Explain how Islamic art differs from that of pre-Islamic Arabia.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2022). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [10] Mark according to the AO1 – 10-mark levels of response marking grid for knowledge and understanding.
2. Answers may include some of the following ideas, but all valid material must be credited.
3. Candidates might describe the art of Pre-Islamic Arabia. The Ka'ba was filled with idols, include figures of gods such as Hubal. Some of the gods were simply rocks, others statuettes. The idols were venerated, and gifts given to them, since they were believed to be more than just works of art, they had sacred status and there were many superstitious powers attributed to them.
4. Pre-Islamic art from the area of the Muslim Caliphate might be described. This included Roman columns and arches, Greek figurines and Persian and Zoroastrian towers, rising to the sun God.
5. Islamic art differed in that all idols were removed from the clearing of the Ka'ba by Muhammad (pbuh) onwards. Islamic art focused on the written word and calligraphy, such as in the early mosque, Al-Aqsa, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which would have been radically different from the Pre-Islamic idol worshipping temples.
6. Some aspects of Roman art were included in Al-Aqsa and the Great Mosque of Damascus, including plant-based patterns, which might be regarded as depictions of paradise or simply decorations. Nevertheless, both were different from the way in which the pagans might have used them due to the absence of idols.
7. Some Pre-Islamic art, such as the Persian tower, was reused in the minaret, showing that not everything was different. Some Umayyad art did include figures on the walls of palaces, and some Mughal art also used figurative painting, although these figures were not considered idols or gods, so the difference was in the purpose of the art and in peoples different understanding of it.
8. Credit responses which give examples from any aspect of Islamic art and compare this with either the Ka'ba or any other Pre-Islamic place where art might be exhibited, be it in the decoration or architecture.