55:23,121 And Mohammad, sometimes Ali or Ya Allah 1038 00:55:23,176 --> 00:55:24,988 are written in glazed tile. 1039 00:55:25,043 --> 00:55:26,262 They are like neon. 1040 00:55:26,324 --> 00:55:28,043 They glow. 1041 00:55:28,493 --> 00:55:30,828 And you've got another 20 miles to go, 1042 00:55:30,928 --> 00:55:32,430 and you're plunking along. 1043 00:55:32,455 --> 00:55:36,867 And so you start reciting sacred names, prayers, Koranic verses, 1044 00:55:36,967 --> 00:55:38,669 and it's a way of encouraging you. 1045 00:55:38,769 --> 00:55:40,538 It's a way of bringing you on. 1046 00:55:40,638 --> 00:55:44,473 It's a way of enveloping you into the community. 1047 00:55:45,009 --> 00:55:48,379 One of the ideas was to make life, as everywhere, 1048 00:55:48,479 --> 00:55:49,714 as pleasant as possible. 1049 00:55:49,814 --> 00:55:52,246 So you perfume things and you colored them. 1050 00:55:52,277 --> 00:55:53,584 You colored your food. 1051 00:55:53,684 --> 00:55:55,352 You colored the clothes you wore. 1052 00:55:55,453 --> 00:55:58,389 The weaving of different colors is possible 1053 00:55:58,489 --> 00:56:01,058 because you can dye silk, particularly also 1054 00:56:01,158 --> 00:56:03,561 wool and cotton in many different colors. 1055 00:56:03,661 --> 00:56:08,399 And many different dyes from saffron, from crocuses, 1056 00:56:08,499 --> 00:56:10,968 to various kinds of blues, and reds, 1057 00:56:11,068 --> 00:56:13,638 were all available and accessible 1058 00:56:13,738 --> 00:56:17,608 and easily transportable in the Islamic lands. 1059 00:56:17,708 --> 00:56:20,778 And color becomes so important that people often 1060 00:56:20,878 --> 00:56:23,681 made color and things that are difficult to color. 1061 00:56:23,781 --> 00:56:26,451 Take, for example, metalwork. 1062 00:56:26,551 --> 00:56:28,686 RUBA KANA'AN: There was everyday use metalware. 1063 00:56:28,786 --> 00:56:32,523 Then there was metalware that was perceived of as, 1064 00:56:32,623 --> 00:56:35,760 at the time, not only from our perspective as art objects, 1065 00:56:35,860 --> 00:56:39,418 objects to be appreciated because of their beauty. 1066 00:56:39,897 --> 00:56:42,967 SHEILA S. BLAIR: One of the highlights of metalware 1067 00:56:43,067 --> 00:56:45,436 that's made in the Islamic lands is the inlaying 1068 00:56:45,536 --> 00:56:47,838 of one metal into another. 1069 00:56:47,938 --> 00:56:51,108 So you have a bronze object, and you put silver and gold pieces 1070 00:56:51,208 --> 00:56:54,011 into it to make it colorful. 1071 00:56:54,111 --> 00:56:57,114 And just doing that shows you that people valued color 1072 00:56:57,214 --> 00:57:00,449 because why bother otherwise? 1073 00:57:01,686 --> 00:57:03,621 NARRATOR: This small painted wooden table 1074 00:57:03,721 --> 00:57:06,491 from the 11th century was discovered only 1075 00:57:06,591 --> 00:57:09,960 recently hidden away for hundreds of years 1076 00:57:10,060 --> 00:57:12,777 in a cave in Afghanistan. 1077 00:57:13,531 --> 00:57:18,019 KJED VON FOLSACH: This little piece of secular furniture 1078 00:57:18,302 --> 00:57:20,863 is an extraordinary survivor. 1079 00:57:21,171 --> 00:57:23,941 We hardly have any secular furniture 1080 00:57:24,041 --> 00:57:28,223 from the Islamic world at all from the medieval period. 1081 00:57:28,813 --> 00:57:33,651 The color combinations of the table-- reds, blue, 1082 00:57:33,751 --> 00:57:37,522 kind of greenish colors, black, and then 1083 00:57:37,622 --> 00:57:40,691 the color of the wood itself, where the layer of paint 1084 00:57:40,791 --> 00:57:44,562 has been cut through-- gives it an extremely lively 1085 00:57:44,662 --> 00:57:46,964 nearly garish appearance to the object. 1086 00:57:47,064 --> 00:57:48,965 It is stunning. 1087 00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:51,769 NARRATOR: Colorful paints, enamels, 1088 00:57:51,869 --> 00:57:54,972 and glazes are readily available today. 1089 00:57:55,072 --> 00:57:56,774 But historically, they were extracted 1090 00:57:56,874 --> 00:57:59,476 from the natural environment and given life 1091 00:57:59,577 --> 00:58:01,762 by the artist's hands. 1092 00:58:02,129 --> 00:58:03,080 SHEILA S. BLAIR: One of the ways you make color 1093 00:58:03,180 --> 00:58:06,150 is by grinding up pigments. 1094 00:58:06,250 --> 00:58:09,954 Often metallic pigments, so you can grind up copper, 1095 00:58:10,152 --> 00:58:11,926 and you can get green. 1096 00:58:12,410 --> 00:58:17,293 For tiling, and blue and white ceramics, you need cobalt. 1097 00:58:17,595 --> 00:58:19,930 And the biggest sources of cobalt, traditionally, 1098 00:58:20,030 --> 00:58:21,566 were in Iran. 1099 00:58:21,866 --> 00:58:25,527 So we think today of Chinese blue and white ceramic. 1100 00:58:25,934 --> 00:58:28,939 That cobalt and the idea of blue and white ceramic 1101 00:58:29,039 --> 00:58:31,363 actually comes from Iran. 1102 00:58:32,042 --> 00:58:34,684 NARRATOR: The Iranian city of Isfahan, 1103 00:58:34,777 --> 00:58:36,681 poised between the East-West trade 1104 00:58:36,781 --> 00:58:39,884 routes became a burgeoning center of ceramic arts 1105 00:58:39,984 --> 00:58:43,184 in the 16th and 17th century. 1106 00:58:43,988 --> 00:58:46,991 Isfahan's Sheikh Lotfollah mosque 1107 00:58:47,091 --> 00:58:50,160 with its striking blue tiles an ornamental dome 1108 00:58:50,260 --> 00:58:56,230 was built in 1618 by the great Persian ruler, Shah Abbas. 