The role of women in Medieval Islamic Music Art based on pottery designs

Abstract

Music in Iran has a long history. In the early Islamic period, music was denounced. In the Umayyad period, music still faced opposition from some jurisprudents and a group of Muslims. But in the next century, due to positive attitude of governments as well as scientific attitudes of many scholars and scientists of that era, arts received public attention. The design of women was carved on clay during the Seljuk and Ilkhanid for many reasons. These designs can be a valuable resource to check the state of music and social status of women. This article, studying pottery designs in the Medieval Islamic eralocated in the artistic treasures and based on ancient texts, aims to examine the social status of women and their role in the evolution of music art during that era. The current research is fundamental in terms of purpose and historical-analytical in terms of method. Data collection was performed using historical-library resources. Furthermore, pottery samples of museums during different periods, especially in medieval Islam with respect to central role of woman, have been analyzed. The results show that many musicians of the period, especially female musicians, had an appropriate social status. Moreover, ceramic designs of this period show that women played instruments such as strings and percussion more.

Keywords

• islam in the middle ages
• music
• pottery
• woman