An Introduction to and Examination of Arabesque Motifs in the Decorations of Islamic Period (A critique of the book “Eslimi and Medallions ”)

Arabesque is one of the most eminent ornamentations of Islamic art. Though based on existing documents this form of decoration dates back to the Sassanid era, some researchers have regarded interlacing forms as arabesque and traced their origin to ancient Greece and Rome. In Iran, the rise of Arabesque began in the Seljuk period and came to its prominence in the Safavid period. Taking an evolutionary approach to arabesque through time, this study aims to introduce the oldest examples of this pattern in Iranian decoration, which later were borrowed by other areas in the Islamic world.  In this research, a historical-analytical method was used to analyze the collected data from library documents, texts, and images. In this regard, scrutinizing the book entitled “Arabesque and Signs” that contains several contradictory comments on Arabesque was taken into consideration to resolve ambiguities.