A chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, as illustrated especially by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. Select a time period, scroll to bottom and select Islamic Art.
The evolution of Islamic civilisation from the first appearance of Islam up to the Ottoman period and the corresponding development of Islamic art up to the 19th century are demonstrated by more than 8,000 works of art, including ceramics, gold, metalwork, textiles and glass, smaller groupings of bone objects, inscribed funerary steles and weaponry, as well as the marble-faced interior of a reception room from a 17th-century Cairo mansion.
The Department of Islamic Art, the youngest of the museum's eight departments, was created in 2003 and is scheduled to reopen in 2010 with over 2000 items on display.
Over 200 manuscripts, chiefly in Arabic but also include Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and other languages of the Islamic world. They date from the early centuries of Islam through the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the manuscripts originated in Arabia,
Photographs from the Creswell Collection in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library of the American University in Cairo and the Islamic Art Network (IAN) Photo Archive.
Calligraphy and Islamic Culture by 