TWO ARTISTICALLY FINISHED MUSLIM STELES OF THE 14th CENTURY FROM KUBACHI (DAGESTAN, RUSSIA)

Abstract

The article describes two tombstones of the XIV century. in the form of high trapezoidal stone slabs (the lower end is narrower than the upper part) from the largest artistic center of Dagestan - the village of Kubachi. They are located in the medieval Muslim cemetery "Bidakh Khuppe" (in the lane with Kubach - "Cemeteries on the other side"), 1.5-2 km south of the old part of Kubacha, in the lower half of the northern slope of Mount Tsitsila. The monuments under consideration are decorated at a high artistic level with late Kufic relief Arabic inscriptions and floral ornaments. The inscriptions were made at different times in the “blooming kufi” style by the same master stone cutter, calligrapher and ornamentalist, which is proved by the commonality of the forms of both monuments, the technique of their carving, the peculiarities of their decorative finishes, the ornamental style, and the unity of the compositional schemes of the decor. The name of the master who made these monuments is unknown. The article clarifies the existing in the decor of the monuments and certain differences in the style of the letters of the Kufic inscriptions, the details of the ornamental compositions of the central fields, which, obviously, are associated with the different times of the manufacture of the stelae. On the monument number 2 there is a date - 783 AH / 1381-82. (according to the Gregorian calendar); there is no date on monument No. 1. The author of the article believes that monument No. 1 was made 12-15 years earlier than monument No. 2.In the article, both tomb stelae are considered as highly artistic works of Muslim art based on the features of the decorative finish of the letters of the relief Arabic inscriptions of the curb strips, their proportionality and proportionality, as well as taking into account the expressive floral ornament of the central fields and the framing epigraphic border strips, the unity and interconnection of the details of the compositions of the central field (stele No. 2) and upper side corners.