YIAAD

(York Islamic Art and Architecture Database)

‫يِاِض‬
Islamic Art and Architecture Resource List
Prepared by Dr Richard P. McClary – October 2018

ARCHITECTURE
IMAGES

Archnet: A collaboration between the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Aga Khan
Documentation Center at MIT Libraries. It is a portal to rich and unique scholarly
resources featuring thousands of sites, publications, images, and more focused on
architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, visual culture, and
conservation issues related to the Muslim world. The site is a globally-accessible,
intellectual resource focused on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape
design, visual culture, and conservation issues related to the Muslim world. Archnet’s
mission is to provide ready access to unique visual and textual material to facilitate
teaching, scholarship, and professional work of high quality.
https://archnet.org/

Structurae: International database and gallery of structures

https://structurae.net/structures/buildings/islamic-architecture

IRCICA: The Prince Sultan bin Salman Islamic Architectural Heritage Database
relating to the Islamic sites and monuments that are part of the architectural heritage
of the Muslim world.
https://www.ircica.org/programs/architecture/prince-sultan-ibn-salman-islamic-
architectural-heritage-database

Digital Islamic Humanities Project

https://islamicdh.org/resources/

Islamic Spain: Casselman Archive

https://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/Arts/CasselmanImage/

Josephine Powell Archive, Harvard

https://images.hollis.harvard.edu/primo-
explore/search?query=any,contains,Josephine%20Powell&tab=default_tab&search_
scope=default_scope&vid=HVD_IMAGES&lang=en_US&offset=0

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The Gertrude Bell Archive: Held by Newcastle University, the collection includes 7,000
of her archaeological and travel photographs from the early twentieth century, covering
Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia
http://gertrudebell.ncl.ac.uk/photos.php

Balkan Ottoman Architecture: the Kiel Archive

http://www.nit-istanbul.org/kielarchive/index.php

Inscriptions

Thesaurus d’épigraphie islamique: A project of the Max van Berchem Foundation,

this large database contains records and photographs of inscriptions produced across
the Islamic world until the year 1000 AH.
http://www.epigraphie-islamique.org/epi/notices_index.html

Database for Ottoman Inscriptions: A searchable digital database comprising

information about, as well as transliterations and pictures of, all the Turkish, Arabic
and Persian architectural inscriptions created in the Ottoman lands during Ottoman
times.
http://info.ottomaninscriptions.com

Aleppo
https://lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/aleppo_catalogue?publication=1

Syria heritage archive project

https://syrian-heritage.org/en/start/

Mosul: Monuments of Mosul in Danger

http://www.monumentsofmosul.com/

UNESCO world heritage centres

Aleppo
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/21
Cairo
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/89
Isfahan
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/115
Córdoba
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/313

Virtual Tour of Key Monuments

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200901/al-haram/fullscreen.htm
Alhambra, Granada
http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200604/alhambra/tour.htm

2
Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul
http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200605/suleymaniye/

Readings Sources

Archnet
https://archnet.org/

BNF Paris
https://gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/?mode=mobile

International Institute for Central Asian Studies, Samarkand: A large number of

their recently published books are available to download for free. These volumes cover
a range of topics, including the Islamic architecture, art, archaeology, history and
literature of the region in the medieval to modern periods.
http://www.unesco-iicas.org/e-library/

K. A. C. Creswell Bibliography
http://www.islamic-art.org/CreswellExhibition/biblio.asp

Books available as PDFs

Heidelberg Digital library (link to Sarre Denkmaler Persiche Baukunst)
https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/sarre1910text

Book: Islamic Heritage of Bengal, George Michell (1984)

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000604/060439eo.pdf

Book: History of civilisations of Central Asia, Vol IV The Age of Achievements -

UNESCO
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001116/111664eo.pdf#xml=http://www.unes
co.org/ulis/cgi-
bin/ulis.pl?database=&set=4DC27DB7_0_203&hits_rec=5&hits_lng=eng

Book: Islamic Archaeological Architecture and Archaeology of Kazakhstan (2012)

http://www.unesco-iicas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Islamic-Archaeological-
Architecture.pdf

