Greetings for the New Year

Image of the last exhibition of FURMAH series. Coming soon will be published a post about it.

Islamic Star Patterns

The rise and spread of Islamic culture from the seventh century onward has provided us with one of history’s great artistic and decorative traditions. In a broad swath of Islamic rule, at one time extending across Europe, Africa, and Asia, we find artistic treasures of unrivaled beauty. Islamic art encompasses great achievements in calligraphy, stylized floral designs, architecture, and abstract geometric patterns. In this latter category, we can found, specifically, the Islamic star patterns such as adorn buildings throughout the Islamic world.

Islamic star patterns arose in the centuries after the birth of Islam, and spread quickly as Islamic rule grew outward from the Middle East to encompass western Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia. This form of ornamentation peaked in the first half of the second millennium. The practice then tapered off as the borders of the Muslim world began to shrink. Today, historical artifacts can be found in countries from Spain to Uzbekistan, with important concentrations in Spain, Turkey, Iran, and Morocco.

There is no precise definition of an Islamic star pattern, but there are some general trends. They tend to be rigidly geometric in design, and feature star-shaped polygonal regions. They can be found carved in wood or stone, built from latticework, or assembled from baked terracotta tiles (a style known as Zillij or Zellige).

How were Islamic star patterns originally devised? Unfortunately, very little information about historical techniques survives to the present day. These techniques were a closely-guarded trade secret, passed from master to apprentice and ultimately lost in history.

The quest to design star patterns is therefore an intriguing puzzle. As a guide, we have an enigmatic set of examples from the past thousand years, but we don't know exactly how artisans working at the time designed their star patterns.

Although Islamic star patterns have been studied by artists and historians for centuries, it is only recently, with the aid of modern algebra and geometry, that a rigorous mathematical treatment of them can be given. Accordingly, many twentieth-century scholars have discussed various analysis and synthesis methods for star patterns.

One thing we do know is that star patterns are deeply mathematical in nature. The artisans who developed them were well versed in geometry; in their pursuit of mathematical knowledge, early Islamic scholars translated Euclid’s Elements into Arabic*.

The geometric skill of the artists and designers of the Medieval Islamic world is universally recognized. The Arab scholars who rescued Greek and Roman mathematical learning from oblivion made possible a blending of aesthetic and mathematical sensibilities that led to artistic achievements of marvelous skill and beauty. The average person who visits an Islamic monument will be dazzled by the beauty and intricacy of the patterns executed in mosaic tiles and carved plaster. But a person with a mathematical bent will also be delighted by the geometric sophistication of the decoration. For example, repeating patterns can be analyzed by types of symmetry**. Mathematicians have identified 17 distinct types of ‘plane symmetry groups’ also called ‘wallpaper groups’. Remarkably, examples of all seventeen symmetry groups can be found in the decoration of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, one of the jewels of Islamic art.


* The expansion and development of geometry through Islamic art and architecture can be related to the significant growth of science and technology in the Middle East, Iran, and Central Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries; such progress was prompted by translations of ancient texts from languages such as Greek and Sanskrit. By the 10th century, original Muslim contributions to science became significant. The earliest written document on geometry in the Islamic history of science is that authored by Khwarizmi (a Persian  mathematician, astronomer and geographer during the Abbasid Empire) in the early 9th century. Thus, history of Islamic geometrical ornaments is characterized by a gap of nearly three centuries — from the rise of Islam in the earl 7th century to the late 9th century, when the earliest example of geometrical decorations can be traced from the surviving buildings of the Muslim world.

For centuries, the compass and straight edge were the only tools used to construct polygons and required angles. Therefore, all Islamic Geometric Patterns originate from the harmonious subdivisions of circles and are based on templates of circle grids. Some researchers stated that the use of the circle is a way of expressing the Unity of Islam. According to this doctrine, the circle and its center is the point at which all Islamic patterns begin.

** The most striking characteristic of the geometric patterns in Islamic art is the prominent symmetric shapes, which are like stars and constellations. 6-, 8-, 10-, 12- pointed star shapes are the ones that occur mostly in ornaments. Another important characteristic is that the rectilinear forms are interlacing each other, and continuously following the lines.

Other examples of star tile patterns

(Click on the images to enlarge)