In the Middle Ages, in the Arab East, as in other parts of the world, there was an established cultural tradition between the artist and the world around him; it was necessary to measure one's own conclusions, ideas, and even direct perception with the standards captured in sacred religious texts. The culture of that time was focused on the search for an absolutely true understanding of symbols, which was expressed in exegesis [Bertels, 1997, p. 8]. The worldview of the Middle Ages assumed the perception of the world of nature and man as a part of it as a complex symbolic system created according to the divine plan according to the laws of higher harmony as a reflection of the transcendent [Eco, 2003, p.11].

Keywords: Arab-Muslim art, aesthetics, Arab Caliphate, Abbasid dynasty.

Beauty belongs to an important philosophical category of art, which in the Middle Ages included, in addition to the empirical concept (human perception of the features of objects), also mental comprehension, which directly goes to the axiological aspect of medieval aesthetics. Beauty is primarily a divine attribute. The doctrine of a specific, deep aesthetic perception of world objects is contained in the epistemology of Sufism [Frolova, 2006, p.71]. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (450/1058 - 59 - 505/1111) uses the concept of beauty in describing the mystical way of knowing the truth: "The end for those who follow the path and those who follow it, in their desire to approach the beauty of Him [Allah], is a shock. < ... >

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the eye will be blinded by observing the beauty of Its essence "[Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ha-zali at-Tusi, 2002, p. 1]. The universe created by the will of the supreme deity, who has will and supreme intelligence, is the embodiment of harmony. Medieval scholasticism puts forward three cosmological categories-number, weight and measure, which became categories of aesthetic order [Frolova, 2006, p. 28], which, in particular, served as the basis for the doctrine of proportions.

The medieval Arabic category jamāl (beauty) contains the idea of conformity, morality, harmony, but this does not exclude the idea of beauty traditionally understood by ordinary consciousness, which goes back to a specific experience. This understanding has numerous analogies in ancient philosophy, for example, for Plato, truth and beauty always coincide [ibid.]. The category of beauty is the subject of comprehension of Arab peripatetism, which adopted the aesthetic ideas of antiquity; jamal is represented as the concept of "proper" (i.e., a thing is beautiful if it is what it should be) [Smirnov, 2005, p. 131-132]. This discourse also includes a reflection in Arabic philosophy on the relationship between the external (zāhir) and the internal (bātin); if this relationship is harmonious, then the thing that has it is stable (thābit). One can draw an analogy between the Arabic philosophical category "stability" and the European one - "form" (affirmation is the thing itself (shay'), form is the thing itself [ibid., pp. 114-115].

The features of Arabic medieval aesthetics are vividly represented in ornaments (geometric-handasiya, vegetable-shajariya). Geometric ornament in Arab-Muslim art has the "openness" of form [ibid., p. 139], i.e. its component parts-rectangles, arcs and other figures "merge into each other", thus reflecting the principle of the world order, when a single whole is part of a larger unified whole, etc." Openness " is technically embodied in "the intersection of polygons, in the different dimensions of the radii of arcs" [ibid., p. 140]. Thus, the contemplating ornament is aware of many components in one seemingly organized image, which can be perceived in different combinations. Also common was an ornament "like a mosaic" (Naji Ma'ruf, 1964, p. 39). In Arabic sources, there are references to the most famous medieval schools of ornament. For example, there were three medieval schools in Iraq - al-sharabiya, al-mustansiriya, and al-marjāniya [ibid., p. 40].

The art of calligraphy, which was valued almost above all other arts, is closely connected with ornaments. It did not contradict Islamic norms in any way, but, on the contrary, allowed rewriting religious texts, capturing them in a beautiful form for posterity. Medieval Arabic sources do not mention the names of many prominent artists of that time-architects, artists, jewelers, but unlike them, the names of calligraphers are known. Among the founders of Arabic calligraphy are known ar-Raykhani (early 10th century), the creator of the style of the same name, who enjoyed the patronage of the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun (813-833), an admirer of sciences and arts; Ibn Muqla (886-940), who developed a system of font proportions; Ibn al-Bawwab (early 11th century), The last prominent Abbasid calligrapher was Yakut al-Musta'sim, who lived at the court of the last Abbasid Caliph al-Musta'sim (1242-1258), who was overthrown by the Mongols, and a special writing style was also named after him.

