October+31+-+Byzantine+and+Islamic+Civilizations

Chapter 7 Byzantine and Islamic Civilization

Chapter Summary

I A.D. 330, with the Roman Empire in severe economic and political decline, the emperor Constantine established Byzantium as his new eastern capital, renaming it Constantinople. Power and influence increasingly deserted Rome. In A.D. 402, the capital of the western empire was moved to Ravenna. Then in A.D. 410, the Visogoths sacked Rome. Rome was sacked again by the Vandals in 455. By the end of the fifth century, Roman power in the West had disappeared. In the East, a new and influential Byzantium civilization flourished. Justinian, ruler from A.D. 527-656, exerted the most cultural and political influence. Along with his wife Theodora, they rebuilt the city of Constantinople. The city has one of the finest harbors in the world, and controls the land route from Europe to Asia. Life was good under Justinian's rule. He built the Church of the Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia, one f the most magnificent religious buildings ever constructed. The wealth of Constantinople was legendary. It was the world's largest and richest market.

There were deeply-rooted differences between the Christian Churches of the West and East. Latin was the language of the Roman Church, Greek that of the Byzantine Church. In Rome, the Church was ruled by local bishops. In Constantinople, the Church was controlled by a patriarch named by the emperor. In the West, priests were celebate, while in the East priests could marry. The final split, or schism, came in 1054. Constantinople finally fell to the Turks in 1453, and the Hagia Sophia was converted to an Islamic mosque. Justinian oversaw the First Golden Age of Byzantine art, and the influence of this art was particularly long-lasting. The accomplishments of the Golden Age include the architecture and mosaics of the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, with its opulent, complex interior. The mosaics of the church sacrifice realism for splendor. The Hagia Sophia, built between A.D. 532-537, demonstrates that the advantages of the longitudinal axis of the basilica plan can be combined with those of the dome of the central [plan. It is one of the earliest examples of a dome on pendentives. The First Golden Age of Byzantine art ended in A.D. 842 with the "iconoclastic controversy," where the lovers of the use of sacred images triumphed over those who oppose the use of such imagery. But one year later the Second Golden Age of Byzantine art began, lasting until the beginning of the thirteenth century. The most notable church of this age is St. Mark's in Venice, began in 1063. The plan for the church is a Greek cross - a cross with four arms of equal length. There is a center dome plus a dome over each arm.. Among the mosaics of St. Mark's is the Creation Dome, which tells the story of Genesis in three Concentric circles using highly symbolic figures. Madonna and Child Enthroned is a characteristic late thirteenth-century icon, a highly standardized [[image:ds.jpg]]image of religious figures used in worship.

The possession of Jerusalem has historically been contested by three major world faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. IN close proximity are ancient Israel's Temple of Solomon, Jesus' tomb, and the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven. Jerusalem began in the Bronze Age. King David made Jerusalem the capital of ancient Israel during the tenth century B.C. The city's glory years occurred during the reign of King Solomon. Jerusalem has been captured and destroyed many times. All three religions lay claim to the temple Mount, the site of Salomon's temple, where Jesus preached.

Islam is the youngest of the world's major religions. Being first proclaimed by Muhammad (ca. 570-632) in the town of Mecca. The followers of Slam, Muslims, believe their faith to be a continuation of Judaism and Christianity. In Islam, God is called "Allah." Islam spread rapidly throughout the Mediterranean. Wherever Islam went, it left behind magnificent architecture. In the East the spread of Islam flourished, as in 1453 when the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell to the Muslim Ottomans. Muslims surrender themselves to the prophet Muhammad and through him to Allah, obeying Muhammad's instructions for living. Upon Muhammad's death in 632 a succession of caliphs took his place. At the center of the religion is the Quran, the scripture of Islam. Muslims believe that the book is a recitation of God's words to Muhammad. The Quran, slightly shorter than the New Testament, is divided into 114 Surahs or chapters. Islamic teaching also uses the hadith, which consists of the sayings of Muhammad. The Islamic scripture teachers that Allah is the one omnipotent god, and that to achieve heaven, Muslims must accept Allah as the supreme being and must also complete the "five pillars" of Islam: Repetition of the creed, daily prayer, alms giving, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca. Two notable philosophers of Islam are Avicenna (980-1037) and Averroes (1126-1198), both of whom attempted to build a bridge between the philosophy of Aristotle and the theology of Islamic thinkers. They also preserved the western tradition of reverence for education, books, and philosophy..

Islamic art is a fusion of the art of many different cultures, including Turkish, Persian and Arabic. IN the late seventh century, Muslim rulers started to build mosques, the buildings in which Muslims assemble for religious purposes. Typically, a mosque is rectangular, with an open court and fountain. The enormous Mosque of Sultan Sulaymamn built 1550-57, is the main mosque of Constantinople. It is similar to Hagia Sophia, built a thousand years earlier in the same city by the Byzantines. The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain is a legacy of the Nasirid Dynasty, which ruled southern Spain form 1232 until the armies of Ferdinand and Isabella chased the last Muslim rulers out of the country in 1492. Islamic pictorial arts were curtailed by Muhammad's opposition to idolatry. Mosques contain no figurative representations.

