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, in mediaeval times known as Minya or ʿAyn Minyat His̲h̲ām, is the name for the ruins of an apparently unfinished Umayyad mansion about 230 m. west of the northern end of Lake Tiberias. The ruins were excavated in 1932 by A. E. Mader and between 1936-9 by A. M. Schneider and O. Puttrich-Reignard. During July-August 1959 the western section of the palace was excavated by O. Grabar in collaboration with the Israel Department of Antiquities. The building consists of an irregular rectangular enclosure (66.40 m. × 73 m. × 72.30 m.) facing the four cardinal points. Like othe…

(a.), "mine, ore, mineral, metal". In modern Arabic, the word mand̲j̲am denotes "mine", while muʿaddin means "miner" and d̲j̲amād is a mineral. In the vast Islamic empire, minerals played an important part. There was a great need for gold, silver and copper for the minting of coins and other uses. Iron ore was indispensable for the manufacture ¶ of iron and steel for arms and implements. Other minerals such as mercury, salt and alum, as well as pearls and precious stones, were necessary for everyday life. The empire was richly endowed with the various…

(a.), in Islamic art, “ornament, ornamentation”. The word is connected with the noun zuk̲h̲ruf “gold” > “ornamental work” used in Ḳurʾān, XVII, 95/93, bayt min zuk̲h̲ruf, and there is an adjective muzak̲h̲raf “ornamented”; the origin of zuk̲h̲ruf seems to be in a deformation, via Syriac, of Grk. zōgrapheō “to paint”, see Jeffery, The foreign vocabulary of the Qurʾān , Baroda 1938, 150. ¶ Islamic ornament possesses certain qualities that, even if not exclusive to this art, are sufficiently distinct to be recognisable. One is that it is independent from the u…

, popularly known as Ḳaṣr His̲h̲ām, is the modem name for the ruins of an unfinished Umayyad mansion in the Wādī ’l-Nuwayʿima, north of Jericho. The ruins comprise three separate buildings: a palace proper, a mosque and a bath attached to a hall. On the east side of this complex stood a colonnaded forecourt with an ornamental pool at its centre. Additional architectural remains lie north of these buildings, but have not yet been excavated. Foundations of a wall, found north of the site, suggest …

(in Islamic art), a term used for any kind of ewer, irrespective of function or material, but generally a vessel for pouring water or wine. Together with a basin, it is also used for washing hands and feet. Other terms for specific kinds of ewers are kubra or bulbula (see Abū Nuwās, Diwān , ed. Wagner, i, Beirut 1958, 54, 3). The chronology and geographical origin of early metal ewers up to the 4th/10th century have not yet been definitely established. They can be classified typologically into five groups, representing a slow departure from mainly Sāsānid…

, Ṭāʾūs (a.), masculine substantive (pls. ṭawāwīs , aṭwās ) drawn from the Greek ταώς and denoting the peacock ( Pavo ) of the family of the Phasianidae, originally from Asia and comprising four species: (a) the blue peacock ( Pavo cristatus); (b) the spiciferous peacock ( Pavo muticus); (c) the Congo peacock ( Afropavo congensis ); and (d) the black peacock ( Pavo nigripennis). 1. In Muslim lore. This attractive and majestic large-tailed bird, an attribute in Greek and Latin Antiquity of the goddess Hera/Juno, was of no interest to the Arabs other than in the ma…