The reign of the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258) went down in the history of the Arab Caliphate as a period of economic prosperity, palace luxury, development of art, science and culture. The aesthetic views of that era, the" golden age "of the Middle East, were reflected in the concept of "the art of a beautiful life". At the origin of this trend is the singer Ziriab (Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Nafi', 789-857), who was forced to leave Iraq and move to Al-Andalus because of court intrigues in Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasids, where he founded a new style in aesthetics. Ziryab's innovations have affected

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poetry, music, clothing, furniture, dishes, culinary art, meal etiquette [Dyakov, 2008, p. 86]. Ziriab created a school of music and arts in Cordoba.

The main center of arts and crafts in the Abbasid Caliphate was the new capital of the empire, Baghdad, founded in 762 on the Tigris River, where the famous palaces of Caliph al-Mansur (754-775) were located - the Golden Gate or Green Dome, the Palace of Eternity, and also built for the future Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785) Rusafa Palace, palaces of the Barmakid vezir dynasty in Shammasiyyah, the Pleiades Palace of Caliph al-Mu'tadid (892-902) and the adjacent Korona Palace, completed under his successor Caliph al-Muqtafi (902-908), the Buwayhid Palace of Mu'izz'iyyah, named after the ruler Mu'izz ad-dawl (932 - 967). The palaces of the Abbasid nobility were decorated with the most outstanding works of decorative and applied art of that time.

The palace of Caliph al-Muqtadir (908 - 932) was particularly famous for its Hall with a tree (Dar al-shajar). Many medieval Arab authors describe this unique tree made of precious metals, for example: "Ibn al-Jawzi and al-Khatib al-Baghdadi mention a Hall with a tree in Baghdad during the reign of Caliph al-Muqtadir. This tree is made of silver weighing half a million dirhams, and it contains mobile and singing birds cast in silver. In the middle of the Hall with the tree was a round pool of clear water, [in the middle of which was a tree made of silver]. This tree has 18 branches, each with many small twigs. On the branches are many different types of birds, covered with silver or gold. Most of the tree branches are silver, but some of them are gilded. The branches sway from time to time, and they have colorful leaves that sway as if the wind is blowing on them" (Naji Ma'ruf, 1964, p. 36). This is not the only example of the achievements of medieval Abbasid goldsmiths. Also in this hall were a thousand curtains made of gilded brocade decorated with goblet designs; as well as an elephant, horses, camels, and lions.

The same Caliph al-Muqtadir had another remarkable work of art-a model of a village made of precious materials: "Ibn al-Jawzi writes that al-Muqtadir Abbasid had a village made of silver, worth hundreds of thousands of dirhams. It was made on the model of an ordinary village - with cows, sheep, camels, buffaloes, trees, plants, shovels, people and everything else that is in the village " [ibid.In the same series of works of Abbasid metalworking art is " a garden whose ground was lined with sheets of gilded silver, the soil of which was aloe, the trees were of gilded silver, and the fruits of these trees were of ambergris. The weight of this garden was three hundred and six ratles" (Naji Ma'ruf, 1964, p. 37).

Jewelry making was one of the most developed and revered crafts in the medieval Middle East. Not a single Abbasid holiday in the heyday of their state was complete without intricate pieces of jewelry. For example, in Baghdad, on a holiday in honor of the heir to the throne in the middle of the XII century, "goldsmiths" made "a dome on which moving figures of nobles were placed", on another "dome there were figures of moving horsemen on horses", and there was also a "dome with a sculpture of the sultan" [ibid., p. 38].

