Maryam Ghasemi Sichani, Fatemeh Ghanbari Sheikhshabani , Mahboobe Ghanbari Sheikhshabani,
Volume 5, Issue 3 (Autumn 2018 2017)
Abstract
Quranic inscriptions are the inseparable elements of mosque ornaments, promoting the Islamic culture and reflecting the socio-political conditions of the given era. Due to its importance and vastness together with several structural periods and the volume of decorations, Jameh Mosque of Isfahan is one of the structures containing most of the historical religious inscriptions related to Iranian Islamic architecture. These inscriptions date back to Saljughi, Ilkhanid, Mozafari, Teymouri, Safavid, Ghajar and most recent eras and are embedded on the entrances, court-yard facades, verandas, minarets, bedchambers, domes, sanctuaries, stone troughs, candlestick, tribunes, etc. of the mosque. Most of these inscriptions are exposed through the entrances, internal facades of verandas in (southern, western, east and northern Omar Iwan), the main yard facade, minarets, sanctuaries and domes. These inscriptions may be assessed according to criteria of technique, construction date, content, position, benefactors, restoration manner, their contribution to the architectural space, etc. There exist few studies where the content analysis of these inscriptions embedded in these structures are addressed and assessed; consequently, attempt is made in this article to recognize, analyze and compare the content of Quranic inscriptions on entrances (mosque emblem) and sanctuaries (symbol of Qiblah) of Jameh Mosque of Isfahan. To extract the content of the inscribed verses and assess the thematic correlations as to their political and social terms together with the assigned locations in these structures, this article follows a descriptive-analytical method where documented sources are applied and insitu observations are made. The findings here reveal that the entrances and sanctuaries of Jameh Mosque of Isfahan contain many inscriptions with various contents. The content of these inscriptions consists of: digits (date of construction), personal names (benefactors, rulers, art masters and calligraphers) and hadiths (holy names and Quranic verses). Among 10 entrances and 17 sanctuaries of this mosque, 7 entrances and 8 sanctuaries contain Quranic inscribed Surah: Al-Baqara with three repetitions, Al-Fatiha, twice, Nesa, Al-Ikhlas, Al-Insan, Tobah, Anbia, Ahzab, Jen, Maedeh, Jamah, Al-Emran, Kahf, Noor and Sad Surah with one repetitions. Most of these Quranic inscriptions in this mosque are embedded in Safavid era followed by Ghajar, Al Mozafar, Ilkhanid and Saljoughi eras: Safavid with 9 Surah and 15 Verses is ranked the first, while Saljoughi with one Verse and one Surah is ranked the last. Since the beginning of Iran becoming an Islamic nation, during time, the city of Isfahan has been exposed to severe religious quarrels until Safavid era when Shiism religion sector gained official announcement in Iran. Back then, the city of Isfahan was the major center of Sunni sector. It seems that the selection of verses for inscriptions was influenced by the socio-political conditions of the given era. This fact indicates that during political and social turmoil and unrests between religion sectors the selected Quranic verses are indicative of the specific events, while during relatively political and social proportional calm, the content of the selected verses reflect unity of God, faith and belief in resurrection, prophecy and conveyance of the Prophet and verses about the importance of the mosque. The content of the verses in sanctuaries indicates the events related to the Muslim community like changing Ghiblah, conveyance of the Prophet and leadership. In Saljoughi era, the disputes between Saljoughi dynasty and scholars in Isfahan lead to setting Jameh mosque to arson and it seems that inscribing the 114th verse of Al-Baqarah Surah reveals this phenomenon. In Ilkhanid era, considering the religious disputes, it can be deduced that the benefactors of Aljayto sanctuary by inscribing Quranic and hadith texts with a content specific to Shiism had no other objective than promoting Shiism in Isfahan. The existing military conflicts in Al Mozafar era were influential on the sanctuary inscriptions of Mozafari School and stimulating believers to commit Jihad. By establishment of relative calm in Safavid and Ghajar eras and the orientations towards Shiism thereof, the benefactors selected verses indicating the praise of the prophet of Islam, the status of Amir Al Muminin (the leader of the faithful in Shiism) and manner of meeting God.
Mozhgan Hadipour Moradi, Dr Masoud Nari Ghomi, Dr Sanaz Rahravi Poodeh, Dr Mariam Ghasemi Sichani,
Volume 13, Issue 3 (10-2025)
Abstract
With the social changes resulting from the "period of transition" and "modernization" in Iran, the "kitchen" was also affected by these changes. The kitchen has always been referred to as a feminine space. In some contemporary cultural analyses in Iran, citing feminist theories, the kitchen and the kitchen and its location at the end of the yard or basement were interpreted as patriarchy and traditional female servitude, which Reza Shahi's modernization has been considered a beginning for its liberation in the modern era. Lifestyle-based readings in social science research, and especially historical ethnography, have provided an opportunity to review these assumptions arising from the literature of the early modern period. Therefore, the present study, using the method of historical ethnography and relying on documentary sources and data analysis in a descriptive-analytical manner, addresses the transformation of the feminine nature of the kitchen space during the period of transition to modernity in one of the micro-cultural contexts of Iran, namely the traditional houses of Khorramabad. The results show that the social interpretation of the kitchen in the historical houses of Khorramabad cannot be interpreted as the low status of women in the society of that time. The existence of various cooking spaces, including open kitchens, semi-open kitchens, Tejgahs in rooms, and a special place for baking bread in the courtyard, created special boundaries and territories for women. These various spaces were also family-social spaces. At the same time, due to the communal nature between the women of the house and some neighboring women, they changed from a private space to a semi-private space. The authoritarian modernization and the achievements of modernity resulting from Reza Shah's policies, despite some development, health, and educational measures, led to the deprivation of the right to choose, the impairment of family and social security, and as a result, many women of the Lor tribe were confined to their homes and distanced from the social space. The houses built during this period, especially in newly built neighborhoods; More introverted than Qajar houses, the reduction of various cooking spaces and their consolidation in the kitchen space, the reduction of the extent of women's use of the spaces in the house, the change in women's privacy and territories, the reduction of semi-private and collective territories, as well as the reduction of social interactions between neighboring women resulting from the increase in emerging social insecurities and the presence of new cultures in the city and the policy of revealing the veil were other results of modernity and innovation in this region.
