Emamieh school

It is one of the earliest known madrasas in Iran, its construction being dated to 1325, in the final Ilkhanid period. Its size is 92 by 72 meters.^[1] The madrasa consists in a typical Seljuk-type courtyard in baked-brick, with four iwans in the center of each internal side, which have cells for student accommodation.^[1] The central space is for prayer and study.^[1] Next to it was the tomb of the theologian Baba Qasim, erected by Abu al-Hasan al Talut al Damghani in 1340-41. It was lost in the 19th century, and was rebuilt as part of the madrasa.^[1]

From an architectural and stylistic standpoint, the Emamieh school is considered as belonging to the "Ilkhanid era".^[2]

The building was tiled by the Sheikh Mohammad ebn-e Omar, whose name was mentioned on the inscriptions of the school.^[3] The inscription in the courtyard gives a date of 1354–55 CE during the Injuid period, at a time just before the city fell to the Muzaffarids in 1356–57.^[4] A remarkable mihrab in mo'araq cut-tile mosaic is attributed to this date, and was recovered from the madrasa: it is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.^[4] The mihrab is considered as a masterpiece of mo'araq technique, a type of decorative technique started during the Ilkhanid period in the early 14th century in the cities of Sham, Tabriz and Sultaniyya.^[4]

Imami Madrasa in Isfahan, established at the end of the Ilkhanid period in 1325

The Mihrab. Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[4]

• List of the historical structures in the Isfahan province