The Arab Caliphate had an abundance of natural sources of precious metals and stones, which served as an important incentive for the development of jewelry. The eastern regions of the Caliphate supplied silver, and gold was mined in Africa. Understanding the value of precious stones has changed over time. Medieval sources of the tenth century suggest the following classification as the value decreases: turquoise from Nishapur, yakhont from Ceylon, pearls from Oman, smaragd from Egypt, ruby from Yemen, bizadi from Balkh. The famous medieval scholar-encyclopedist, author of a special book on minerals Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973-1050) distributes dra-

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Precious stones are listed in the following order of importance: yakhont, smaragd, and zhemchug (Metz, 1973, p. 354). The situation changed by the 12th century, when ruby and turquoise were so widely used by the people that the nobility stopped using them as jewelry. Striped onyx from Yemen was also particularly popular for making trays, bowls, sword handles and knives. The history has preserved information about some outstanding precious stones. One of them was a huge ruby, which was owned by several ancient Persian monarchs in turn. This ruby was bought by Caliph Harun ar-Rashid (786-80) for 40,000 dinars, and on his orders, his name was written on it [Hitti, 1970, p. 347]. Caliph al-Muqtadir also became famous as the owner of unique pieces of precious stones, who got the aforementioned "Harun's ruby", a" unique pearl " weighing three miskals, and many other jewels. Precious stones and metals were used in official state ceremonies to demonstrate the wealth and power of the Caliphate. Historians mention two Caliphal festivals as the most memorable-a feast hosted by Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-861), and the wedding of Caliph al-Ma'mun (813-833), where gold trays inlaid with precious stones were used, and guests were showered with coins and pearls.

The masters of Sasanian Iran, who excelled in metalworking, became an example for the Arabs, who also achieved a lot in the production of exquisite works of art made of silver, gold, bronze, and copper. Objects were cast in molds, melted down using wax models or turned out. Many jugs have survived to this day. There are two main types of them, the first of which is dated from the exhibit stored in the Hermitage, made in the Iraqi city of Basra in 688/689 or 686/687. The second type includes, for example, the jug that is now in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, it has "a rounded body and a cylindrical neck with an openwork ornament at the top, and the spout is an open rooster's beak" [Brand, 2008, p.44-45]. Various metal incense burners are available at the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art. One of them, in the form of a bird, contains elements characteristic of Sasanian art, which is expressed, for example, in the characteristic processing of the wings.

Special skills in this area were achieved by Iranian masters. The collection of the British Museum in London contains a brass jug inlaid with silver, made in Khorasan at the beginning of the XIII century. On the jug there are images of birds of prey, along the corrugated body of the vessel from right to left there are screensavers based on the Zodiac signs: Mars on Aries; a musician, the symbol of Venus, on Taurus; Gemini with a scroll, Cancer and the Moon. The same museum also contains a golden wine bowl made in Iran in the XI century, with images of birds and palm trees, as well as an excerpt from a poem in which wine is compared to the sun on clothes made of Chinese red silk [Brand, 2008, p.119-1120]. The Iraqi (Syrian?)language dates back to the beginning of the 13th century. a copper candle holder inlaid with silver and red copper (Musee des Beaux-Arts de Lyon), with benevolent inscriptions on it, such as" eternal glory, growing luck, prosperity"," whoever owns this will win forever " [Bulletin des musées..., 1989, p. 29-31].

The Hermitage's collection also includes samples of jewelry from the time of Abbasid rule. For example, a silver pendant - an Iranian amulet of the XI-XII centuries. in the form of a crescent moon, containing an inscription in Kufi's handwriting - "full blessing and full prosperity", and images of two peacocks facing each other. At the same time, there is a gold Iranian seal ring with the name 'Umar ibn Ahmad written in Naskh's handwriting, and two silver bracelets with stylized images of birds, palm trees and plant ornaments around the edges, as well as with a benevolent inscription in Kufi's handwriting "glory and happiness". Also in the Hermitage collection is a silver ring with a carnelian seal (late 12th-early 13th centuries).

