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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World
Brown University
Box 1837 / 60 George Street
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: (401) 863-3188
Fax: (401) 863-9423
Joukowsky_Institute@brown.edu
Khassa, from خاص, (literally, special) was the elite class within Islamic civilizations. This group rose to prominence during the Abbasid caliphate, and became a major generator of new forms of culture, behavior, and style. The Khassa is also the social circle in which more limited social practices occurred (such as female seclusion, or the Harem, consumption of alcohol, and artistic patronage of poetry and music). Particularly for the highest of this circle (the Caliphs), the level of consumption was incredibly high, as moveable, luxury furnishings were a display of wealth instead of particularly well-defined architecture.
Posted at Apr 12/2009 09:14AM:
ian: Had the Muslim world become Persian in its taste for luxury and sense of class?