text: SAKKAL DESIGNS (4 ARTICLES)
  Tema: SAKKAL DESIGNS (4 ARTICLES) Mar Sep 01, 2009 12:53 pm
  Part 1 of 4 articles-The Art of Arabic Calligraphy
  The Language and The Script
  Mamoun Sakkal 1993
  Arabic belongs to the group of Semitic alphabetical scripts in which mainly the consonants are represented in writing, while the markings of vowels (using diacritics) is optional. The earliest-known alphabet to mankind was the North Semitic, which developed around 1700 B.C. in Palestine and Syria. It consisted of 22 consonant letters. The Arabic, Hebrew, and Phoenician alphabets were based on this model. Then, around 1000 B.C., the Phoenician alphabet was itself used as a model by the Greeks, who added letters for vowels. Greek in turn became the model for Etruscan (c. 800 B.C.), whence came the letters of the ancient Roman alphabet, and ultimately all Western alphabets.
  The North Arabic script, which eventually prevailed and became the Arabic script of the Quran, relates most substantially and directly to the Nabatian script, which was derived from the Aramaic script. Old Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the Apostles, dates from the 2nd millennium B.C., and some dialects of which are still spoken by tiny groups in the Middle East.
  Arabic script still shares with Aramaic the names of the alphabet letters (Alef, Jeem, Dal, Zai, Sheen, etc.); similar graphic representation for phonetically similar letters (Sad and Dad, Ta and Tha, etc.); Connections of letters in the same word and several forms of each letter depending on its location in the word, except for letters that cannot be connected to the letters which come after them (Alef, Dal/Dthal, Raa/Zai, Waw). The Arabic alphabet contains 18 letter shapes, by adding one, two, or three dots to letters with similar phonetic characteristics a total of 28 letters is obtained. These contain three long vowels, while diacritics can be added to indicate short vowels.
  With the spread of Islam, the Arabic alphabet was adapted by several non-Arab nations for writing their own languages. In Iran Arabic letters were used to write Farsi, with the addition of four letters to represent the phonetics that did not exist in Arabic: p, ch, zh, and g. The ottoman Turks used the Arabic alphabet until 1929 and added still another letter. This alphabet was also used to write other Turkish languages and dialects, such as Kazakh, Uzbek, etc. Several other languages used the Arabic alphabet at one time or another, including Urdu, Malay, Swahili, Hausa, Algerian Tribal, and others.
  From its simple and primitive early examples of the 5th and 6th century A.D., the Arabic alphabet developed rapidly after the rise of Islam in the 7th century into a beautiful form of art. The main two families of calligraphic styles were the dry styles, called generally the Kufic, and the soft cursive styles, which include Naskhi, Thuluth, Nastaliq and many others.
  Article and figures copyright 1993 by Mamoun Sakkal
  Última edición por Lady Violet el Mar Sep 01, 2009 1:04 pm, editado 1 vez
  Tema: Part 2 of 4 articles-The Art of Arabic Calligraphy Mar Sep 01, 2009 12:53 pm
  Part 2 of 4 articles- The Art of Arabic Calligraphy
  Islam in Arabic means "submission" and derives from a word meaning "peace," for it is in submitting to God's Will that human beings gain peace in their lives in this world and the hereafter. Islam is a universal message revealed in the sacred book, the Quran, through the Prophet Muhammad, and shares with the other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity, their ethical teachings and the belief in the One God. Islam is both a religion and a way of life.
  For Muslims the Quran is the actual Word of God revealed through the archangel Gabrielle to the Prophet of Islam during the twenty-three year period of his prophetic mission. It was revealed in the Arabic language, which became therefore the language of Islam even for non-Arab Muslims.
  Early calligraphic developments
  The North Arabic script, which was influenced by the Nabatian script, was established in north-eastern Arabia and flourished in the 5 th century among the Arabian tribes who inhabited Hirah and Anbar. It spread to Hijaz in western Arabia, and its use was popularized among the aristocracy of Quraysh, the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad, by Harb ibn Ummayyah.
  The reform of Arabic script
  Al Khalil ibn Ahmad al Farahidi (d. 786) devised a tashkeel system to replace Abu al Aswad's. His system was universally used since the early eleventh century, and included six diacritical marks:
  Fathah (a), Dammah (u), Kasrah (i), Sukun (vowelless), Shaddah (double consonant), and Maddah (vowel prolongation) which is applied
  To the Alef.
  Development of cursive scripts
  Cursive scripts coexisted with Kufic and date back to before Islam, but because in the early stages of their development they lacked discipline and elegance, they were usually used for secular purposes only.