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from Iran, on which the names of the Prophet Muhammad and Shiite imams are carved in carnelian. The same period as the ring includes gold earrings in the form of a wide lunnitsa with filigree ornaments and one gold earring in the form of a high bow of Persian work [Ivanov, Lukonin, Smesova, 1984, p. 26-27].

Oriental artisans achieved a special skill in carpet weaving, which glorified the decorative and applied arts of Iran, Asia Minor,Transcaucasia and other areas of the Arab Caliphate far beyond the Middle East. Garden motifs and hunting scenes were popular subjects for decorating palace carpets. The most beautiful works were made for the caliphs and nobles. For example, it is known that the carpet of the mother of the Abbasid Caliph Musta'in (862-866), made by order especially for her, was decorated with images of birds made of gold, which were used to indicate the eyes of various precious stones [Hitti, 1970, p. 345]. The most valued wool carpets were divided into three main types according to the place of production - Persian, Armenian and Bukhara. In the Persian region of Fars, peasant carpets made in the susanjird technique were woven [Metz, 1973, p. 369]. Armenian carpets decorated the palace of Caliph Harun ar-Rashid. Bukhara was also famous for its embroidered prayer mats. London's Victoria and Albert Museum is the owner of the most valuable fragments that have survived from the Tunisian silk carpet of the VII-VIII centuries: rows of circles are placed on a red background. In each circle, a floral pattern is woven in gold and green threads, and an inscription with the name of Caliph Marwan is also presented. The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo houses a fragment of one of the oldest surviving Islamic carpets, which dates back to the 9th century.

Almost every area of the Abbasid Caliphate specialized in its characteristic types of fabrics, many of which were valued as works of art. The most luxurious fabrics were produced in special workshops-dar at-tiraz, where the name of the ruling caliph or other customer was indicated on the fabrics produced there (Serjeant, 1972, p. 15). Such items were usually intended for honorary gifts. Under the Abbasids, the custom of giving honorary clothing (khil'a) appeared [Balfour-Paul, 1997, p. 15]. In Egypt, under the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu'izz (953-975), a special storage facility was established for the caliph's fabrics and clothing - dar al - kiswa. Veziris and other representatives of the nobility also had similar stores of clothing (Semenova, 1974, p. 64). Among the caliph's inner circle in the Abbasid Caliphate, black became fashionable [Balfour-Paul, 1997, p. 15], which became the prerogative of high society; other residents could not wear black. The Abbasid predilection for black was reflected in the fashion of Fatimid Egypt, the local nobility avoided this color, preferring gold, blue, and white [ibid., p. 16].

Textile production has been developed since ancient times in Egypt, which after its conquest by the Arabs preserved ancient technologies. Most of the fabric production in Egypt in the Middle Ages was in the hands of Coptic Christians [Weimarn, Kaptereva, Podolsky, 1960, p. 120]. On the example of the evolution of Coptic fabrics, we can trace the process of transformation of Hellenistic traditions into Arab Muslim ones, which was mainly reflected in the change of ornament. Fabrics of the seventh and ninth centuries were decorated with rather large ornaments with realistic images of animals, which were gradually replaced in the tenth and twelfth centuries by smaller and more schematic ones (Shandrovskaya, 1960, p. 139). The Fatimids (969-1171) became the ruling dynasty in Egypt from the middle of the tenth century, finally separating the country from the rest of the territory formally subordinated to the Abbasids. Elements of the "Coptic Renaissance" in Fatimid art can be seen in the example of fabrics from this period; they are " woven with gold and colored silks. On some, wide borders consist of many multi-colored stripes filled with animal figures, plant motifs, and inscriptions. On the main field, images of birds and animals are placed in lozenges formed by weaving a wide golden stripe" (Weimarn, 1974, p.27). Egyptian fabrics after the Fatimid period (12th century)

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changes are taking place, traditional kufi inscriptions are being executed in naskh handwriting, the drawing is becoming schematic, and a gold background is becoming common. Embroidery was also widely used during this period. In the XIII-XIV centuries. Egyptian fabrics were mostly covered with geometric patterns (Weimarn, Kaptereva, and Podolsky, 1960, p. 124).