1109 00:58:56,867 --> 00:59:00,270 Used only as a private mosque for the Shah's royal court, 1110 00:59:00,370 --> 00:59:02,673 it wasn't until centuries later when 1111 00:59:02,773 --> 00:59:04,875 the building was open to the public 1112 00:59:04,975 --> 00:59:08,449 that its magnificence was revealed to the world. 1113 00:59:09,079 --> 00:59:12,717 The ornament is some of the most colorful and complex tile 1114 00:59:12,817 --> 00:59:14,887 work ever created. 1115 00:59:15,434 --> 00:59:16,621 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: They would take tiles and break them 1116 00:59:16,721 --> 00:59:18,288 and then rearrange them so that you 1117 00:59:18,388 --> 00:59:24,161 would have a more intricate, rich play of light and color. 1118 00:59:24,261 --> 00:59:27,031 And you see that in this mosque. 1119 00:59:27,131 --> 00:59:31,168 Where in some ways, the building is dematerialized completely. 1120 00:59:31,268 --> 00:59:34,271 You no longer see the building as a special form 1121 00:59:34,371 --> 00:59:38,676 or special space but more as basically 1122 00:59:38,776 --> 00:59:41,746 an overwhelming surface of color and light. 1123 00:59:42,504 --> 00:59:46,684 Just enough light comes in to bring the mosaic tiles to life. 1124 00:59:46,784 --> 00:59:48,118 While if there was more light coming in, 1125 00:59:48,218 --> 00:59:49,720 it probably would overwhelm them, 1126 00:59:49,820 --> 00:59:52,289 and you would lose that effect of the tiles. 1127 00:59:52,389 --> 00:59:56,627 But here, the right amount of light only is let in. 1128 00:59:56,727 --> 00:59:59,329 NARRATOR: Faced with the labor of cutting each mosaic tile 1129 00:59:59,429 --> 01:00:02,667 by hand, the mosque's architects adopted 1130 01:00:02,767 --> 01:00:05,135 a more efficient glazing technique that allowed 1131 01:00:05,235 --> 01:00:09,074 designs to be painted directly onto the tile. 1132 01:00:09,840 --> 01:00:13,210 RUBA KANA'AN: They were thinking of how to transfer ideas. 1133 01:00:13,310 --> 01:00:15,112 They were experimenting. 1134 01:00:15,212 --> 01:00:18,082 They were what we-- they were the daring artists of the time. 1135 01:00:18,182 --> 01:00:21,527 Because they're introducing new ideas and new techniques. 1136 01:00:21,902 --> 01:00:23,721 NARRATOR: In this new technique, potters 1137 01:00:23,821 --> 01:00:25,790 paint in an outline of the design 1138 01:00:25,890 --> 01:00:28,025 with a mixture of mineral pigment and grease 1139 01:00:28,125 --> 01:00:31,261 before filling it in with colored glazes. 1140 01:00:31,480 --> 01:00:33,998 Once fired, the grease would burn off, 1141 01:00:34,098 --> 01:00:37,730 leaving a thin line to separate the colors. 1142 01:00:38,430 --> 01:00:42,902 Inside their private palaces, like the Chehel Sotoun, 1143 01:00:43,019 --> 01:00:46,824 the shahs of Iran used color in a very different way, 1144 01:00:46,941 --> 01:00:49,088 with figurative paintings of epic tales 1145 01:00:49,113 --> 01:00:50,815 from their own history. 1146 01:00:50,915 --> 01:00:54,084 This fresco commemorates the Battle of Chaldiran, 1147 01:00:54,184 --> 01:00:58,840 when the Persians bravely faced the Ottoman army in 1514. 1148 01:00:59,089 --> 01:01:02,092 Outnumbered and fighting only with traditional weapons 1149 01:01:02,192 --> 01:01:04,962 against the firearms of the Ottoman soldiers, 1150 01:01:05,062 --> 01:01:07,684 the Persians suffered a devastating defeat, 1151 01:01:07,738 --> 01:01:10,652 losing more than 5,000 men. 1152 01:01:11,168 --> 01:01:12,970 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: In the secular environment, 1153 01:01:13,070 --> 01:01:16,841 in bathhouses, in palaces, in the private tradition 1154 01:01:16,941 --> 01:01:20,878 of manuscripts that are not Korans, not prayer books, 1155 01:01:20,978 --> 01:01:24,114 but rather story books or historic or epics, 1156 01:01:24,214 --> 01:01:27,684 or historical narratives, or scientific manuals, 1157 01:01:27,785 --> 01:01:31,598 for example, there are lots of images of people. 1158 01:01:32,156 --> 01:01:34,191 OLEG GRABAR: These were made in the court, 1159 01:01:34,291 --> 01:01:38,228 and they were not made-- this is important point-- they were not 1160 01:01:38,328 --> 01:01:44,101 made with the same obvious externalization that 1161 01:01:44,201 --> 01:01:46,136 happen in Western art. 1162 01:01:46,236 --> 01:01:47,730 This was not for a public. 1163 01:01:47,887 --> 01:01:49,039 The public probably didn't even know of the existence 1164 01:01:49,139 --> 01:01:51,566 of these paintings. 1165 01:01:52,043 --> 01:01:54,011 NARRATOR: With high drama and emotion, 1166 01:01:54,111 --> 01:01:56,113 illustrated narratives tell the tales 1167 01:01:56,213 --> 01:01:58,949 of the princes' distant ancestors, 1168 01:01:59,049 --> 01:02:03,527 linking them symbolically to the wise rulers of the past. 1169 01:02:04,989 --> 01:02:06,957 The greatest most famous of these 1170 01:02:07,057 --> 01:02:11,295 is the Persian epic poem by Ferdowsi called the Shahnameh, 1171 01:02:11,395 --> 01:02:13,566 or Book of Kings. 1172 01:02:15,900 --> 01:02:18,468 Mythical figures like Rostam are recounted 1173 01:02:18,568 --> 01:02:21,738 as heroes, cloaked in animal skins, 1174 01:02:21,839 --> 01:02:24,308 slaying demons, and saving humanity 1175 01:02:24,408 --> 01:02:27,090 from the evils of the world. 