The architecture of the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Empire are diverse in many ways, due to the historical backgrounds from which they both came. The Hagia Sophia, constructed within the Byzantine Empire, and Dome of the Rock, constructed within the Islamic Empire, have such architectural similarities and differences because of the unique religious leaders that these empires were once ruled by.
Hagia Sophia:
The Hagia Sophia, which means “Holy Wisdom”, was built in 537 under the rule of Justinian, is an icon of religious architecture within the Byzantine Empire. This church represents one of the many advancements that was inspired by early Christianity in the Byzantine Empire, also know as the “New Roman Empire”. The person credited with this installment of Christianity into the Byzantine Empire was Emperor Constantine, who ruled from 306 to 337. Being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine would later proclaim the Edict of Milan. This law would allow religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire, resulting in the rapid spread of Christianity. From this point in Byzantine history, almost all architecture within the empire would be dedicated to glorifying Christianity. This is the main reason that basilicas, large, gothic style churches, such as the Hagia Sophia, were built far larger than necessary. The impressive scale of these buildings was meant to lionize the new, spreading Christian religion. For example, the Hagia Sophia is 180 feet tall, and has the largest dome of its time, with a diameter of 31.5 meters. Robert L. Van Nice recorded within a journal called Hagia Sophia: New Types of Structural Evidence that the construction of this basilica is truly astounding. Van Nice says that the finishing of this project in under 6 years is what ranks it as one of the greatest architectural accomplishments in history. Van Nice also adds that Hagia Sophia’s ability to survive in such great condition, despite experiencing multiple earthquakes over the hundreds of years, is nothing short of architectural genius. He believes that the Hagia Sophia has definitely filled its role of being unmatched in size and stature by any other religious monument of its time.
Dome of the Rock:
The Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem, is an excellent representative for the unique Islamic architecture. This mosque was built in 691 under the direction of Caliph Abd al-Malik, who was the ruler of the Umayyad Empire from . Alia F. Hasan expresses within his article, The Dome of the Rock: the Atypical Mosque, that al-Malik constructed this mosque to compete with the grand architecture of the Byzantine Empire. With the Byzantines being the current rivals of the Islamic Empire, Abd al-Malik was motivated to build this mosque to recognize the Islamic Empire’s power over the Byzantine Empire. Hasan concludes that al-Malik’s attempt to challenge the architecture of competing empires is the very reason that he chose to adopt some of the styles of the Byzantine architecture into Islamic architecture. Evidence of Abd al-Malik utilizing Byzantine architectural trends is shown in Dome of the Rock’s actual dome. Like Hagia Sophia’s large, centralized dome, the Dome of the Rock shares this characteristic. Other than the actual architecture of Dome of the Rock, the building’s artwork has little in common with that of Byzantine religious buildings. Within the Islamic religion, muslims are prohibited from recreating life, even in the form of artwork and drawings, as they believe that only Allah should be the creator of life. This is the reason that, within Islamic mosques, there are no mosaics that include drawings of important religious figures. Instead, beautiful designs and patterns are used to decorate the insides of most Islamic mosques. This is in complete contrast to the architecture of the era of early Christianity in the Byzantine Empire. Shown in the Hagia Sophia, images of Christ and other religious figures of Christianity are placed liberally throughout the church.
Paraphrase from Article about Hagia Sophia:
Robert L. Van Nice recorded within a journal called Hagia Sophia: New Types of Structural Evidence that the construction of this basilica is truly astounding. Van Nice says that the finishing of this project in under 6 years is what ranks it as one of the greatest architectural accomplishments in history. Van Nice also adds that Hagia Sophia’s ability to survive in such great condition, despite experiencing multiple earthquakes over the hundreds of years, is nothing short of architectural genius. He believes that the Hagia Sophia has definitely filled its role of being unmatched in size and stature by any other religious monument of its time.
Paraphrase from Article about Dome of the Rock:
Alia F. Hasan expresses within his article, The Dome of the Rock: the Atypical Mosque, that al-Malik constructed this mosque to compete with the grand architecture of the Byzantine Empire. With the Byzantines being the current rivals of the Islamic Empire, Abd al-Malik was motivated to build this mosque to recognize the Islamic Empire’s power over the Byzantine Empire. Hasan concludes that al-Malik’s attempt to challenge the architecture of competing empires is the very reason that he chose to adopt some of the styles of the Byzantine architecture into Islamic architecture.
Outline:
Byzantine Religious Architecture:
1.) Adoption of Christianity into Byzantine Empire is credited to Emperor Constantine
A.) ruled from 306 to 337
B.) proclaimed the Edict of Milan
a.) he was the first Roman emperor to profess to Christianity
b.) allowed religious freedom in Byzantine empire
c.) caused a rapid spread of Christianity across empire
d.) from this point onward, most architecture was dedicated to glorifying Christianity
2.) Hagia Sophia
A.) Built with incredible speed for the time
a.) completed in 5 years, 10 months
B.) Largest church of its time
a.) 180 feet tall
b.) has a dome with diameter of 31.5 meters
c.) has survived multiple earthquakes with little need of repair
Islam Religious Architecture:
1.) Caliph Abd al-Malik
A.) was rivaled by the Byzantine Architecture
a.) reason that he chose to adopt Byzantine style of centralized dome
b.) spent generous amounts of money to create Dome of the Rock
B.) Byzantine Architecture was grand in scale to lionize Christianity
a.) built mosque to celebrate the Muslim power over that of the Byzantines
C.) Artwork within mosque
a.) considered sacrilegious to “recreate” life
i.) only Allah can create life
b.) instead the builders painted beautiful designs
c.) this is contrasting to Hagia Sophia
i.) many paintings in Hagia Sophia of christ and other religious figures
Works Cited:
Alia F. Hasan, The Dome of the Rock: The Atypical Mosque. Suite101.com, 19 May 1999. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. >http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/arts/architec/MiddleAgesArchitectural/IslamicArchitecture/DomeoftheRock/DomeoftheRock.htm<
Robert L. Van Nice. Hagia Sophia: New Types of Structural Evidence. Society of Architectural Historians, 17 Oct. 1948. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. >http://www.jstor.org/stable987423seq=2&Search=yes&searchText=sophia&searchText=hagia&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3Dhagia%2Bsophia%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3D%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26pt%3D%26isbn%3D&prevSearch=&item=3&ttl=1925&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null<
Anthony, Rashan, and William. Oracle Think Quest. Education Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. >http://library.thinkquest.org/C005594/Medieval/byzantine.html<
Owen Jarus. Hagia Sophia: Facts, History, and Architecture. Live Science, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. >http://www.livescience.com/27574-hagia-sophia.html<
Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar. The Dome of the Rock. Yale University Press, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013 >http://thehope.tripod.com/domerock.htm<
No comments:
Post a Comment