Book: The Artistic Culture of Central Asia and Azerbaijan in the 9 th–15th Centuries.
Vol. IV. Architecture. Samarkand / Tashkent: IICAS (2013)
http://www.unesco-iicas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Architecture_ENG.pdf

Book: Urban Development and Architecture, G. A. Pugachenkova, A. H. Dani and Liu

Yingsheng, UNESCO 1996
https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-
article/vol_IVb%20silk%20road_urban%20development%20and%20architecture%20
BIS.pdf

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Book: Architectural ceramics of Uzbekistan, Grazhdankina et al (2006 translation of
1968 Russian original) UNESCO
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001893/189335eo.pdf

Book: Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture (2017), 2 vols, Flood and Necipoglu
(eds), Wiley
https://the-
eye.eu/public/concen.org/01052018_updates/The%20Medieval%20Islamic%20Civili
zation%20-
%20Collection%2026%20%28Art%20and%20Architecture%207%29/Flood%20%26
%20Necipoglu%20%28Eds.%29%20-
%20A%20Companion%20to%20Islamic%20Art%20and%20Architecture%2C%20Vo
ls.%201%20%26%202%20%282017%29.pdf

Book: Resources for the Study of Islamic Architecture (1994) Aga Khan Trust Book
https://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/2704/original/DPC0001.PDF?13847
66939

Book: Dictionary of Islamic Architecture, Andrew Peterson (Routledge, 1994)

https://archnet.org/collections/126/publications/8802

Book: Mosquée du Sultan Hassan au Caire, Max Herz Pasha (1899)

http://www.islamic-art.org/OnlineBooks/IslamicArtBooks.asp

Architecture: Books on Conservation

Weaver, M. E. Studies in the conservation of five Iranian monuments, UNESCO (1969)
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0000/000089/008972EB.pdf

UNESCO Islamic Art Book, 1984

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000897/089774eo.pdf

Islamic Cities and Conservation, Jim Antonio (Paris: UNESCO Press, 1981)
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0005/000527/052735eo.pdf

Approaches to the Conservation of Islamic Cities; The Case of Cairo, Hossam

Mahdy (Sharjah: ICCROM-ATHAR, 2017)
https://www.iccrom.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/web
email_hussam_book_17112017.pdf

Architecture & Urban Conservation in the Islamic World (Geneva: Aga Khan Trust for
Culture)
https://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/3811/original/DPT0242.pdf?142418
8723

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 ART AND MUSEUMS
IMAGES
UK
British Museum, London
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=is
lamic
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?listing_type=&offset=0&limit=15&narrow=&extra
search=&q=islamic&commit=Search&quality=0&objectnamesearch=&placesearch=&
after=&before=&namesearch=&materialsearch=&mnsearch=&locationsearch=
Khalili Collection, London
https://www.khalilicollections.org/
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/search/node/Islamic

USA and Canada

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/islamic-art
Met publications:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/search-publication-
results?searchType=C&Tag=&title=&author=&pt=0&tc=0&dept={FC0CDCE8-7E39-
4F05-A252-D12A9444F508}&fmt=0
Freer Sackler Museum, Washington, DC
https://www.freersackler.si.edu/collections-area/islamic/
Yale University Art Gallery (1,081 objects)
https://artgallery.yale.edu/overall-search/Islamic
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA
http://www.lacma.org/islamic_art/eia.htm
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
http://www.asianart.org/collections/collection
Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, OH
http://www.clevelandart.org/art/collection/search?collection_search_views_fulltext=isl
amic&collection_search_views_artist_full_name=&page=1&collection_search_query
=Islamic&op=search&form_build_id=form-pfilPHMe59rnd-
keAfQAU9eUuRfzZBwDVlMwiBs6LvY&form_id=clevelandart_collection_search_for
m
Shangri La – Centre for Islamic Arts and Culture, Honolulu
http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/Islamic-Art-Collection/
Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/collections/20