1176 01:02:27,477 --> 01:02:29,479 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: The imagination runs wild. 1177 01:02:29,579 --> 01:02:34,184 And heroic exploits are depicted on the page-- not just 1178 01:02:34,284 --> 01:02:37,822 human beings but also super human animals, 1179 01:02:37,922 --> 01:02:41,676 and monsters, and angels. 1180 01:02:42,059 --> 01:02:45,495 NARRATOR: Rostam's rival, the valiant knight, Esfandiyar, 1181 01:02:45,595 --> 01:02:47,865 must face his own supernatural enemies 1182 01:02:47,965 --> 01:02:50,801 before he can meet Rostam in battle. 1183 01:02:50,901 --> 01:02:53,170 After wisely wounding the ferocious beast 1184 01:02:53,270 --> 01:02:56,373 with his blade covered horse, Esfandiyar 1185 01:02:56,473 --> 01:03:00,793 delivers the last fatal blow by hand. 1186 01:03:01,345 --> 01:03:06,016 OLEG GRABAR: You have the monster with its striking wings 1187 01:03:06,116 --> 01:03:09,786 and color and the clouds that look like the monster. 1188 01:03:09,887 --> 01:03:12,122 And this is where the talent of the composition 1189 01:03:12,222 --> 01:03:15,459 comes in, where details repeat itself, 1190 01:03:15,559 --> 01:03:18,228 echo each other in the image. 1191 01:03:18,328 --> 01:03:21,999 Here, you have very slowly to start looking, 1192 01:03:22,099 --> 01:03:26,436 and then you start drowning within those images. 1193 01:03:26,536 --> 01:03:28,973 NARRATOR: Finally, after much bloodshed, 1194 01:03:29,073 --> 01:03:32,109 Rostam is able to conquer the invincible 1195 01:03:32,209 --> 01:03:37,114 Esfandiyar, by discovering his only weakness, his eyes. 1196 01:03:37,214 --> 01:03:41,730 One double-pointed arrow silences his opponent forever. 1197 01:03:42,286 --> 01:03:44,855 AMY LANDAU: The Shahnameh recalls great battles 1198 01:03:44,955 --> 01:03:46,957 of the pre-Islamic past. 1199 01:03:47,057 --> 01:03:49,994 It also recounts great love stories. 1200 01:03:50,094 --> 01:03:54,164 It has a certain sensitivity to the human condition, 1201 01:03:54,387 --> 01:03:58,035 much like we see in the work of Homer, for example. 1202 01:03:58,135 --> 01:04:00,170 NARRATOR: The Shahnameh was so beloved 1203 01:04:00,270 --> 01:04:03,140 that other characters like the fifth century Persian prince 1204 01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:08,223 Bahram Gur took on new life in romantic epics. 1205 01:04:08,712 --> 01:04:11,515 In the poem "Seven Beauties" by Nizami, 1206 01:04:11,615 --> 01:04:14,418 Bahram Gur asks an architect to build 1207 01:04:14,518 --> 01:04:17,421 seven pavilions for the seven princesses 1208 01:04:17,521 --> 01:04:20,124 he admires from afar. 1209 01:04:20,224 --> 01:04:23,360 As he visits each one, the pavilions' colors 1210 01:04:23,460 --> 01:04:27,996 are used to illuminate the prince's own spiritual journey. 1211 01:04:28,232 --> 01:04:32,699 Poetry, like art, is a mirror reflecting the invisible world 1212 01:04:32,730 --> 01:04:34,905 of the human spirit. 1213 01:04:35,005 --> 01:04:37,507 AMY LANDAU: The central part of this beautiful poem 1214 01:04:37,607 --> 01:04:42,146 is his entering seven pavilions and being entertained 1215 01:04:42,246 --> 01:04:44,590 by a princess in each pavilion. 1216 01:04:44,699 --> 01:04:47,621 And each pavilion is identified, distinguished 1217 01:04:47,684 --> 01:04:49,730 by a certain color. 1218 01:04:49,996 --> 01:04:54,191 And these colors are related to a progression 1219 01:04:54,291 --> 01:04:59,329 of going from a point of just thinking about oneself 1220 01:04:59,428 --> 01:05:03,855 and not being enlightened to enlightenment. 1221 01:05:07,071 --> 01:05:09,239 NARRATOR: These Persian art forms spread, 1222 01:05:09,339 --> 01:05:13,715 as Islam blossomed in India under the Mughals. 1223 01:05:14,178 --> 01:05:17,214 AMY LANDAU: There was a lot of strong contacts 1224 01:05:17,314 --> 01:05:21,685 and interest between Iran and Mughal India in this period, 1225 01:05:21,785 --> 01:05:24,354 and we have a lot of interaction, 1226 01:05:24,454 --> 01:05:26,924 a lot of movement of poets and artists 1227 01:05:26,949 --> 01:05:29,459 going between these two empires. 1228 01:05:29,559 --> 01:05:31,528 And that's how ideas are transmitted. 1229 01:05:31,628 --> 01:05:35,777 That's how techniques are transmitted and goods. 1230 01:05:36,266 --> 01:05:39,069 NARRATOR: By the 17th century, under the reign 1231 01:05:39,169 --> 01:05:43,240 of Emperor Jahangir, Mughal art and architecture 1232 01:05:43,340 --> 01:05:44,708 was flourishing. 1233 01:05:44,808 --> 01:05:46,710 The monuments built during his reign 1234 01:05:46,810 --> 01:05:52,349 reveal how Islamic heritage took new forms, influenced by trade. 1235 01:05:52,598 --> 01:05:57,254 Janhangir himself admired and collected European and even 1236 01:05:57,354 --> 01:05:59,189 Christian art. 1237 01:05:59,723 --> 01:06:00,557 AFSHAN BOKHARI: And that probably 1238 01:06:00,657 --> 01:06:03,393 has a lot to do with the Portuguese, 1239 01:06:03,493 --> 01:06:08,098 the Jesuits, who had already come to India in Jahangir's 1240 01:06:08,198 --> 01:06:10,434 reign, bringing gifts. 1241 01:06:10,534 --> 01:06:14,323 Along with gifts, they're bringing illustrated Bibles. 