The Image of the Madrasah in Illustrations of Medieval Arabic Manuscripts

Abstract

The article considers the visual image of the Madrasah in miniatures of Arabic manuscripts of the 13th century as both scientific and theological treatises, and literary works. Illustrated Arabic manuscripts are relatively rare, but they exist, and constitute one of the most fascinating, but little-studied pages in the history of the spiritual and artistic culture of the Arab Middle Ages. Amongst the hard-to-solve riddles there are some colorful pictures in the frontispiece design or in the text of a manuscript, which can raise the question: what is depicted here? The inscriptions on the margins of a page or inside the miniatures, added as explanations by the later owners, do not always provide the correct answer, since from one era to another the concepts and representations change significantly. In the life of Medieval Muslim society, the Arabic word “madrasah” could mean both a general education school and a theological university, where scientists study the works of their predecessors, conduct scientific research, make new discoveries, and defend their theories. In all cases, madrasahs remain religious institutions and buildings, second in importance after the Mosque. However, unlike a Mosque, with a niche of a mihrab or a ladder of a minbar, the image of a Madrasah is difficult to distinguish from buildings such as a dwelling house, a caravanserai, a Sufi abode or a courtroom. In miniatures of medieval Arabic manuscripts, the image of a Madrasah can also arise by association with portrayals of sages and their listeners, scientists and their students, authors who write their works, or scribes who rewrite them. The architectural image of the Madrasah can be created both by a detailed illustration of its interior, and by the conditional “architectural” decoration of a scene of a lesson at school or meeting of scientists.