The main cities of textile production in Egypt, known for their fabrics in the Byzantine period, were Alexandria, Damietta, Shata, Tinnis. Under the Fatimids, a new type of cloth was produced in Egypt - khosrowani (i.e. "similar to the fabrics of the time of Khosrow Anushirvan"), which indicates an ongoing interest in samples of ancient Iranian applied art. During the Ayyubid dynasty (1169-1250)," the breakdown of the Fatimid system of strict state regulation of all branches of the economy contributed to an increase in the business activity of the direct producer " [Semenova, 1966, p.159]. Under the Ayyubids, the demand for handicraft products increased, which led to the emergence of new techniques. For example, in the XII century, in addition to tapestry techniques, weaving began to use simpler ones - taping and embroidery on a stencil [ibid., p. 160]. In Tinnis, especially for the Caliph, they produced precious clothing "badana", which was immediately woven in the form of vestments so that it was not necessary to cut it or sew it; one of its types contained flax, and most of it was made up of gold thread, the cost of such clothing was a thousand dinars [Metz, 1973, p. 366]. Also, in the Caliphate, Iranian fabrics are of particular importance.

Iran was a traditional producer of silk fabrics, and the Caspian regions were the centers of sericulture. White linen cloth was produced in the town of Kazerun in the Fars region. The method of making it is interesting. Linen threads were bleached in the water of the Rahban Canal before being woven into a cloth, and only in its waters did they acquire the desired white color [ibid., p. 367]. The main centers of cotton fabric production were located in the eastern Iranian cities of Merv, Nishapur, and Bam. Abbasid fabrics were traditionally decorated with embroidery, painting or printing. With the help of a special weave, two-layer fabrics were woven. For example, in the Lorraine Historical Museum in Nancy there is a silk cloth of the VIII-IX centuries with the image of two lions produced by the famous Bukhara suburb-Zandana.

The development of textile production under the Abbasids influenced Arab aesthetics in general, reflected in the features of the artistic design of ceramics, architectural decor, and the art of book binding [Balfbur-Paul, 1997, p. 121].

Unique objects of the Abbasid era, made of glass and rock crystal, deserve mention. The glass products of Syria, where the ancient Phoenician traditions of glass processing with centers in Tyre and Sidon are preserved, are characterized by an ornament in the form of protruding circles, handles and threads that create a wavy surface of the vessel. Fine decorative ornaments on the glass with the image of animals, palmettes, geometric patterns were engraved using grinding wheels. The technique of gilding glass was also used, sometimes gold was fused into the glass. A chandelier covering was also common, for which a suspension of metal oxide and vinegar was applied to the object; the earliest example of using this technique is the cup (772), stored in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (Metz, 1973, p. 50). A glass bowl made in Iran in the IX-X centuries. (Memorial Museum of Islamic Art of Jerusalem), covered with a carved image. The ninth-century glass bowl is also an excellent example. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) with a multi-colored chandelier ornament, an elegant red kufic inscription runs around its upper part, and palm trees in cartouches are depicted on the sides. In the collection of the British Museum there is a typical Abbasid period cup of IX century. made of rock crystal with an engraved ornament in the form of whole and truncated vertical palmettes. For Fatimid Egypt products made of mountain wood

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crystal crystals, which served as prototypes of similar products in Europe, are one of the main achievements of decorative and applied art of this historical period. In the Hermitage there is a crystal vessel in the form of a ladle, decorated with swirls, possibly a lamp. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London also presents a beautiful example of an Egyptian rock crystal jug, which depicts a flying bird and a goat (Metz, 1973, p.78).

