February 23, 2006
The Dome
The Askari Mosque at Samarra was destroyed yesterday.
Second only to the tragic loss of life in war, is the tragic loss of art and architecture. On seeing the pictures of the devastation of the mosque, I was viscerally struck by the senselessness of this kind of destruction. I began to look for before and after photographs, and then found a site that showed the details of the mosque itself. Every surface is/was covered with complex ornamental detail. Of course, Islamic art, because it must be nonrepresentational, is chock full of sacred geometry
"From the circle comes three fundamental figures in Islamic art, the triangle, square and hexagon. The triangle by tradition is symbolic of human consciousness and the principle of harmony. The square, the symbol of physical experience and the physical world-or materiality-and the hexagon, of Heaven. Another symbol prevalent in Islamic art is the star and has been the chosen motif for many Islamic decorations. In Islamic iconography the star is a regular geometric shape that symbolizes equal radiation in all directions from a central point. All regular stars -- whether they have 6, 8, 10, 12, or 16 points -- are created by a division of a circle into equal parts. The center of the star is center of the circle from which it came, and its points touch the circumference of the circle. The rays of a star reach out in all directions, making the star a fitting symbol for the spread of Islam."
Terry Rice discusses the development and elaboration of increasingly complex geometric design in the Muslim world in his piece "Islamic Art and the Argument for Academic Geometry". Geometric ornamentation, like the kind that covers the Askari Mosque, was a collaboration between artisans, mathematicians and architects. The field of geometry was born of the problem solving that took place in building structures like the Askari Mosque.
The bombing of this mosque, or mosques anywhere, for that matter, is the eradication of an elaborate and complex work of sacred art, and it's a horrible shame.
"Forgive them, father, for they know not what they do." Am I mixing prophets?
The power of the visual should not be underestimated.
Photo note: I didn't have a photo for this entry when I wrote it, so I was on the lookout for a dome all day today. I actually shot three, as well as something that could pass as a minaret. There is something quite ageometric about both these buildings, but it was the best I could do in my native surroundings.