1242 01:06:14,495 --> 01:06:18,375 And, of course, in the hopes to-- they're 1243 01:06:18,475 --> 01:06:22,579 proselytizing, hopefully converting these great emperors 1244 01:06:22,679 --> 01:06:24,281 of this great empire. 1245 01:06:24,381 --> 01:06:27,251 And, of course, the emperors are accepting these gifts. 1246 01:06:27,351 --> 01:06:28,252 They're very gracious. 1247 01:06:28,352 --> 01:06:30,220 They're very thankful. 1248 01:06:30,320 --> 01:06:34,024 So the reservoir, then, becomes quite rich from where 1249 01:06:34,124 --> 01:06:36,323 the artist is drawing. 1250 01:06:37,238 --> 01:06:39,163 NARRATOR: Here, a Mughal painter experiments 1251 01:06:39,263 --> 01:06:42,597 with the Western concepts of perspective and shading, 1252 01:06:42,714 --> 01:06:45,417 while using local materials. 1253 01:06:46,105 --> 01:06:47,237 AFSHAN BOKHARI: The colors are all 1254 01:06:47,337 --> 01:06:50,006 derived from pigments, natural pigments, and even 1255 01:06:50,107 --> 01:06:51,508 semi-precious stones. 1256 01:06:51,608 --> 01:06:54,578 The blue, especially, is from lapis lazuli, 1257 01:06:54,678 --> 01:06:56,580 which comes from Afghanistan. 1258 01:06:56,680 --> 01:07:01,418 But most of the reds, the yellows, the white 1259 01:07:01,518 --> 01:07:06,656 is all naturally derived and is indigenous to the place 1260 01:07:06,756 --> 01:07:09,144 in which the painting was created. 1261 01:07:09,667 --> 01:07:12,396 AMY LANDAU: Indian yellow is a mixture 1262 01:07:12,496 --> 01:07:16,733 of the urine of cows that are fed on Mango, 1263 01:07:16,833 --> 01:07:21,638 and that's bound with water and also a gum arabic. 1264 01:07:21,738 --> 01:07:24,408 And mixed together, and it creates this incredibly vibrant 1265 01:07:24,508 --> 01:07:26,376 yellow. 1266 01:07:26,476 --> 01:07:29,246 NARRATOR: It is in Jahangir's illustrated memoir 1267 01:07:29,346 --> 01:07:31,781 that the growth and sophistication of Mughal 1268 01:07:31,881 --> 01:07:34,980 painting is most clearly seen. 1269 01:07:35,219 --> 01:07:37,421 AFSHAN BOKHARI: In this work, he's shown with a halo. 1270 01:07:37,521 --> 01:07:40,457 And that links him to Western art, 1271 01:07:40,557 --> 01:07:42,392 and specifically Christian art. 1272 01:07:42,492 --> 01:07:44,494 He is above everyone. 1273 01:07:44,594 --> 01:07:47,364 Even though everyone is dressed in their finery 1274 01:07:47,464 --> 01:07:52,536 and they are individualized, that beautiful blue basically 1275 01:07:52,636 --> 01:07:56,540 winds us back to our primary focus, which should 1276 01:07:56,640 --> 01:07:59,573 be the emperor and nobody else. 1277 01:08:01,378 --> 01:08:04,281 And colors in Islamic art are very moving. 1278 01:08:04,381 --> 01:08:09,786 They're very sumptuous, lush, almost supernatural colors 1279 01:08:09,886 --> 01:08:15,175 that transport you to another place that is not earthly. 1280 01:08:35,534 --> 01:08:38,152 NARRATOR: Water gives life in barren lands. 1281 01:08:38,277 --> 01:08:40,284 It changes its surroundings. 1282 01:08:40,488 --> 01:08:41,618 It moves. 1283 01:08:42,058 --> 01:08:43,620 It reflects. 1284 01:08:43,720 --> 01:08:48,292 It is also a simple element that ties us to our past in a way 1285 01:08:48,392 --> 01:08:50,722 that nothing else can. 1286 01:08:51,277 --> 01:08:52,629 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Water is one of those elements 1287 01:08:52,729 --> 01:08:54,598 that we take for granted. 1288 01:08:54,698 --> 01:08:59,369 But when I see water in a pool in a tomb or in a palace, 1289 01:08:59,469 --> 01:09:01,605 I'm often struck by the fact that it's actually 1290 01:09:01,712 --> 01:09:06,752 the same water that flowed when the palace was built. 1291 01:09:06,816 --> 01:09:08,912 Because water doesn't go away. 1292 01:09:09,012 --> 01:09:12,382 It evaporates, and then it falls back on the earth. 1293 01:09:12,482 --> 01:09:14,484 And it evaporates, and it falls back down again. 1294 01:09:14,584 --> 01:09:15,319 It's the same water. 1295 01:09:15,419 --> 01:09:16,353 It's the Roman water. 1296 01:09:16,453 --> 01:09:18,188 It's the Islamic water. 1297 01:09:18,287 --> 01:09:21,354 It's, you know, water from all stages of history. 1298 01:09:21,417 --> 01:09:22,392 It's continuous. 1299 01:09:22,492 --> 01:09:26,196 And so for that moment, I am in that place, 1300 01:09:26,296 --> 01:09:28,198 not just in my imagination but literally, 1301 01:09:28,298 --> 01:09:32,050 materially, I'm part of that same environment. 1302 01:09:32,469 --> 01:09:34,638 NARRATOR: Though appearing effortless, 1303 01:09:34,738 --> 01:09:37,707 the water that ran for centuries into the reflecting pools 1304 01:09:37,807 --> 01:09:40,810 and garden beds of the Islamic world 1305 01:09:40,910 --> 01:09:44,814 traveled a difficult journey, one involving a complex system 1306 01:09:44,914 --> 01:09:47,823 of engineering and labor. 1307 01:09:48,318 --> 01:09:50,687 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: A number of parts of the Islamic world 1308 01:09:50,787 --> 01:09:52,689 do suffer from scarcity of water. 1309 01:09:52,789 --> 01:09:55,325 They have very little rainfall. 1310 01:09:55,425 --> 01:09:57,494 Some of them might have large sources of water, 1311 01:09:57,594 --> 01:10:00,630 but you have to move the water to other locations. 