The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art

The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art presents the extensive collections of Antonis Benakis, who was born in Egypt and later moved to Greece. The museum is located relatively close to the Acropolis, and the Kerameikos neighborhood has other archaeological sites and a museum as well.

Museum of Islamic Art. March 2022. Photo by OI

 
I visited the Museum of Islamic Art on Sunday. While transferring from Monastiraki metro station to the museum, one could walk through a vast and interesting antique market area. The museum building is an old neoclassical urban mansion, and the exhibition is spread across several floors. The historical layers of the area are illustrated by the preserved and exhibited part of Athens' old defense wall in the basement, built in preparation for the Macedonian invasion.

Preserved defensive structures in the basement. Photo by OI


The exhibition is aesthetically well-crafted. The collection appears to be somewhat fragmentary, as collector's collections often are. The exhibition has decided to showcase beautiful groups of objects and individual artifacts. The history of Islam is extensive, and some kind of chronology is reached with each floor of the exhibition presenting a map illustrating the Islamic world during different periods.

Islamic world around 1300
Exhibition hall. Photo by OI
The use of firearms spread to the Muslim world in the mid-15th century. When the Ottoman Turks adopted them, it brought radical changes to the previously employed military tactics. Firearms, swords, and daggers from Turkey, Iran, Arabia, and the Balkans, 1500–2000 CE.
Decorative tiling from the Ottoman sultans' summer palace in Edirne (Adrianople). Iznik, second half of the 16th century. The palace was destroyed in 1887/88 during the city's Russian occupation, and the tiles scattered to private collections and museums in Western Europe. The reconstruction combines tiles borrowed from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon with tiles held by the Benaki Museum. Complementary painted parts are based on panel sections from other museums. On loan from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon.
Silk adorned with scenes of animal battles, woven with multicolored and metallic threads. Iran, early 17th century. The pattern consists of small flowers, lotus blossoms, palmettes, deer, and wild animals. According to the museum's object text, the scenes depict a Chinese dragon attacking a bull, as well as a cheetah and an onager. The excellent quality of the fabric and the nearly miniature size of the recurring motifs suggest that it is a creation from the early Safavid period. Detail from the silk fabric.
Brass astrolabe and ivory quadrant. Syria, 1328/9 and 1340/1. The astrolabe was made for Muhammad al-Tanuhhi by the astronomer Ahmad ibn al-Sarraj. The inscription indicates the manufacturing date as 729 (1328/9), with four names of later owners. According to the museum, this is the only known example of a universal astrolabe, an invention of Muslim astronomers that continues the tradition of the ancient Greek astrolabe. The quadrant (a simplified version of the astrolabe) bears the name Abu Tahir and the date 741 (1340/1).
Gold jewelry, Spain, Egypt, Syria, and Iran, 8th–12th centuries.
Parchment with a quote from the Quran. North Africa, 9th century. The excerpt is from the tenth chapter of the Quran, "Jonah," written in Kufic script.


At the time of the visit, there was a changing exhibition related to ceramics. It did not have a separate space but was distributed among the permanent exhibition.

On the top floor of the museum, there was a small cafe and terrace. The cafe was pleasant, like most cafes in Athens' museums. Coffee cost almost four euros, which is quite expensive in Athens. Customers seemed on a Sunday and before the tourist season to be local residents.

Cafe in March 2022. Photo by OI.
Location: Ag. Asomaton 12, Athina 105 53, Kreikka

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

National Archaeological Museum

Image
If someone interested in ancient Greek civilization were to visit only one museum in Athens besides the Acropolis, the destination could be the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. NAM is the largest museum in Greece and one of the most significant museums in the world dedicated to the cultural heritage of the Mediterranean and antiquity.   Archaeological Museum, March 2022. Photo OI  The museum was founded in 1886, and the building was inaugurated in 1889. Designed by the German architect Ernst Ziller, the structure follows the tradition of Berlin’s Altes Museum and the grand neoclassical museums built thereafter, as well as the neoclassical architecture of Athens created by the Hansen brothers. Ziller (1837–1923) was a major figure in late 19th-century Greek architecture, with over 500 buildings to his name. He also designed an elegant private residence for Heinrich Schliemann, which now houses the Numismatic Museum. Photo from the museum brochure The Archaeological Mus...
Read more

Roman Agora and The Tower of the Winds

Image
During the Roman era, a new commercial center emerged in Athens, known as the Roman Agora. It was built between 19 and 11 BCE, as the older Greek and Hellenistic era Agora had become filled with various activities. The Roman Agora was designated for commercial activities. The western entrance of the Roman Agora, the Athena Archegetis Gate, photographed in March 2022. The picture was taken from inside the Agora. Photo: OI An image on an information board showing the buildings in the area. The old Agora is in the foreground, and the Roman Agora is depicted in color. In the lower part of the information board is the Athena Archegetis Gate. To the right is the Church of Sotira near Pazaroporta, and in the background are the churches of Taxiarchs and Prophitis Ilias. (Chr. Hansen, 1833) The Roman Agora and other key ancient archaeological sites placed on the current map of Athens. The image is from an information board. A combined ticket provides access to these sites. The map also indicate...
Read more