Shashank Hirachan
Professor Linebaugh
World History 101
April 13, 2016
Why was Baghdad better to live C.500 C.E
“Baghdad a multiethnic city with more than 300,000 population really flourished when the leader of new Muslim dynasty the Abbasids shifted the capital from Damascus (modern Syria) to Baghdad (in modern Iraq)” (Fiero, 114). Baghdad with being open minded at that time and openly inviting people from all background and ethnicity was one of the most important reason to flourish. The Islamic Art and Architecture was so attractive and had such a huge impact, that it was used by many countries and is still in use, and I will be talking about it in this paper. During that time period in order to show how much powerful or wealthy …show more content…
Muslims they have very high respect for the visual arts. Arts as in text and the way you write the manuscripts of Qur’an on mihrab. “Calligraphy often dominates the design in manuscripts of the Qur’an, as in the walls of the mosque, the written word that is, the record of revelation becomes both sacramental and ornamental. Calligraphy often alternates with the arabesque, a type of linear ornamentation drawn from plant and flower forms” (Fiero, 116). I think that mihrab is one of the perfect example for art and architecture mixed up during that time. They built like a dome shaped hollow semi-circle room and the way they painted on it is really stunning with flower and plants form, and use of bold colors makes it even more appealing, and also the calligraphy on mihrab is even better. In Islam they really do give very high importance to writing with such precise stroke of paint brush they come up with such beautiful …show more content…
Baghdad at that time period was very well advanced than the other empire or kingdom, the government would emphasis on public health, sanitation, education so that the people of Baghdad could have good living of standards. “They built mosque, public baths, bazaars (market), schools, libraries, hospital and hostels for travelers” (Goldschmidt Jr, 125). So you could say they were not only focusing on the architectural beauty, but were also planning the city for better