5
The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY: Islamic Glass
https://www.cmog.org/collection/search/Islamic
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI: 1487 Islamic objects
https://www.dia.org/search/node/Islamic
St Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO: 153 Islamic objects
http://emuseum.slam.org/collections/11101/islamic-art/objects

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL: 144 items of Islamic art online
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/category/106

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX: Holds the Kier Collection of Islamic Art
https://www.dma.org/art/exhibitions/keir-collection-islamic-art-gallery

Walters Art Museum, Baltimore: 58 full Islamic manuscripts

https://art.thewalters.org/browse/category/islamic-
manuscripts/?sort=begin_date&order=asc

Aga Khan Museum, Toronto

https://www.agakhanmuseum.org

Europe
David Collection, Copenhagen
https://www.davidmus.dk/en/collections/islamic/dynasties
Louvre, Paris
https://www.louvre.fr/en/departments/islamic-art
Islamic Art Museum (MIK), Berlin: 11091 objects online
http://www.smb-
digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultLightboxView/preselectFilterSection.
$FilterGroupControl.$MpDirectLink&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=
0&sp=0&sp=1&sp=Slightbox_3x4&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F&sp=S10029&sp=
S2
Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/search-
results#search=Islamic

Middle East and Asia

Islamic Arts Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
http://www.iamm.org.my/galleries/
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
http://www.mia.org.qa/en/
Al Sabah Collection, Kuwait
http://darmuseum.org.kw
L A Mayer Museum of Islamic Art, Jerusalem
http://www.islamicart.co.il/english/template/default.aspx?PageId=14

6
List of Islamic art museums
https://museumnetwork.sothebys.com/search?q=Islamic
DATABASES
Glossary: technical glossary of Islamic art and architecture terms compiled by Islamic
Art Network
http://www.islamic-art.org/Glossary/glossary.asp

Pattern in Islamic Art: The WADE Photo Archive

This website offers an archive of over 4000 images of patterns and other design
features drawn from the rich cultural heritage of the Islamic world.
https://patterninislamicart.com/
Islamic Art Network
http://www.islamic-art.org/photoarchive/photoarchive.asp
Museums With No Frontiers: Discover Islamic Art
http://www.discoverislamicart.org/index.php
Islamic Seals Database, Chester Beatty Library Dublin. Crowd-sourced cataloguing
project.
http://www.cbl.ie/islamicseals/Home.aspx
The Library of Congress: Selections of Arabic, Persian and Turkish Calligraphy
http://international.loc.gov/intldl/apochtml/
Introduction to writing Arabic
https://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hist455/index.htm
Glossary of Islamic Art
http://www.lacma.org/islamic_art/glossary.htm

NUMISMATICS
Islamic Coins: Zeno.ru Oriental Coins Database
https://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=1
Guide to research in Islamic coinage - bibliography from Harvard
https://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=310220&p=2077654

MANUSCRIPTS
AMIR (Access to Middle East and Islamic Resources): An alphabetical list of Open
Access Islamic Manuscripts Collections
http://amirmideast.blogspot.com/2010/12/alphabetical-list-of-open-
access_10.html?m=1

Islamic Painted Page: A huge free database of references for Persian paintings,
Ottoman paintings, Arab paintings and Mughal paintings. This site enables you to

7
locate printed reproductions, commentaries and weblinks for thousands of Islamic
paintings, including illuminated "carpet" pages, decorated Quran pages, and book
bindings from over 230 collections all over the world.
http://www.islamicpaintedpage.com/

FIHRIST: A catalogue of manuscripts from the Islamicate world held in the leading
Libraries of the UK. All participating libraries have been selectively collecting
manuscripts from all subject areas, and of various geographical origins, dating
from the 7th to the 19th century CE
https://www.fihrist.org.uk