1312 01:10:00,730 --> 01:10:03,667 NARRATOR: Perched on the edge of the Orontes River, the city 1313 01:10:03,767 --> 01:10:08,438 of Hama, Syria once had as many as 30 water wheels in service, 1314 01:10:08,538 --> 01:10:12,253 bringing water from the source to the people. 1315 01:10:12,642 --> 01:10:14,744 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: You have these wonderful, enormous water 1316 01:10:14,844 --> 01:10:17,314 wheels, which could be 20 meters in diameter 1317 01:10:17,414 --> 01:10:18,882 or 60 feet in diameter. 1318 01:10:18,982 --> 01:10:22,218 And they would carry the water from the bottom 1319 01:10:22,319 --> 01:10:24,821 from the river up to the top of the water wheel. 1320 01:10:24,921 --> 01:10:26,823 And then from there, it would be transferred 1321 01:10:26,923 --> 01:10:29,859 to aqueducts or to canals. 1322 01:10:29,959 --> 01:10:31,795 And then it would feed various other parts 1323 01:10:31,895 --> 01:10:33,597 of the city, whether for agriculture 1324 01:10:33,697 --> 01:10:38,456 or for residential use and so on. 1325 01:10:38,886 --> 01:10:41,471 There's a very important verse in the Koran that 1326 01:10:41,571 --> 01:10:45,342 often is repeated, which is that God has made 1327 01:10:45,442 --> 01:10:47,456 everything alive through water. 1328 01:10:47,677 --> 01:10:50,847 So it's actually a very even simple and basic principle, 1329 01:10:50,947 --> 01:10:53,433 which is water is life. 1330 01:10:53,917 --> 01:10:56,520 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Through irrigation, an otherwise dry 1331 01:10:56,620 --> 01:10:59,756 landscape is made doubly productive in that it 1332 01:10:59,856 --> 01:11:02,025 is-- you can grow crops through the summer. 1333 01:11:02,125 --> 01:11:04,761 You can grow crops through a time of the year 1334 01:11:04,861 --> 01:11:06,330 when you wouldn't ordinarily have 1335 01:11:06,355 --> 01:11:10,120 any crops at all because of this ability to manage water. 1336 01:11:11,134 --> 01:11:13,670 NARRATOR: In more arid climates like Iran, 1337 01:11:13,770 --> 01:11:17,972 the challenging desert topography spurred innovation. 1338 01:11:18,408 --> 01:11:19,709 SHEILA S. BLAIR: One of the wonders 1339 01:11:19,809 --> 01:11:21,878 engineering feats of this part of the world 1340 01:11:21,977 --> 01:11:26,649 is the subterranean aqueduct called, in Persian, a qanat, 1341 01:11:26,750 --> 01:11:31,020 in Arabic a Khettara, Probably invented in Iran 1342 01:11:31,120 --> 01:11:34,424 already in the fourth century BCE, 1343 01:11:34,524 --> 01:11:37,060 but certainly developed in the Islamic period 1344 01:11:37,160 --> 01:11:41,598 and brought from Iran all the way to West Africa 1345 01:11:41,698 --> 01:11:44,277 and then in fact to the new world. 1346 01:11:44,634 --> 01:11:46,636 NARRATOR: From above, qanats appear 1347 01:11:46,736 --> 01:11:50,774 as a series of large crater-like holes in the earth. 1348 01:11:50,874 --> 01:11:53,710 Workmen were lowered into these access points, 1349 01:11:53,810 --> 01:11:57,914 some as deep as 150 feet, to tap the water's source 1350 01:11:58,014 --> 01:12:00,277 in the heart of a mountain. 1351 01:12:00,617 --> 01:12:02,919 Then, by hand, they cut through the earth 1352 01:12:03,019 --> 01:12:05,955 to create a long tunnel. 1353 01:12:06,055 --> 01:12:09,359 SHEILA S. BLAIR: You bring this water 25 miles underground 1354 01:12:09,459 --> 01:12:11,327 on a slightly sloping path, and then you 1355 01:12:11,428 --> 01:12:14,531 bring it out whenever you want to water your field. 1356 01:12:14,847 --> 01:12:16,600 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: The management of that water 1357 01:12:16,700 --> 01:12:20,870 requires a very careful understanding of slope. 1358 01:12:20,970 --> 01:12:25,575 Because the cardinal rule about water is it flows downhill. 1359 01:12:25,675 --> 01:12:28,111 If it flows too fast, you lose your water 1360 01:12:28,211 --> 01:12:29,979 because it spills over the edges. 1361 01:12:30,079 --> 01:12:33,450 If it flows too slowly, you have a stagnant pool, 1362 01:12:33,550 --> 01:12:36,136 and it doesn't go where you want it to go. 1363 01:12:36,453 --> 01:12:39,856 NARRATOR: In Kairouan, Tunisia, water flowed from aqueducts 1364 01:12:39,956 --> 01:12:42,659 into massive reservoir basins. 1365 01:12:42,759 --> 01:12:45,962 Built in the ninth century, these highly sophisticated 1366 01:12:46,062 --> 01:12:48,398 collection pools provided water that 1367 01:12:48,498 --> 01:12:51,464 was both fresh and filtered. 1368 01:12:51,902 --> 01:12:52,736 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: They're quite sizable. 1369 01:12:52,836 --> 01:12:54,938 You have a small pool and then a large pool. 1370 01:12:55,038 --> 01:12:56,773 The idea is that the water, which 1371 01:12:56,873 --> 01:12:59,476 is brought in from another location, 1372 01:12:59,576 --> 01:13:01,411 goes into the small pool. 1373 01:13:01,511 --> 01:13:04,881 There, the sediments basically settle. 1374 01:13:04,981 --> 01:13:07,884 And then it moves into the larger pool 1375 01:13:07,984 --> 01:13:12,917 where it's stored for the use of the residents of the city. 1376 01:13:13,723 --> 01:13:15,725 NARRATOR: Once inside the city walls, 1377 01:13:15,825 --> 01:13:18,628 water played an important religious role, 1378 01:13:18,728 --> 01:13:22,644 as all Muslims are required to wash before prayer. 