The Minaret

Tracing its origins and development, Bloom reveals that the Minaret, long understood to have been invented in the early years of Islam as the place from which the muezzin gives the call to prayer, was actually invented some two centuries later to be a visible symbol of Islam. Originally published in 1989, this new edition is revised, expanded and generously illustrated in colour. In addition to Iran, Egypt, Turkey and India West, it now explores the Minaret in East Africa, the Yemen and Southeast Asia.

Jonathan M. Bloom is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of fifteen books and hundreds of articles on all aspects of Islamic art and architecture, including the art of the Fatimid dynasty, and the history of paper. He and his wife and colleague Sheila Blair edited the prize-winning 3-volume Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture (2009) and organize the Hamad bin Khalifa Biennial Symposia on Islamic Art and Culture.

List of Figures
Series Editor's Foreword
Preface
Map
INTRODUCTION

PART I:
CHAPTER 1 The History of Scholarship and the Nature of the Problem
CHAPTER 2 The Adhan, the Mi'dhana and the Sawma'a
CHAPTER 3 Manars and Manaras
CHAPTER 4 The Mosque Tower
CHAPTER 5 Why Were Towers Added to Mosques?

PART II:
CHAPTER 6 The Minaret in the Maghrib in the Ninth Century
CHAPTER 7 The Triumph of the Cordoban Minaret in the Maghrib
CHAPTER 8 The Minaret in Egypt through the Ayyubid Period
CHAPTER 9 The Minaret in the Eastern Islamic Lands before the Seljuqs
CHAPTER 10 The Seljuq Minaret

PART III:
CHAPTER 11 The Minaret after the Mongol Conquest
CHAPTER 12 The Minaret Beyond the Persianate World
CHAPTER 13 The Minaret in the Modern World

Bibliography
Illustration Acknowledgments
Index