Paper 2: Ottoman vs. Byzantine: Religious Building Architecture A general trend of the artworks in this course, throughout almost every society we have studied thus far, is the reference to religious practices and beliefs of a specific culture. This trend has not changed at all and can been seen directly in the significance of Byzantine and Ottoman architecture for places of religious practice. Though the specific religion that is referenced in these two cultures are different, some ways of constructing space are similar in order to create a divine space, while other mechanisms are different and help to describe the religion itself. For this paper the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (1609-1617 CE) in Istanbul will be discussed as an example of Ottoman-Islamic
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The geometric patterns line the walls and are repetitive, some are mosaic and stone (Khan, 96) even the repetitiveness of the arches add to a geometric nature which represents the orderliness of the divine as well as the acting as a mechanism for meditation and show “the idea of a diverse umma or community of Muslims, bound together by Islam”(Khan, 95). Additionally, the use of Epigraphy, calligraphy that is written on the wall, for verses of the quran adds the literal words into the space of prayer and can be used to center prayers or meditations or to just represent the sacred text which is central to the faith, acting as a reminder of the faith (Khan, 96).
Lastly, mosques have typical iconographic features that usually are represented in some way throughout all mosques, however, there are regional differences. This mosque is specifically an Ottoman mosque because it’s large central space does not have columns and the minarets are thin like pencils. These regional differences do not change the symbolic meaning, the elements are sometimes just constructed in varying ways. Showing that Islam is not a static religion but is in fact quite dynamic and diverse, welcoming different and varying interpretations in order to create their religious
The geometric patterns line the walls and are repetitive, some are mosaic and stone (Khan, 96) even the repetitiveness of the arches add to a geometric nature which represents the orderliness of the divine as well as the acting as a mechanism for meditation and show “the idea of a diverse umma or community of Muslims, bound together by Islam”(Khan, 95). Additionally, the use of Epigraphy, calligraphy that is written on the wall, for verses of the quran adds the literal words into the space of prayer and can be used to center prayers or meditations or to just represent the sacred text which is central to the faith, acting as a reminder of the faith (Khan, 96).
Lastly, mosques have typical iconographic features that usually are represented in some way throughout all mosques, however, there are regional differences. This mosque is specifically an Ottoman mosque because it’s large central space does not have columns and the minarets are thin like pencils. These regional differences do not change the symbolic meaning, the elements are sometimes just constructed in varying ways. Showing that Islam is not a static religion but is in fact quite dynamic and diverse, welcoming different and varying interpretations in order to create their religious