Mosul’s rich and vibrant culture is evident in the diverse calligraphic and epigraphic practices of the region…
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Calligraphy in Mosul
Mosul’s rich and vibrant culture is evident in the diverse calligraphic and epigraphic practices of the region. Arabic calligraphy and artistic experimentations with script feature across media: they appear in monumental architecture, portable objects, and manuscript folios. The many calligraphic styles highlight the surge of artistic activity and patronage, while the diversity of media demonstrate the range of craftsmanship present in Mosul, from stucco carving to metal decoration. The following examples of Arabic script are a testament to Mosul’s creativity and cultural heritage.
Marble Panels from al-Nuri Mosque, 1170–2 AD
Iraq Museum, Baghdad
Photo credit: Z. Kazani (courtesy of the Iraq Museum)
The marble panels of the al-Nuri Mosque illustrate an example of cursive (naskh) script. The clear graphical components, the diacritics, and the linear positioning of script make this style accessible and easy to read. The black script on the marble panels were inlaid with a bituminous paste, a technique popular in Mosul, to create a striking visual effect. The mosque carried four such pieces of the marble panels (total length: 4.35 m), which were placed on the qibla wall. The fragmentary panels carry Q2: 148–50: “wherever you may have started out, turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque- this is the truth from your Lord. He is not unaware of what you do. Wherever you may have started out, turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque; wherever any of you may be, turn your faces towards it, so that people may have no argument against you.” (Translation, Abdel Haleem)
Further reading: Yasser Tabbaa, “The Mosque of Nur al-Din Zangi, 1170–2,” Annales Islamologique 36 (2002), 339–60.
Stucco Panel from al-Nuri Mosque, 1170–2 AD
Iraq Museum, Baghdad
Photo credit: Z. Kazani (courtesy of the Iraq Museum)
Drawings: Z. Kazani
Complementing the clear, cursive script of the marble panels, the al-Nuri Mosque also features a four-meter large molded and carved stucco panel placed above the central mihrab and below the dome, on the qibla wall. The tripartite panel displays a variety of Kufic scripts in square and interlacing patterns. The central and innermost section features square Kufic inscriptions, presenting names of the four caliphs, Hassan, and Husayn. A series of medallions are composed using Kufic script with interlacing motifs: the encircling script carries the name of Muhammad six times circumscribing the word Allah. The spandrels and tympanum are similarly created by employing the name of Muhammad, with knotted motifs taking centre stage. Three niches, one on each of the sections, are formed using the phrase: fasayakfīkahum Allāh (and God is sufficient for you). The central section also carries the word Allah, with the ascenders of lam-alif forming a heart-shaped knot.
The panel has traces of blue in the background, suggesting that the complete epigraphic program in white must have stood out against the blue background. As in the marble panels, the contrast of colors employed in the stucco panel suggest the significance placed on the reading—and viewing—of the Arabic text.
Further Reading: Yasser Tabbaa, “The Mosque of Nur al-Din Zangi, 1170–2,” Annales Islamologique 36 (2002), 339–60.
Sheila Blair, “Invoking God’s Protection: The Iconography of the Qur’anic Phrase fasayakfīkahum allāh.” in Farr-e Firouz: Distinguished Scholars of Cultural Heritage of Iran Vol 5, special edition in honor of Dr. Firouz Bagherzadeh, ed. Shahin Aryamanesh (Iran: Richt, Aryaramna Press: 2019), 181–206.
Recipe of an Antidote, Kitāb al-diryāq, 595 AH (1198–99 AD). Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, arabe 2964.
Attributed to Mosul or the Jazira region.
Photo credit: Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France (gallica.bnf.fr)
This page (37 x 29 cm) illustrates the final, perfected recipe of the theriac (a universal antidote) by the Greek physician, Andromachus the Younger (fl. 1st C AD). The series of circular script in Kufic and naskh present seventy drugs with their individual and combined benefits. The scribe has harnessed the features of Arabic script to present both a verbal message, and to create circular and rectangular shapes. The skill of the artist (Muhammad b. Abu’l-Fath ‘Abd al-Wahid) shines on this page as he dexterously experiments with Arabic script, the different styles of script, and colours to produce a page of exquisite magnificence. This sense of amazement when looking at this page is echoed by the scribe in the outermost rectangular inscription, part of which reads: “And it is of utmost wonder and splendour.”
Further reading: Meekyung MacMurdie, “Proven Recipes: Geometry and the Art of Arabic Medicine,” in The Diagram as Paradigm: Cross-Cultural Approaches, ed. Jefferey Hamburger, David Roxburgh, and Linda Safran (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2022), 337–44.