  Under the Ummayads and Abbasids, court requirements for Correspondence and record keeping resulted in many developments to the cursive scripts, and several styles were devised to fulfill these needs. Abu Ali Muhammad Ibn Muqlah (d. 940), along with his brother, became accomplished calligraphers in Baghdad in an early age. Abu Ali became a Vizir to three Abbasid caliphs, and is credited with developing the first script to obey strict proportional rules. His system utilized the dot as a measuring unit for line proportions, and a circle with a Diameter equals to the Alef's height as a measuring unit for letter proportions.
  Ibn Muqlah's system became a powerful tool in the development and standardizationof cursive scripts, and his calligraphic work elevated the previous cursivestyles into a place of prominence, and made them acceptable as worthy of writingthe Quran.
  Última edición por Lady Violet el Mar Sep 01, 2009 1:01 pm, editado 1 vez
  Tema: Part 3 of 4 articles-The Art of Arabic Calligraphy Mar Sep 01, 2009 12:54 pm
  Part 3 of 4 articles-The Art of Arabic Calligraphy
  The Kufic Styles
  The city of Kufah was established in Iraq in the year 641 A.D. It flourished in a short time from a soldiers' camp into an urban center with vital cultural activities. Among these activities was the refinement of the Arabic script into an elegant and rather uniform script, which came to be known as Kufic or Kufi. It had a combination of square and angular lines on one hand, and compact bold circular forms on the other hand. The vertical strokes were short, while the horizontal strokes were long and extended. As Kufic reached perfection in the second half of the 8 th century, it superseded other earlier attempts of improvement of Arabic calligraphy, and became the only script used for copying the Holy Quran for the next three hundred years.
  When the cursive styles were becoming popular and refined in the 10 th century, Kufic responded by overemphasizing many qualities of the cursive scripts in a geometrical style called 'Eastern Kufic,' where slender vertical strokes and oblique strokes animate the more rigid early Kufic. This style was mainly a book calligraphy rather than architectural calligraphy style, but was very popular on ceramics.
  On architectural monuments, serifs were added to simple early Kufic since the 8 th century, and leaf-like vegetal ornaments appear as early as 866 at the ends of vertical strokes. These ornaments were later added to round strokes, and the Foliate Kufic became the most popular style for architectural inscriptions since the 10 th century.
  In the 11 th century the letters themselves started to be modified and used as ornaments, and new geometric elements started to appear in the form of plaiting, knotting, and braiding2. The exaggerated use of such ornaments created complex compositions, which were difficult to decipher at times.
  During the 13 th and 14 th centuries, Square Kufic developed out of the use of calligraphy in buildings. Its simple forms contrast with the trend to develop more complex calligraphic compositions. It was the only calligraphic style used to cover entire buildings, a practice unique to Islamic architecture.
  Última edición por Lady Violet el Mar Sep 01, 2009 12:58 pm, editado 1 vez
  Tema: Part 4 of 4 articles: The Art of Arabic Calligraphy Mar Sep 01, 2009 12:54 pm
  Part 4 of 4 articles: The Art of Arabic Calligraphy
  The Cursive Styles
  The cursive script dates back at least to the first decades of the Muslim era.
  The early examples, however, lacked elegance and discipline and were used mainly for secular and practical, rather than aesthetic, purposes. In a slow but continuous process, older styles were perfected, while new styles were invented to meet the demands of different occasions.
  Naskh, which means "copying," was developed in the 10th century, and
  refined into a fine art form in Turkey in the 16th century. Since then it became generally accepted for writing the Quran. Naskh is legible and clear and was adapted as the preferred style for typesetting and printing. It is a small script whose lines are thin and letter shapes are round.
  The traditional classification of the main styles includes in addition to the above Muhaqqaq which is less round than Thuluth; Rayhani which is similar to a small Muhaqqaq; Tawqi which has many ligatures, and a miniature version of it called Riqa' used mostly for personal and nformal occasions. All these styles are now obsolete and rarely used.
  Nastaliq developed in Iran in the 14 th and 15 th centuries. It is the most fluid and expressive of the scripts presented here, and is used extensively in copying romantic and mystical epics in Persian. Nastaliq has very short verticals without any "serifs," and deep curved horizontals. It slants to the right in contrast to all the other styles which slant to the left.
  Riq'a, the simpler style of everyday writing is very economical and easy to write. It replaces the above mentioned Riqa', and is popular for writing both Turkish and Arabic.
  There are still many other styles used in different places and times that can't be all mentioned in this limited space, but they combine to form a fantastic wealth of artistic creativity and ever renewing vigor.
  These articles were prepared for Seattle Art Museum's Educational Resource Room, and can be adapted to accompany Arabic and Islamic calligraphy exhibitions at other museums as well.