Online Resources
The list below gives online resources, grouped according to category. These online resources include historical photographs, videos, and texts that are relevant for the study of the traditional crafts of Iraq and the surrounding regions. These are provided for the purposes of further study and the compilers of this site (craftsofiraq.uvic.ca) do not take responsibility for the content or opinions contained within the following sites. All links were active at the time of compilation (16 January 2022).
Architecture and Archaeological Sites
- The Gertrude Bell archive contains the photographs and notes taken by Gertrude Bell (d. 1926) during her travels through the Middle East: http://gertrudebell.ncl.ac.uk
- For examples of early inscriptions in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East: https://www.islamic-awareness.org/history/islam/inscriptions/
- For architecture and urban environments across the Islamic world, and providing links to other research on these topics: https://archnet.org
- UNESCO World Heritage site for Samarra: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/276/
- UNESCO World Heritage tentative listing for the Old City of Mosul: https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6355/
- On the history of archaeological work at Samarra: https://en.qantara.de/content/islamic-archeology-samarra-centre-of-the-world
- On the work of Ernst Herzfeld in Samarra: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/herz/hd_herz.htm
- A general account of the reed architecture of the Marsh Arabs: https://www.zmescience.com/other/feature-post/mesopotamian-venice-lost-floating-homes-iraq/
- British Museum video, “The Story of Samarra”: https://islamicworld.britishmuseum.org/video/2
Architectural Decoration
- On the study of the arts of Abbasid Samarra: https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/museum-fuer-islamische-kunst/collection-research/research-cooperation/samarra-and-the-art-of-the-abbasids/
- An essay on the study of Islamic stucco and plasterwork (Oxford Islamic Studies Online): http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t276/e891
Portable Arts: General
- On the arts of the Abbasid period, using images from the Metropolitan Museum: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abba/hd_abba.htm
- Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in US site on the arts and culture of the country: http://www.iraqiembassy.us/page/art-and-culture
Metalwork
- A short entry about the Blacas ewer: https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus01;12;en
Ceramics
- A study resource on the ceramics traditions of the Islamic Middle East (including sections on Abbasid ceramics): http://islamicceramics.ashmolean.org
Glass
- On the history of Islamic glass, including the contribution of Iraq, see: https://www.cmog.org/article/brief-history-islamic-glassmaking
Textiles
- For an article on silk production in Iraq and the country’s role in the transmission of silk around the pre-modern world: https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/knowledge-bank/iraqs-fame-silk-production-and-transfer-silk-world
- Essay on the practice of adding inscribed bands (tiraz) on Islamic textiles: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tira/hd_tira.htm
Woodworking
- For a set of early Islamic wooden doors from Iraq in the Benaki Collection: https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;gr;Mus21;31;en
- For an early Islamic carved wooden panel from Iraq now in the Metropolitan Museum: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/453429
- Essay on Islamic woodworking (Oxford Islamic Studies Online): http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t276/e979
- Interview with Rahim Akbar, an American Muslim woodworker who has installed work at the Royal Ontario Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm17iqddj1A
- An article about the production of wooden dowry chests across the Middle East: http://www.aramcoworld.com/en-US/Articles/November-2015/The-Art-of-the-Dowry-Chest
Book Arts
- Digital reproduction of the famous Ibn al-Bawwab Qurʾan in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: https://viewer.cbl.ie/viewer/object/Is_1431/1/LOG_0000/
- For digital images of Qurʾan manuscripts in the Khalili Collection: https://www.khalilicollections.org/islamic-arts/
- Digital images and discussion of an early Kufic Qurʾan in the British Library: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/kufic-quran
Cultural Heritage
- For the issue of the destruction of cultural heritage, including the current situation in Syria, see the following collection of online essays:
- The Destruction of Cultural Heritage: From Napoléon to ISIS, organized by Pamela Karimi and Nasser Rabbat. The Aggregate Architectural History Collaborative. http://we-aggregate.org/project/the-destruction-of-cultural-heritage-from-napoleon-to-isis
- On the traditional crafts of the Mandaean communities of Iraq, particularly dealing with boat building and silversmithing: https://www.mandaeanunion.com/images/MAU/History/Liverpol%20museum_The%20mandaeans.pdf
- On the destruction of monuments and sites in Iraq, see: Research Assessment and Safeguarding of the Heritage of Iraq in Danger (RASHID International), “The intentional destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq as a violation of Human Rights: Submission for the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.” (c. 2016) https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/CulturalRights/DestructionHeritage/NGOS/RASHID.pdf
- For a project aimed at protecting cultural heritage and training in conservation techniques, see: The Getty Conservation Institute, “Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative (2004-2011).” https://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/field_projects/iraq/index.html
- Also: “Smithsonian and the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage.” https://global.si.edu/projects/smithsonian-and-iraqi-institute-conservation-antiquities-and-heritage