Qusayr Amra : art and the Umayyad elite in late antique Syria / Garth Fowden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fowden, Garth.

Series:

Transformation of the classical heritage ; 36.

The transformation of the classical heritage ; 36

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Qusayr Amrah (Jordan : Dwelling).

Mural painting and decoration, Umayyad--Jordan--Foreign influences.

Mural painting and decoration, Umayyad.

Arabic poetry--622-750--History and criticism.

Arabic poetry.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxix, 390 pages) : illustrations, map

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Art and the Umayyad elite in late antique Syria

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

From the stony desolation of Jordan's desert, it is but a step through a doorway into the bath house of the Qusayr 'Amra hunting lodge. Inside, multicolored frescoes depict scenes from courtly life and the hunt, along with musicians, dancing girls, and naked bathing women. The traveler is transported to the luxurious and erotic world of a mid-eighth-century Muslim Arab prince. For scholars, though, Qusayr 'Amra, probably painted in the 730s or' 740s, h'as proved a mirage, its concreteness dissolved by doubts about date, patron, and meaning. This is the first book-length contextualization of the mysterious monument through a compelling analysis of its iconography and of the literary sources for the Umayyad period. It illuminates not only the way of life of the early Muslim elite but also the long afterglow of late antique Syria.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Maps and Illustrations

Abbreviations

Preface

1. Musil's Fairy-Tale Castle

2. Luxuries of the Bath

3. The Hunt

4. "O God, Bless the Amír"

5. The Princely Patron

6. Maintaining the Dynasty

7. The Six Kings

8. A Captive Sasanian Princess

9. Quṣayr Ἁmra Contextualized

10. Umayyad Self-Representation

Epilogue

Appendix. The Value of Arabic Literary Sources

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-374) and index.

Description based upon print version of record.

ISBN:

9786612357022

9781282357020

1282357026

9780520929609

0520929608

9781597348447

1597348449

OCLC:

475933751