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The Qur’an of Argun Shah. Egypt. 1368—1388.
In the artistic treasury of mankind, one of the most important places belongs to the medieval art of peoples inhabiting now large areas of Asia and Africa from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Indonesia and from the Mediterranean to the upper Nile. The main focus of the formation of this art were the countries of the Near and Middle East, North Africa and Southern Spain at the time when a huge feudal state, the Caliphate, was formed on their territory. It was created by the Arabs who inhabited the Arabian Peninsula.
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Born from a combination of its own pre-Islamic past and the traditions of other ancient civilizations, Arab culture has achieved great and independent success in many areas of knowledge and artistic creativity. Arabs made a serious contribution to the world literature and poetry, philosophy and medicine, mathematics and astronomy, geography and history, created beautiful and original works of art.
The culture of Muslim countries has influenced many States in different parts of the world, has become a link between antiquity and the middle ages of Western Europe. The territories of Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and southern Spain were decorated with beautiful, densely populated, landscaped cities with magnificent buildings. There were new types of monumental buildings: mosques that could accommodate thousands of worshipers, minarets-towers, madrasahs – buildings of Muslim educational institutions, hospitals, libraries, palaces buried in the greenery of gardens, covered markets for several kilometers, Inns – caravanserais, which were erected in cities and on the ways of caravan trade. Sultry climate led to the construction of open and underground water pipes, tanks, ponds, fountains. The richness of the decoration was distinguished by numerous public bathhouses, using the experience of the Roman baths. Construction equipment has created a special design made of mud, brick and stone. Various forms of arches were created – Lancet, horseshoe – shaped, multi-lobed, scalloped, – special systems of vaulted ceilings were invented. Unlimited and whimsical imagination differed all kinds of decorative art, from the ornamentation of buildings to the decoration of household utensils. The refined tastes of court culture coexisted with the powerful rise of arts and crafts in the cities, the highest peak that spans the 10—15 century. A wide trade and cultural exchange contributed to the flourishing of Sciences and various fields of creativity. The culture of the peoples of the Middle East in the first centuries of Islam stood above the European. Thanks to the active translation activity, many achievements of ancient philosophy and science were preserved and transferred to the peoples of Europe.
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