1379 01:13:23,284 --> 01:13:25,469 JONATHAN M. BLOOM: Washing involves 1380 01:13:25,569 --> 01:13:30,840 a symbolic and practical cleansing of one's self 1381 01:13:30,940 --> 01:13:33,449 before approaching God. 1382 01:13:33,877 --> 01:13:36,780 And so it is a way of putting yourself 1383 01:13:36,880 --> 01:13:42,019 in the right mental framework for approaching the divine. 1384 01:13:42,619 --> 01:13:44,688 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: You have the section for ablutions 1385 01:13:44,788 --> 01:13:47,957 in the mosque, and often these are very beautiful elements 1386 01:13:48,057 --> 01:13:48,917 within the mosque. 1387 01:13:48,942 --> 01:13:51,027 Sometimes you find them in the middle of the courtyard. 1388 01:13:51,052 --> 01:13:52,962 Sometimes you find them outside the mosque. 1389 01:13:52,987 --> 01:13:54,964 You find them in different locations. 1390 01:13:54,989 --> 01:13:56,933 But they do have an architectural presence 1391 01:13:57,033 --> 01:13:58,995 in the mosque. 1392 01:14:02,171 --> 01:14:04,508 SHEILA S. BLAIR: Water takes on this sacred association 1393 01:14:04,608 --> 01:14:05,809 in many cases. 1394 01:14:05,834 --> 01:14:09,178 But at the same time, it has a day-to-day connotation, 1395 01:14:09,278 --> 01:14:11,917 and you can't separate the two. 1396 01:14:12,339 --> 01:14:12,849 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Water is actually 1397 01:14:12,949 --> 01:14:15,885 a very complicated substance because it does not 1398 01:14:15,985 --> 01:14:17,086 hold its own shape. 1399 01:14:17,186 --> 01:14:18,855 It has to be given form. 1400 01:14:18,955 --> 01:14:21,925 It's very heavy, and therefore very heavy to lift. 1401 01:14:22,025 --> 01:14:24,661 And any time you work with water, 1402 01:14:24,761 --> 01:14:26,830 any time you manage water or carry water, 1403 01:14:26,930 --> 01:14:28,164 you actually need a container for it. 1404 01:14:28,264 --> 01:14:30,567 You need a vessel for it. 1405 01:14:30,667 --> 01:14:32,936 NARRATOR: Decorated ewers, or pitchers, 1406 01:14:33,036 --> 01:14:35,171 carried drinking water and could be 1407 01:14:35,271 --> 01:14:38,199 used for washing before meals. 1408 01:14:38,808 --> 01:14:40,977 SHEILA S. BLAIR: Someone would come out and pour the water, 1409 01:14:41,077 --> 01:14:43,079 and you would rub your hands over it. 1410 01:14:43,179 --> 01:14:45,048 And the wastewater would go into the basin. 1411 01:14:45,124 --> 01:14:47,026 But water was so precious you wouldn't just 1412 01:14:47,150 --> 01:14:48,408 let it run away on the floor. 1413 01:14:48,433 --> 01:14:50,520 You would take that basin of dirty water 1414 01:14:50,620 --> 01:14:52,756 and pour it on your garden. 1415 01:14:52,856 --> 01:14:56,092 RUBA KANA'AN: Water is about so many things. 1416 01:14:56,192 --> 01:14:58,628 It's not only about cleanliness. 1417 01:14:58,728 --> 01:15:00,063 It's not only about produce. 1418 01:15:00,163 --> 01:15:01,998 It's not only about beauty. 1419 01:15:02,098 --> 01:15:04,042 It's all of that. 1420 01:15:05,902 --> 01:15:09,606 NARRATOR: In palaces like the Chehel Sotoun in Iran, 1421 01:15:09,706 --> 01:15:12,041 called the Palace of 40 Columns, water 1422 01:15:12,141 --> 01:15:18,066 magnified the ruler's majesty, making it as valuable as gold. 1423 01:15:18,480 --> 01:15:19,649 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Water has the ability 1424 01:15:19,749 --> 01:15:23,519 to enhance the architecture around it-- 1425 01:15:23,620 --> 01:15:24,788 the architecture that contains it 1426 01:15:24,888 --> 01:15:27,123 or the architecture that it surrounds. 1427 01:15:27,223 --> 01:15:30,159 So if you think of the Chehel Sotoun, the Palace the 40 1428 01:15:30,259 --> 01:15:33,563 Columns in Isfahan, it doesn't have 40 columns. 1429 01:15:33,663 --> 01:15:37,000 Its columns are in fact doubled by being 1430 01:15:37,100 --> 01:15:41,409 reflected on the body of water that sits in front of it. 1431 01:15:42,005 --> 01:15:43,973 MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD: It's a very nice poetic interpretation 1432 01:15:44,073 --> 01:15:45,241 of the building. 1433 01:15:45,341 --> 01:15:46,943 But it also shows, again, that water always 1434 01:15:47,043 --> 01:15:50,647 plays an element in how the popular imagination sees 1435 01:15:50,747 --> 01:15:52,050 a building. 1436 01:15:52,381 --> 01:15:55,551 NARRATOR: In the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, 1437 01:15:55,652 --> 01:15:59,088 water spouted upward from an alabaster basin 1438 01:15:59,188 --> 01:16:02,992 and poured from the mouths of 12 marble lions. 1439 01:16:03,092 --> 01:16:07,664 A poem carved on the basin echoed its physical form. 1440 01:16:07,764 --> 01:16:11,200 "The fountain is the sultan who showers all his subjects 1441 01:16:11,299 --> 01:16:16,698 and land with grace, just as water wets the gardens." 1442 01:16:17,191 --> 01:16:17,741 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: The fountain 1443 01:16:17,841 --> 01:16:21,210 is nothing more than the mechanism of extracting water 1444 01:16:21,310 --> 01:16:24,580 from the earth, turned into a celebration. 1445 01:16:24,681 --> 01:16:28,818 Every time water enters into a palace environment, 1446 01:16:28,918 --> 01:16:31,988 it enters through some kind of theatrical effect. 