Zahra Kazani, “The Theatrics of Arabic Script: Word and/as Image in the Diagrams of the Kitāb al-diryāq (BnF arabe 2964),” Word & Image 40: 2 (2024), 103–116.
Pen Box, 653 AH (1255–6 AD), Mosul. David Collection
Photo credit: Pernille Klemp, David Collection, Copenhagen
Drawing: Z. Kazani
This brass pen box states its production in Mosul in the thirteenth century, a period in which inlaid metalwork decoration reached its peak. The box is decorated primarily using different styles of Arabic script in silver inlay: thuluth which is paired with figural decoration; naskh which contains the craftsman’s name (‘Ali ibn Yahya al-Mawsili); and the Kufic script (or pseudo script) featured on the back of the pen box with knotting and interlacing components (see drawing). The variety of styles on a single object demonstrates the rich cultural milieu of thirteenth-century Mosul, where experiments and innovation in Arabic script where but one facet of the region’s cultural achievements.
Further Reading: Julian Raby, “The Principle of Parsimony and the Problem of the ‘Mosul School of Metalwork,’” in Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World: Art, Craft and Text: Essays Presented to James W. Allan, ed. Venetia Porter and Mariam Rosser-Owen (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012), 11–85.
- Candlestick, 622 AH (1225 AD), Boston MFA 57.148
Photo credit: MFA Boston
This candlestick, made of hammered brass with silver inlay, has an ambitious decorative program. The main body of the candlestick features eleven arches with figural imagery related to courtly themes. The figural imagery is paired with animated and knotted Kufic script on the upper and lower registers of the body. While the baseline of this script carries the letter forms, the upper section comprises a series of knots with the ascenders culminating as human heads. The anthropomorphic script presented in this way draws attention to the significance of the script, the verbal message it carries, and renders the characters alive. Its juxtaposition with the figural imagery signals the role of the oral and visual components as working in tandem to create meaning.
Further reading: D.S. Rice, “The ‘Oldest’ Dated Mosul Candlestick, AD 1225,” The Burlington Magazine 91 (1949), 334–41.
Shrine of Imam Yahya ibn al-Qasim
Photo credit: Yasser Tabbaa Archive, Archnet
Drawing: Z.Kazani
Link to: Shrine of Imam Yayha ibn al-Qasim on website
The external northwest façade of the shrine features two blind niches on either side of the entrance. Both niches include a line of knotted Kufic script nestled between geometric interlacing strapwork. The inscription on this image comes from the left side of the entrance. The script can be divided into three sections: the bottom section carries the letter forms, the middle section features the knots, and the upper is reserved for the ascenders with foliated tips. Notice the similarity of the knots with those on the metal candlestick, suggesting an exchange of patterns between media and the prevalence of this style of script in thirteenth-century Mosul. While visually attractive, the style of script is challenging to decipher for the modern viewer. The right-hand inscription may be read as bismillāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm. The inscription on this image (left-hand side) may be read as:
وما بحكم [مولما ف] من الله
That which is under the rule of [our Lord (?)] is from God
Further reading: Richard McClary, “Remembering the Imam Yahya Ibn al-Qasim Mashhad in Mosul,” Iraq 79 (2017), 129–54.
7. Shrine of al-Imam ‘Awn al-Din
Photo credit: Yasser Tabbaa Archive, Archnet
Drawing: Z.Kazani
Link to: Shrine of al-Imam ‘Awn al-Din on website
This shrine is well-known for its exquisite stone-carved decoration with motifs prevalent in religious architecture (both Muslim and Christian). One of the most striking features of the monument is the muqarnas ceiling, comprising eight tiers of muqarnas cells. As this shrine no longer exists, photographic archives have much to offer in constructing the architectural and decorative details of this monument. On one such photograph, a muqarnas cell on the first tier exhibits square Kufic script in carved stucco. The script carries the name of ‘Ali, which is repeated several times and arranged in multiple orientations. A comparison may be made with the square Kufic panel in the carved stucco of the al-Nuri mosque discussed above, where pious names are rendered in a similar fashion. In addition, the pious names in both monuments have been placed on an elevated location, further suggesting a cosmic or divine power associated with the name.
Further reading: Richard McClary, “Memorial for a Memorial: The Mashhad of Imam ‘Awn al-Din and the Destruction of Medieval Monuments in Mosul by ISIS,” in Fruits of Knowledge, Wheel of Learning: Essays in Honour of Robert Hillenbrand, ed. Melanie Gibson (London: Gingko Library, 2022), 78–91.