Another type of Abbasid art was wood, stone, and ivory carving. The Alhambra Palace in Andalusia, with its Lion and Myrtle Courtyards, is considered the pinnacle of the medieval Arab art of stone and wood carving. The mosques have preserved mihrabs (niches pointing in the direction of Mecca), with wonderful carvings on wood, marble, knock, and various types of stone. Striking in its subtlety objects made of ivory. For example, in Berlin, the Museum of Islamic Art houses carved ivory plates from the beginning of the XII century, intended for decorating furniture. These plates depict hunting scenes, musicians, people drinking wine, horsemen with falcons in their hands; all these figures are carved against the background of intertwining leaves and clusters of vines. Of great interest are the ivory caskets, which are traditionally decorated with ornamental inscriptions and plant and animal motifs. In the Cairo National Museum, you can see several carved wooden panels from the Fatimid period; they depict animals: a deer attacked by monsters; hares caught by eagles; pairs of birds facing each other.

A large number of different examples of Abbasid ceramics have survived to this day. The rather modest design of Arabic ceramics of the pre-Abbasid period in the 9th century is replaced by a new type of ceramics, which surpasses all previous samples in quality [Hallett, 2008, p. 22]. The reason for this progress in pottery was the international trade that flourished under the Abbasids, namely trade with China, a recognized leader in the manufacture of porcelain. The export of Chinese ceramics to the Arab Caliphate fundamentally changed the ideas and tastes of Abbasid society. Arab potters began to try to get as close as possible to the ideal of Chinese designs, first of all imitating the shiny smooth surface of porcelain.

This was difficult to achieve in Iraq, the central province of the Caliphate, where the main connoisseurs of art objects - the Caliph and his court-were located, as well as the main center of ceramic production - the commercial city of Basra, which, in turn, was famous for carving precious stones, rock crystal, pearl processing, gilding mirrors and preparing pigments [ibid., p. 24]. Iraqi craftsmen did not have clay of the right quality, did not have a special firing technology. All these technological obstacles were overcome by purely external copying of whiteness and imitation of the shape of Chinese ceramics. To get rid of the yellowish tint of the clay available to Iraqis, they covered it with a white opaque lead glaze with an admixture of tin oxide. Soon the white surface was decorated with a dark blue cobalt ornament in the style of "blue on white". From the second quarter of the 9th century, manufacturers of Iraqi ceramics began to sign their works [ibid., p. 22]. In imitation of Chinese polychrome stone products of the VIII century. Arab masters covered the ceramics with a thin layer of white angob, colorless glaze and sprayed its surface with colored glaze, which spread out in spots [Brand, 2008, p. 52].

Artistic borrowing between the Arabs and China was not one-sided. As a result of archaeological excavations in the Chinese city of Changsha, samples of ceramics with Arabic inscriptions were discovered, which indicates the mutual penetration of ideas. The influence of Arabic ceramics on Chinese is even more clearly shown by the finds in the port of Yangzhou, where the first samples of Chinese ceramics made in the "blue on white" technique were discovered, the painting of which includes:

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in addition to traditional floral motifs, there are also purely Middle Eastern geometric elements. The Arabic influence in Chinese ceramics is also noticeable in pseudo-Arabic calligraphy and in the radial placement of rosettes or floral motifs [Hallett, 2008, p. 25]. Perhaps the Chinese made these items specifically for export, focusing on the tastes of the Abbasid nobility.