1447 01:16:32,088 --> 01:16:34,658 It enters through the mouth of a lion 1448 01:16:34,758 --> 01:16:38,828 or the mouth of a bronze deer so that the animal 1449 01:16:38,928 --> 01:16:40,596 seems to come alive. 1450 01:16:40,697 --> 01:16:43,332 And this is the only way of creating animation 1451 01:16:43,432 --> 01:16:44,968 in this world. 1452 01:16:45,068 --> 01:16:48,972 And it must have had an enormous effect on viewers. 1453 01:16:49,072 --> 01:16:51,607 It must have been-- it must have excited the imagination 1454 01:16:51,708 --> 01:16:53,777 to see something like that. 1455 01:16:54,010 --> 01:16:56,112 NARRATOR: Now covered in pebbles, 1456 01:16:56,212 --> 01:16:59,683 the Alhambra's Court of Lions was once a four-part garden 1457 01:16:59,783 --> 01:17:02,051 fed by the channels of water, representing 1458 01:17:02,151 --> 01:17:06,191 a microcosm of the irrigated landscape outside. 1459 01:17:06,636 --> 01:17:07,932 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: The ultimate expression of water 1460 01:17:07,957 --> 01:17:09,225 is, of course, in the garden. 1461 01:17:09,325 --> 01:17:11,327 Because none of the gardens in the Islamic world 1462 01:17:11,427 --> 01:17:14,798 would exist if they didn't have a man-made, 1463 01:17:14,898 --> 01:17:19,620 an artificially introduced, source of water. 1464 01:17:20,103 --> 01:17:23,239 NARRATOR: The Generalife, Granada's 14th century summer 1465 01:17:23,339 --> 01:17:27,643 estate, was a pleasure palace, decorated with lush gardens 1466 01:17:27,744 --> 01:17:29,824 and whimsical fountains. 1467 01:17:30,433 --> 01:17:32,782 They evoke, on the one hand, the garden that 1468 01:17:32,882 --> 01:17:34,751 is the garden that grows food. 1469 01:17:34,851 --> 01:17:38,287 But they also evoke the gardens of paradise and the very word 1470 01:17:38,387 --> 01:17:42,358 "paradise" comes from the Persian "paradeisos" which 1471 01:17:42,458 --> 01:17:46,050 means a walled park or garden. 1472 01:17:46,262 --> 01:17:48,297 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Islamic gardens are typically 1473 01:17:48,397 --> 01:17:52,368 walled enclosed spaces, and the reason for that 1474 01:17:52,468 --> 01:17:55,038 is that by enclosing the space, you 1475 01:17:55,138 --> 01:17:58,808 are creating a box in which fragrant flowers, 1476 01:17:58,908 --> 01:18:01,978 fragrant fruit trees, are contained and made 1477 01:18:02,078 --> 01:18:04,347 more available to the nose. 1478 01:18:04,447 --> 01:18:05,381 You can smell them. 1479 01:18:05,481 --> 01:18:06,883 They are close at hand. 1480 01:18:06,983 --> 01:18:08,952 They are meant to be something that you have 1481 01:18:09,052 --> 01:18:11,864 almost physical contact with. 1482 01:18:12,512 --> 01:18:14,057 SHEILA S. BLAIR: You also should think of water 1483 01:18:14,157 --> 01:18:16,459 in the context of sound, because water 1484 01:18:16,559 --> 01:18:18,995 provides a pleasing sound. 1485 01:18:19,095 --> 01:18:23,731 So most gardens, like the Alhambra or the Generalife, 1486 01:18:23,967 --> 01:18:28,371 have running water because it's this babbling noise behind you 1487 01:18:28,471 --> 01:18:34,192 that screens out other noise but also brings quiet and calm. 1488 01:18:37,348 --> 01:18:40,083 NARRATOR: During Mali's long dry season, 1489 01:18:40,317 --> 01:18:43,278 water is an even greater luxury. 1490 01:18:43,590 --> 01:18:46,535 In the mud villages outside the city of Djenne, 1491 01:18:46,621 --> 01:18:49,926 people persist and thrive without rain, 1492 01:18:50,026 --> 01:18:54,551 grinding the millet grown before the floodwaters slowly recede. 1493 01:19:01,270 --> 01:19:04,307 In the hands of an artist, water becomes a medium 1494 01:19:04,407 --> 01:19:07,243 for creativity, used to shape and build 1495 01:19:07,343 --> 01:19:09,700 the world around them. 1496 01:19:13,582 --> 01:19:18,988 For over 4,000 years, people have used the sun, the earth, 1497 01:19:19,088 --> 01:19:23,793 and water to create mud brick or adobe buildings. 1498 01:19:24,393 --> 01:19:28,064 The word "adobe" itself comes from the Arabic word for mud, 1499 01:19:28,164 --> 01:19:30,559 "at-tub." 1500 01:19:32,368 --> 01:19:34,838 The city of Djenne is actually an island 1501 01:19:34,938 --> 01:19:37,140 in a vast flood plain. 1502 01:19:37,240 --> 01:19:40,877 Here, water is both a blessing and a curse. 1503 01:19:40,977 --> 01:19:43,379 And here, the buildings tell a story 1504 01:19:43,478 --> 01:19:46,331 of survival and community. 1505 01:19:46,715 --> 01:19:47,984 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: This part of West Africa 1506 01:19:48,084 --> 01:19:52,055 has a very long dry season and a short wet season, 1507 01:19:52,155 --> 01:19:54,390 rainy season, only about two and a half, sometimes 1508 01:19:54,490 --> 01:19:55,959 three and a half months. 1509 01:19:56,059 --> 01:19:57,426 But the rains are monsoonal rains, 1510 01:19:57,526 --> 01:19:59,996 so they come in torrentially. 1511 01:20:00,096 --> 01:20:02,065 [non-english speech] 1512 01:20:04,035 --> 01:20:07,136 INTERPRETER: Mud architecture needs constant repair 1513 01:20:07,236 --> 01:20:11,785 because these rains wear way the plaster walls. 1514 01:20:15,668 --> 01:20:17,346 NARRATOR: The Great Mosque of Djenne 1515 01:20:17,446 --> 01:20:21,285 is the largest adobe structure in the world. 