The structure and visual characteristics of Kufic inscriptions Imamzadeh Abdullah Shoushtar

Around the third century A.H., the Kufic script was used as decoration in Islamic architecture. Various types of Kufic script were developed until about the seventh century AH. Some characteristics such as flexibility, variety of letters in word composition, different thicknesses, uppercase letters, and combination of letters with herbal motifs, geometric motifs, and sometimes simple ones led to the expansion of Kufic script during the third century till the seventh. Most samples of Kufic script including simple, gol-dar, barg-dar, and greh-dar ones can be observed in brickwork and moldings during Saljuqi and Ilkhani period. The Kufic script into Imamzadeh Abdullah Shoushtar remained from the Ilkhani Period (according to the history of inscriptions) in which the building is related to the initial centuries of Islam and is rebuilt in the next periods. Today, the building of this shrine consists of the tomb of Imamzadeh Abdullah, the tomb of Moayed bin Al-Musafer, and the tomb of Bibi Gazideh. The entrance of the tomb of Imamzadeh Abdullah and Moayed bin Al-Musafer includes inscriptions in simple and Barg-dar Kufic script which also includes brick and stucco inscriptions. The question is what are the components of the Kufic script used in this building and what are the features and visual capabilities of its components? This research is a descriptive-analytical method and examines and analyzes the Kufic inscriptions of the Imamzadeh Abdullah collection. It deals with the aspects of calligraphy rules and visual qualities in the visual arts. The method of collecting information is library and field research. The analysis was performed using photographed images as well as drawing inscriptions in that place. According to the division of the Kufic script into three main parts of the writing system, plant and geometric, it examines the writing system in the Kufic inscriptions of Imamzadeh Abdullah. Achieves the structure and features of the writing system. By providing systematic examples, the capabilities and structural features of the Kufic script are examined in the field of inscription. Studies show that the brick inscription at the entrance of Imamzadeh Abdullah includes the written system. The space of the written system of this inscription is equal to the space of vertical stretches of high-pitched letters such as (الف). In the written system, it is another systematic structure that includes seat lines and guidelines. The conjunctions of the letters in the words and finally in the sentence are created on the four-seat lines, which can be considered as the background seat lines. Because on these lines the connections of letters are formed with each other. These multiple seat lines cause single-letter connections to move and ultimately move the horizontal lines of word connections in the inscription. In addition to the seat lines, the guidelines of the letters are also in this inscription, which is the end line of the drawings and the end line of the letters so that the whole inscription does not come out of these lines. The beginning of the letters like (الف) All started from the guideline other letters like (ن), (ح) in some cases the same height as (الف) is terminated. The beginning of the letters like (الف), (ل), (ط) have started from an initial line and some letters of the inscription such as(ح), (ج), (خ), (د), (ر), (ی) in Some words end in the same height as (الف), which in some cases has been accompanied by a combination of Islamic motifs. The space between the letters (الف) is filled with the letter (لا), which creates a positive and negative space between the drawings of the high-pitched letters and creates the rhythm of the spaces in the inscription. Visual qualities such as the type of writing space, the formal composition, rhythm, and balancing positive and negative spaces are regarded in Kufic inscriptions of Imamzadeh Abdullah. Simple Kufic inscriptions follow the writing system and have the most creativity in designing the letters in the writing system than the other parts of the inscriptions.