The Islamic World

Question 1

arcade

Answer 1

A series of arches supported by piers or columns.

Question 2

Kaaba

Answer 2

Arabic, “cube.” A small cubical building in Mecca, the Islamic world’s symbolic center.

Question 3

qibla

Answer 3

The direction (toward Mecca) Muslims face when praying.

Question 4

imam

Answer 4

In Islam, the leader of collective worship.

Question 5

minbar

Answer 5

In a mosque, the pulpit on which the imam stands.

Question 6

mihrab

Answer 6

A semicircular niche set into the qibla wall of a mosque.

Question 7

iwan

Answer 7

In Islamic architecture, a vaulted rectangular recess opening onto a courtyard.

Question 8

Mosque

Answer 8

The Islamic building for collective worship. From the Arabic word masjid, meaning a “place for bowing down.”

Question 9

Minaret

Answer 9

A distinctive feature of mosque architecture, a tower from which the faithful are called to worship.

Question 10

Hypostyle hall

Answer 10

A hall with a roof supported by columns

Question 11

Hijra

Answer 11

The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622, the year from which Islam dates its beginnings.

Question 12

ziggurat

Answer 12

In ancient Mesopotamian architecture, a monumental platform for a temple.

Question 13

engaged column

Answer 13

A half-round column attached to a wall

Question 14

blind arcade

Answer 14

An arcade having no true openings, applied as decoration to a wall surface.

Question 15

colonnette

Answer 15

A thin column.

Question 16

calligraphy

Answer 16

Greek, “beautiful writing.” Handwriting or penmanship, especially elegant writing as a decorative art.

Question 17

muqarnas

Answer 17

Stucco decorations of Islamic buildings in which stalactite-like forms break a structure’s solidity.

Question 18

sultan

Answer 18

A Muslim ruler

Question 19

madrasa

Answer 19

An Islamic theological college adjoining and often containing a mosque.

Question 20

mosaic tilework

Answer 20

An Islamic decorative technique in which large ceramic panels are fired, cut into smaller pieces, and set in plaster.

Question 21

Cuerda seca

Answer 21

A type of polychrome tilework used in decorating Islamic buildings.

Question 22

enamel

Answer 22

A decorative coating, usually colored, fused onto the surface of metal, glass, or ceramics.