Arabic poetry began appearing in written form around 700. One of the oldest forms of Arabic poetry is the qasidah, a highly formalized ode. When the Arabs conquered Persia in A.D. 637, they brought with them their Arabic script. That was followed by an explosion of Persian poetry. Persian poetry is almost always lyrical, and its most frequent subject is love. Another frequent topic is the celebration of spring. One of the legacies of the invasion of Spain by Muslims in 711 is a profusion of highly metaphoric Arabic Andalusian poems, Arabic poems written in Spain. One of the most famous of all Arabic works of literature is The Thousand and One Nights, better known in the West as The Arabian Nights. The stories, with their exotic settings and rich aura of fantasy, are linked by the device of a single narrator, Shahrazad.

From Muhammad's death in 632 until 661, music was a forbidden pleasure. In 661, however, music began to find a favorable audience throughout the Islam world. Persian music had n influence on Arabic music, and vice versa. Music flourished most from 750 until 1258, during the Abbasid dynasty. With the collapse of the dynasty in 1258, music declined during a period of general cultural stagnation. Medieval Arabic music was influenced by ancient Greek musical theory.

Answer the following questions.

1. What Byzantine emperor exerted the greatest cultural and political influence? a. Odoacer b. Justinian c. Constantine d. Bishop Maximian

2. The last western emperor of the Roman Empire died in 476 when the Goths seized the city and installed their own king, named a. Odoacer b. Justinian c. Maximiam d. Isidorus

3. Constantinople lies on the straits of Bosphorus, at the confluence of the sea of Marmara and the a. Red Sea b. Black Sea c. Dead Sea d. Adriatic Sea

4. What city was the cultural heart of the Eastern Christian world up to the fifteenth century? a. Rome b. Ravenna c. Granada d. Constantinople

5. In exchange for silk, eastern traders got a. Beads and lace. b. Tobacco and rum c. dried fruit and nickel d. gold and wool

6. What two focal points compete for the visitor's attention at San Vitale in Ravenna? a. altar and dome b. altar an windows c. dome and exterior d. exterior and windows

7. Hagia sophia in Constantinople was built between a. 399 and 407 b. 456 and 461 c. 532 and 537 d. 610 and 619

8. Theodora and Her Attendants, ca. 547, in San Vitale in Ravenna, is a(n) a. fresco b. mosaic c. icon d. sculpture

9. What is the most famous mosaic of St. Mark's in Venice? a. Creation Dome b. Madonna and Child Enthroned c. Court of the Lions d. A sheik Meditating in a Pavilion

10. St. Mark's in Venice is located on one side of a large "piazza," an Italian word for a. river b. fountain c. mountain d. open public area

11. The standard medium used to paint on wood throughout the Middle Ages was pigment mixed with a. blood b. egg yolk c. wine d. cherries

12. Madonna and Child Enthroned is a(n) a. icon b. fresco c. mosaic d. sculpture

13. Mary, as in the icon Madonna and Child Enthroned, is traditionally shown wearing garments of a. red and blue b. blue and yellow c. orange and green d. white and blue

14. Jerusalem began in the Bronze Age as a nine-acre settlement at the edge of the a. Ural mountains b. Black Sea c. Judean desert d. Tigris River

15. What is the religion of Muslims? a. Islam b. Buddhism c. Judaism d. Christianity

16. The city of Jerusalem has historically been contested by three major world faiths. Which of the following is not one of them? a. Buddhism b. Islam c. Judaism d. Christianity

17. What is the youngest of the world's major religions? a. Islam b. Judaism c. Buddhism d. Christianity

18. According to Islamic tradition, who was Allah's messenger? a. Ali b. Muhammed c. Medina d. Jehovah

19. What religious group considers their faith to be the third and final revelation of God's truth? a. Jews b. Muslims c. Buddhists d. Christians

20. In Islamic religion, what occurs during the holy month of Ramadan? a. fasting b. almsgiving c. pilgrimage to Mecca d. rebuilding of the mosques

21. All mosques are oriented toward a. Mecca b. Cordova, Spain c. the Muezzin d. Byzantium

22. At the center of the Islamic religion is the scripture called the a. Rawi b. Quran c. Dead Sea Scrolls d. Mihrab

23. What mosque did Sinan design? a. Mosque at Cordova b. Mosque of Sultan Sulayman c. Court of the Lions d. Mosque of Muhammad

24. The Alhambra Palace is the most remarkable legacy of the a. Abbasid dynasty b. Seljuk dynasty c. Nasirid dynasty d. Umayyad dynasty

25. What is considered the quintessence of the Moorish style? a. St. Mark's, Venice b. Mosque at Cordoba c. Dome of the Rock d. The Court of the Lions, Alhambra Palace

26. Qasidah is one of the oldest forms of Arabic a. Poetry b. Painting c. Weaving d. Songwriting

27. What is the most frequent subject in Persian poetry? a. love b. honor c. fidelity d. religious pride

28. Andalusian poetry refers to Arabic poetry written in which country? a. France b.Egypt c. Spain d. Persia

29. The stories of The Thousand and One Nights became assimilated to reflect the cultural and artistic history of the a. Spanish tradition b. Greek Arabic tradition c. Arabic Islamic tradition d. Western European tradition

30. With the advent of what dynasty did music begin to find a favorable audience throughout the Islamic world? a. Seljuk dynasty b. Nasirid dynasty c. Abbasid dynasty d. Umayyad dynasty