West+and+Central+Asia,+500+BCE+-+1980+CE




 * Some important works:**

Petra, Jordan: Treasury and Great Temple. Nabataean Ptolemaic and Roman. c. 400 BCE - 100 CE. Cut rock.


 * Buddha. Bamiyan**. Afghanistan. Gandharan. c. 400 - 800 CE (destroyed by the Taliban in 2001). Cut rock with plaster and polychrome paint.
 * Giant Buddha Statues Return with 3-D Light Projection


 * The Kaaba**. Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Islamic. Pre-Islamic monument; rededicated by Muhammad in 631 - 632 CE; multiple renovations. Granite masonry, covered with silk curtain and calligraphy in gold and silver-wrapped thread.
 * A building at the center of Islam's most sacred mosque

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple. Lhasa, Tibet. Yarlung Dynasty. Believed to have been brought to Tibet in 641 CE. Gilt metals with semiprecious stones, pearls, and paint; various offerings.


 * Dome of the Rock**. Jerusalem. Islamic, Umayyad. 691 - 692 CE, with multiple renovations. Stone masonry and wooden roof with glazed ceramic tile, mosaics, and gilt aluminum and bronze dome.
 * One of the earliest surviving buildings from the Islamic world



Great Mosque (Masjid-e Jameh). Isfahan, Iran. Islamic, Persian: Seljuk, Il-Khanid, Timurid and Safavid Dynasties. c. 700 CE; additions and restorations in the 14th, 18th, and 20th centuries CE. Stone, brick, wood, plaster, and glazed ceramic tile.

Folio from a Qur'an. Arab, North Africa, or Near East. Abbasid. c. eighth to ninth century CE. Ink, color, and gold on parchment.

Basin (//Baptistère de St. Louis//). Muhammad ibn al-Zain. c. 1320 - 1340 CE. Brass inlaid with gold and silver.

//Bahram Gur Fights the Karg//, folio from the Great Il-Khanid //Shahnama//. Islamic; Persian, Il'Khanid. c. 1330 - 1340 CE. Ink and opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper.
 * The Shahlnama of Shah Tahmasp (Book of Kings)
 * 50,000 rhyming couplets in this greatest epic poem in Persian

//The Court of Gayumars//, folio from Shah Tahmasp's //Shahnama//. Sultan Muhammad. c. 1522 - 1525 CE. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper.


 * The Ardabil Carpet.** Maqsud of Kashan. 1539 - 1540 CE. Silk and wool.