British Library: Digital Access to Persian Manuscripts

The Persian Manuscripts collection at the British Library is one of the most significant
collections in the world in both size and importance. Consisting of over 11,000 works
in almost as many volumes, it combines the two world-class collections of the British
Museum and the India Office Library. These manuscripts originate from the whole of
the Persianate world, in particular Iran, Central Asia and India and range in time from
the 12th century to recent years, representing most of the traditional fields of
humanities and religious studies.
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-african/persian.html
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
http://www.cbl.ie/Collections/The-Islamic-Collection.aspx
National Library of Iran, Tehran
https://www.wdl.org/en/search/?institution=national-library-and-archives-islamic-
republic-iran
Princeton Digital Library of Islamic Manuscripts
http://library.princeton.edu/projects/islamic/index.html

McGill Islamic Calligraphy: Exhibition and good bibliography

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/islamic_calligraphy/

Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul: large collection of images of miniature paintings

from one the finest collections in the world
http://kilyos.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/topkapi1.html
Marianna Shreve Simpson Islamic Manuscript Records
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/h/hart3ic?page=index
Paris Kitab al diryaq
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8422960m.image
World History of Rashid al-Din (Jami' al-Tawarikh Or.Ms.20) Edinburgh University
Library: Full text and images scanned
http://images.is.ed.ac.uk/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fimages.is.ed.ac.uk
%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26mid%3DUoEsha~4~4~6474
2~103064%26bs%3D100
Fitzwilliam Museum: the Shahname
https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/shahnameh/vgallery/section1.html

8
University of Michigan Library: Islamic Manuscript Studies resources page
https://guides.lib.umich.edu/islamicmsstudies

Harvard library Islamic Heritage Project: Over 800 historical texts and maps from
the Harvard Library. All high res scans
http://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/ihp/catalog?page=8&q=%2A&search_field=all_fields

List of Islamic art collections at the "Museums with No Frontiers"

http://www.discoverislamicart.org/pm_partner_list.php?theme=EPM&type=museum

CERAMICS

A Web-Based Teaching course on Islamic Ceramics, The University of Oxford

http://islamicceramics.ashmolean.org/MainMenu/index.htm

GENERAL RESOURCES
Islamic Art and Material Culture Subject Specialist Network: The principal aim of
this network is to share expertise, ideas and best practice on Islamic art and material
culture with a focus on museum collections from across the United Kingdom and
Ireland.
http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/iamcssn/index.php/en/
Oxford Online Bibliography of Islamic Art
http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-
9780195390155-0010.xml?rskey=Oz8Gej&result=8&q=
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/orna/hd_orna.htm
MIT
https://libguides.mit.edu/c.php?g=448061&p=3057672
Historians of Islamic Art Association
https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/
Max van Berchem Foundation
https://maxvanberchem.org/en/
Qur’an Search
https://quran.com/?local=en
Brill Encyclopaedia of Islam Three
https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3

Index Islamicus
https://bibliographies.brillonline.com/browse/index-islamicus

Encyclopædia Iranica: A comprehensive research tool dedicated to the study of

Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian
subcontinent.
http://www.iranicaonline.org

9
DICTIONARIES
Steingass’s Persian-English Dictionary: Search the authoritative dictionary for
classical Persian
https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/steingass/

JOURNALS (Selected – all are available through JStor)

Anadolu
Anatolian Studies
Archéologie islamique
Archaeometry
Ars Islamica
Ars Islamica 4 (1937)
https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/arsislamica41937detr
Ars Islamica 5 (1938)
https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/arsislamica51938detr
Ars Islamica 8 (1941)
http://www.islamicmanuscripts.info/reference/articles/Ars-Islamica/Ars-Islamica-08-
1941.pdf
Ars Islamica 10 (1943)
http://www.islamicmanuscripts.info/reference/articles/Ars-Islamica/Ars-Islamica-10-
1943.pdf

Ars Orientalis
Art History
Artibus Asiae
Athar-e Iran
Belleten
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (BSOAS)
Bulletin of the Asia Institute
Der Islam
International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA)
Iran
Iraq
Islamic Art
Journal of Islamic Archaeology
Journal of the David Collection
Kunst des Orients
Muqarnas (available online at Archnet)
Table of Contents for all volumes of Muqarnas
https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/muqarnas
Persica
Revue des Études Islamiques
Syria
https://www.persee.fr/collection/syria

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11