The ancient list of the Seven Wonders of the World can easily said to be part of our modern mythology. One of these Seven Wonders of the World is the hanging gardens of Babylon.
As the story goes, the ruler Nebuchadnezzar II built them for his homesick wife, Amyitis, around 600 BCE. She was from a […]
The dome of the rock is also beautifully decorated with mosaic both on the outside and inside. This work is an excellent example of arabesque and the use of calligraphy in architecture.
Here is an picture taken of the interior of the dome of the rock in 1914.
Due to people’s interest, I thought I would provide a quick example of arabesque in a rug.
Arabesque, in this context, is a repetition of geometric forms (often somewhat related to plant or animal forms).
Here is a brief explanation of the meaning of arabesque in Islam.
The dome of the rock (??? ??????) is a very well known Muslim shrine in Jerusalem. It’s location on the noble sanctuary (for Muslims) and the Temple Mount (for Jewish people) is of religious importance for both Islam and Judaism.
The building was built between 687 and 691 and has remained relatively unchanged for over one […]
Here is a picture of a medieval Khaneqah (now housing Isfahan’s universtiy of Art)
After being arrested for supposedly stealing the camel the three brothers are brought before the emperor and asked to explain themselves.
The brothers were able to deduce that the camel was blind in one eye because it only ate the grass from one side of the road. They came to the conclusion that the camel […]
A khaneqah is a buidling designed for gatherings of the sufi brotherhood.
The story of the three princes of serendip, from which the term serendipity was in some sense derived, is made up of many smaller episodes that lead into one another. One of the more famous of these episodes involves a lost camel.
In this story the three brothers are traveling down a road and meet a […]
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or the “Blue Mosque” is one of the most well known tourist attractions in Istanbul. It was built between 1609 and 1616 on the order of Sultan Ahmed I. It is known by some as the blue mosque because blue paintwork was at one time used on the mosques interior. This […]
The name “Persia” is often used to describe Iran or many of its ancient empires. The word is thought to come from, persis, the Greek name for Iran. For the most part this name was used mostly by the west.
On March 21 1935 the shah of Iran asked the international community to refer to […]