The decoration of the Khirbat al-Majfar complex

The decoration of the Khirbat al-Mafjar Complex reflects the different influences which together form the basis of Islamic art.

The materials employed reflect earlier decorative traditions. Mosaics were frequently employed in the Near East from Antiquity and their use survived into eastern Christian art. Understandably, they are found in Umeyyad art in both religious[1] and civic contexts, as here. Stucco, employed in the Roman era, was introduced to Islamic art via Central Asia and Iran[2], a region recently conquered by Islam.

The complex is ornamented throughout from the floor to the ceilings.

Architectural elements are decorated, such as, columns, transition areas, domes, window grilles in stucco reminiscent of contemporaneous stonework[3]. The floors of the courtyard and baths are decorated with a sumptuous sequence of coloured stone mosaics and the walls are covered in sculpted stone decorations, moulded and painted stucco and painting.

Certain areas of the Complex were treated with especial care. The entrance to the baths and the palace contain particularly elaborate decorative schemes. The great bath hall and the small adjoining audience room also display a decorative scheme reflecting the prestige of its patron.

One of the principal themes is the glorification of Umeyyad power. Within the context of the period, the sovereigns’ desire to legitimate their authority was easily discernable[4]. In order to do so, they incorporated and reworked themes originating in the recently conquered regions. Thus, the entrance porch to the bath contains a statue in stucco representing the caliph, dressed in Iranian fashion, on a pedestal supported by two lions. Sasanian rituals also inspired the decorations of the small audience room of the baths where the prince appears beneath a heavy crown suspended by a stone chain[5]. The floor of this room is covered with a mosaic symbolising the benefits of Umeyyad authority, offering peace (represented by two gazelles to the left of a tree) in contrast to the torments of war (represented by a lion devouring a gazelle to the right). The apse is surmounted by a lantern dome which rests on pendentives decorated with winged horses. The rose of the dome is decorated with a rosette of acanthus leaves containing faces which has been interpreted as an image of Paradise.

The considerable proportion of the decoration devoted to the theme of princely pleasures prefigures the popularity of this iconography in the decoration of Islamic buildings and objects in the succeeding centuries[6]. There are many such examples, such as, the female figures arranged in the centre of the arcatures of the palace façade, the nude dancers decked in jewels and the hunting scenes.

The motifs and style adopted originate in earlier artistic traditions.

Sasanian art provided the craftsmen with models of roundels reminiscent of Iranian textiles, of the winged horses on the pendentives and of the numerous animal figures (such as partridges and rabbits and so on) which fill the decorative friezes.

The vine scrolls and foliate vegetal designs, appearing in the palace and baths originated in Roman and Hellenistic art. Their stylisation is, however, specific to the Islamic arts. The naturalistic model adopted in the floor mosaics are also a Classical legacy.

The feminine figures, possibly inspired from Classical statues of goddesses, follow aesthetic principles (such as generous forms, wide fixed eyes and elaborate hairstyles) similar to the canons of Syrian or Palmyran statuary[7].

[2] Element of architectural decoration, Iran, C7th, stucco, Paris, musée du Louvre, inv. AO AA 6.

[3] Stone latticework of the Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria, 715.

[4] See the decorative scheme of Qusayr Amra (Jordan), in particular, the fresco of the kings.

[5] Khosrow Palace, Iran, Ctesiphon, C6th.

[6] This theme was particularly popular in Fatimid Egypt (C10th – C12th). Panel with dancer, Egypt, C12th, boxwood, Paris, musée du Louvre, inv. MAO 471. http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=20510

[7] Female bust, probably Artemis, Doura Europos, Syria, C2nd – 3rd A.D. polychrome plaster, Paris, musée du Louvre, inv. AO 20122. http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=21171