Abstract
In this paper we will explore two nine- and twelvepointed Islamic star polygon patterns consisting of “nearly regular” nine-pointed, regular twelve-pointed and irregularly-shaped pentagonal star polygons. The two designs are similar in that they may both be classified mathematically as being p6m patterns with the major star polygons placed in identical locations within each layout; however, the structure of the major stars is quite different. Both of the patterns considered here are of Persian origin. The first design may be found as a repeat unit sketch of the Tashkent Scrolls, and exists as a Timurid-style stone inlay and mosaic tiling in India. The second pattern may be found as Plate 120 of Bourgoin’s Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design and exists as a stucco/plasterwork ceiling in the Mausoleum of Sultan Oljaytu in Sultaniyeh, Iran, as well as numerous other locations across the Islamic world. Both patterns may be recreated via plausible Euclidean “point-joining” constructions (that is, using only the methods available to medieval artisans) in an attempt to ascertain how the original designers of these patterns may have determined the proportion and placement of the stars.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berggren J. L. (1986) Episodes in the Mathematics of Medieval Islam. Springer-Verlag, New York
Bourgoin Jules. (1973) Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design (1879). Dover Publications, New York
Clévenot Dominique. (2000) Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design. The Vendome Press, New York
Necipoğlu Gülru. 1992. Geometric Design in Timurid/Turkmen Architectural Practice: Thoughts on a Recently Discovered Scroll and Its Late Gothic Parallels. Pp. 48-67 in Timurid Art and Culture: Iran and Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century, Lisa Golombek and Maria Subtelny, eds. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Necipoğlu Gülru. 1995. The Topkapı Scroll: Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture: Topkapı Palace Museum Library MS H. 1956. Santa Monica: The Getty Center for the History of Art and Humanities.
Özdural Alpay. (1995) Omar Khayyam, Mathematicians, and Conversazioni with Artisans. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 54: 54–71
Özdural Alpay. (2000) Mathematics and Art: Connections between Theory and Practice in the Medieval Islamic World. Historia Mathematica 27: 171–201
Sarhangi, Reza. 2007. Geometric Constructions and their Arts in Historical Perspective. Pp. 233- 240 in Bridges Donostia, Conference Proceedings , The University of the Basque County, San Sebastian, Spain, Reza Sarhangi and Javier Barrallo, eds. London: Tarquin Publications.
Volwahsen, Andreas. 1994. Islamic India, Vol. 8. Henri Stierlin, ed. New York: Sterling Publishing.
[Wade] Pattern in Islamic Art: The Wade Photo Archive, available at http://www.patterninislamicart.com. Last accessed 11 April 2012.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Bodner, B.L. From Sultaniyeh to Tashkent Scrolls: Euclidean Constructions of Two Nine- and Twelve-Pointed Interlocking Star Polygon Designs. Nexus Netw J 14, 307–332 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-012-0111-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-012-0111-y