Examples of early unglazed Abbasid pottery, which had a yellow-brown color and was decorated with plant ornaments, have come down to us. The National Museum of Damascus has a valuable specimen-an unglazed thin-walled bowl containing an inscription with the name of its creator - Ibrahim the Christian, who made this bowl for the son of Caliph al-Mansur Sulaiman [Brand, 2008, p. 51]. The ceramics were also covered with lead glaze, painted in green, amber, brown and purple colors. It was also practiced to cover the chandelier, which required re-firing the product at a lower temperature (in Iran, because of this, the metallic luster of the chandelier was called "the color of two lights" - rank-e before ateshi) [Sauvaget, 2003, p. 93]. The multicolored chandelier was popular - red, brown, green, golden, and purple. Copper oxide was used to give the product various shades - from muted to very bright; when it interacts with the lead contained in the glaze, green color was obtained, if the glaze contained alkali - bright blue, and if lead and alkali were present together, a turquoise hue could be achieved. Cobalt oxide was needed for staining in blue, magnesium oxide-in dark brown (when reacting with alkali-purple, with iron-black), iron oxide-in yellow (in combination with magnesium oxide-black), tin oxide-in white, antimony oxide - in light yellow [ibid., p. 88-89]. By the middle of the 9th century, the chandelier was mostly brown and yellow, and by the end of the 9th century, vessels were decorated with a monochrome greenish-yellow chandelier.

In Egypt, chandelier ceramics flourished during the Fatimid dynasty, and there is a tendency to turn to the Sasanian heritage [Hitti, 1970, p. 631]. Products of this period were made using the reserve technique, and inscriptions of deciduous and floral kufi are often found. The subjects of the paintings on the chandelier ceramics were, as a rule, scenes from court life, it is noteworthy that on the folds of the honorary clothing of the dignitaries depicted, you can even read a small inscription tiraz containing the name of the caliph who gave this elegant clothing. As an example of such chandelier ceramics, we can cite an Egyptian dish of the XI century from the collection of the Benaki Museum in Athens, on which a chandelier is applied over white glaze and figures of nobles are made in reserve. On the rim and bottom of this dish there is an inscription with the author's name - Muslim (Muslim ibn ad-Dahhan al-Hakimi, who worked at the court of Caliph al-Hakim) [Brand, 2008, p. 84].

Special interest in ceramics in the X-XII centuries was in the eastern regions of the Caliphate, where major centers of pottery production were Samarkand and Nishapur. Local red clay was covered with a white angob, along which an ornament in the form of palmettes was cut, then the surface was covered with colored spots of glaze, an example of this technique is a clay bowl from Nishapur of the X century (British Museum, London). There are dishes with inscriptions in the style of oriental kufi on top of black angob. The State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow has a large collection of Central Asian ceramics from the Abbasid period. For example, a glazed bowl of the X-XII centuries from Samarkand, covered with polychrome underglaze painting [State Museum..., 1988, p. 36]. At the end of the 12th century, a remarkable minai or haft rang (seven-color) pottery appeared in Iran, requiring at least two kilns-with over-and under-glaze painting. In the same Moscow collection there is an Iranian earthenware bowl of the XII century (Rey), gilded and painted with enamels in the "minai" technique. It shows figures of people in red, gray and blue clothes on a light background with gilding. The composition is built in a circle and has a similarity with mi-

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niature painting. This technique is also used to make a dish of the XII century (Kashan), stored in the British Museum in London. It is covered with frit glaze, and the minai ornament includes an image of a group of people-a man and a group of women surrounding him, sitting in front of a pond in a garden with trees, along the rim of the dish there is an inscription.

Thus, the rule of the Abbasids in the Arab Caliphate was accompanied, in addition to political and economic prosperity, by the emergence and development of a special aesthetic - the "art of a beautiful life". The Abbasid era for the Arabs is the "golden age" of artistic creation, which became the highest role model for Middle Eastern masters of subsequent centuries.

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Brand B. Iskusstvo islama [The Art of Islam]. Moscow: FAIR, 2008.

Weimarn B., Kaptereva T., Podolsky A. Iskusstvo arabnykh narodov [The Art of Arab Peoples]. Moscow: 1960.

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Balfour-Paul J. Indigo in the Arab World. Richmond: Curzon Pr., 1997.

Bulletin des musées et monuments lyonnais. 1989. N 2.

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Naji Ma'ruf. 'Urubat al-mudun al-islamiya. Baghdad: Al-'Ani, 1964.

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