1516 01:20:21,645 --> 01:20:22,485 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: You see the mosque, 1517 01:20:22,585 --> 01:20:24,253 and there are very few sharp corners. 1518 01:20:24,353 --> 01:20:25,421 Everything is softed. 1519 01:20:25,521 --> 01:20:27,323 Everything is rounded. 1520 01:20:27,423 --> 01:20:31,227 That's in part a good protection. 1521 01:20:31,327 --> 01:20:35,064 But it's a tribute, if you will, to the force of the rains 1522 01:20:35,164 --> 01:20:38,606 and the force of nature in that-- in that sense. 1523 01:20:39,489 --> 01:20:41,905 INTERPRETER: This mosque is very important 1524 01:20:42,005 --> 01:20:44,240 not only for me but for all the Malians 1525 01:20:44,340 --> 01:20:46,542 because it shows how creative and how 1526 01:20:46,642 --> 01:20:49,801 ingenious our masons are. 1527 01:20:50,713 --> 01:20:52,315 NARRATOR: The masons of Djenne mix 1528 01:20:52,415 --> 01:20:54,317 earth and water with a vegetable fat 1529 01:20:54,417 --> 01:20:57,486 called shea butter to shape the cylindrical mud 1530 01:20:57,586 --> 01:21:01,801 bricks which form the skeleton of the mosque building. 1531 01:21:02,145 --> 01:21:03,092 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: There is a very long 1532 01:21:03,192 --> 01:21:05,161 archeological tradition that goes 1533 01:21:05,261 --> 01:21:09,198 beyond a millennium of dealing with these traditional mud 1534 01:21:09,298 --> 01:21:10,366 bricks. 1535 01:21:10,466 --> 01:21:11,867 And the traditional mud bricks are 1536 01:21:11,892 --> 01:21:17,965 the signature of the barey ton or the masons of Djenne. 1537 01:21:18,145 --> 01:21:19,342 They are cylindrical bricks. 1538 01:21:19,442 --> 01:21:21,444 They're about 20 centimeters high. 1539 01:21:21,544 --> 01:21:23,579 And they're laid vertically in rows, 1540 01:21:23,679 --> 01:21:26,049 but they're extremely hard. 1541 01:21:26,434 --> 01:21:28,017 NARRATOR: In order to protect them from erosion 1542 01:21:28,117 --> 01:21:30,219 during the heavy rains, mud plaster 1543 01:21:30,319 --> 01:21:33,389 is continuously applied to the traditional bricks 1544 01:21:33,489 --> 01:21:37,395 by masons who scale the timber scaffolding. 1545 01:21:39,473 --> 01:21:42,198 INTERPRETER: The timbers not only serve as decoration. 1546 01:21:42,298 --> 01:21:45,568 They also serve as a tool to create, to build a mosque, 1547 01:21:45,668 --> 01:21:49,801 to plaster it, and to make repairs on the mosque. 1548 01:21:50,301 --> 01:21:52,275 RODERICK J. MCINTOSH: They let this mud and the grain 1549 01:21:52,375 --> 01:21:55,378 and the butter ferment for weeks. 1550 01:21:55,478 --> 01:21:59,348 It's really foul smelling, but it's-- once it's put 1551 01:21:59,448 --> 01:22:04,420 on, it's as hard as regular Portland cement. 1552 01:22:04,520 --> 01:22:06,422 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: The Mosque of Djenne 1553 01:22:06,522 --> 01:22:09,158 is eternal in a different sense, and it 1554 01:22:09,258 --> 01:22:13,462 is in the act of rebuilding and renewing and replenishing it 1555 01:22:13,562 --> 01:22:16,457 that it's importance is found. 1556 01:22:23,285 --> 01:22:25,574 NARRATOR: The legacy of Islamic art 1557 01:22:25,674 --> 01:22:30,770 is intertwined with the very fabric of world civilization. 1558 01:22:31,114 --> 01:22:37,910 In a deep and meaningful way, it is part of who we are today. 1559 01:22:38,481 --> 01:22:40,523 OLEG GRABAR: It's not that Islam has suddenly 1560 01:22:40,623 --> 01:22:43,159 appeared in our lives now. 1561 01:22:43,259 --> 01:22:46,562 We've been involved with Islam for centuries. 1562 01:22:46,662 --> 01:22:48,998 AFSHAN BOKHARI: I think that Islamic art puts 1563 01:22:49,098 --> 01:22:53,536 a face on a lot of the uncertainties Western society 1564 01:22:53,636 --> 01:22:55,704 has about Islamic culture. 1565 01:22:55,804 --> 01:23:00,009 And also it sheds light on some shared histories 1566 01:23:00,109 --> 01:23:03,279 between Western culture and Islamic culture 1567 01:23:03,379 --> 01:23:07,616 and shows a continuity rather than a break. 1568 01:23:07,716 --> 01:23:09,518 GARY VIKAN: To anchor ourselves in the past 1569 01:23:09,618 --> 01:23:11,354 as a way of giving ourselves, I think, 1570 01:23:11,454 --> 01:23:15,591 an anchor in a world that is in such enormous and threatening 1571 01:23:15,691 --> 01:23:16,817 flux. 1572 01:23:17,020 --> 01:23:21,130 Art, I think, is something that is the most human thing. 1573 01:23:21,230 --> 01:23:23,082 It's what makes us human. 1574 01:23:23,629 --> 01:23:26,035 D. FAIRCHILD RUGGLES: Sometimes material objects 1575 01:23:26,135 --> 01:23:30,173 can be the bridge between one world and another. 1576 01:23:30,442 --> 01:23:32,441 That translucent glass is beautiful 1577 01:23:32,541 --> 01:23:34,743 regardless of your religious background. 1578 01:23:34,843 --> 01:23:37,680 Mosaic sparkles and dazzles the eye, regardless 1579 01:23:37,780 --> 01:23:40,116 of what time in history you are in. 1580 01:23:40,216 --> 01:23:43,086 Monumental, tall domes that stretch overhead 1581 01:23:43,186 --> 01:23:47,156 like the heavens themselves are awesome whoever 1582 01:23:47,256 --> 01:23:49,725 you are, whether you walk in there to pray or walk in there 1583 01:23:49,825 --> 01:23:51,026 with a camera as a tourist. 1584 01:23:51,127 --> 01:23:54,197 [music playing]