West & Central Asia
What this unit covers
The topics below follow the published Art History course framework for Unit 7. This unit is worth 4% of the exam, so budget your time against that rather than against how long the unit takes to teach.
Lessons in this unit
- Sacred Architecture of West & Central Asia14 min · 3 objectivesDescribe the forms and functions of major mosques and shrines and their key components · Explain how the Dome of the Rock unites Byzantine, Roman, and early Islamic ideas · Analyze how architecture expresses faith through orientation, light, and non-figural ornament
- The Arts of the Book & Luxury Object14 min · 3 objectivesExplain the central role of calligraphy and the illustrated manuscript in Islamic art · Describe the techniques and courtly functions of Persian miniature painting and metalwork · Analyze how the Ardabil Carpet embodies design, devotion, and imperial patronage
Every term in Unit 7
All 8 terms we publish for West & Central Asia, with definitions. Reading them through is the fastest way to find the ones you cannot define — then drill those in cram mode until you can produce them without the prompt.
- Petra, Treasury and Great Temple
- Nabataean Jordan, c. 400 BCE–100 CE, cut rock. A Hellenistic facade carved INTO the cliff rather than built — subtractive architecture on a monumental scale.
- Buddha, Bamiyan
- Gandharan Afghanistan, c. 400–800 CE, cut rock with plaster and polychrome. Greco-Roman drapery on a Buddhist subject. Destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, so the site now also documents iconoclasm.
- Dome of the Rock
- Jerusalem, 691–692 CE. A centrally planned Islamic monument over a site sacred to three faiths, with calligraphy replacing figural imagery.
- Great Mosque, Isfahan
- Iran, 700s–1700s. A four-iwan plan and centuries of accretion, with muqarnas vaulting dissolving structure into geometric light.
- Basin (Baptistère de St. Louis)
- Muhammad ibn al-Zain, c. 1320–1340, brass with silver and gold inlay. An Islamic object later used for French royal baptisms — objects outlive their intended contexts.
- Bahram Gur Fights the Karg
- Great Il-Khanid Shahnama, c. 1330–1340, ink and gold on paper. Persian manuscript painting: high viewpoint, no cast shadows, figures overlapping a patterned ground.
- The Court of Gayumars
- Sultan Muhammad, c. 1522–1525, ink and gold on paper. Safavid court painting so fine that figures hide in the rocks, rewarding prolonged looking.
- Mosque of Selim II
- Sinan, Edirne, 1568–1575. A dome wider than Hagia Sophia's on eight piers, with pencil minarets — the Ottoman answer to Byzantium.
What examiners penalize here
- Learn the mosque vocabulary cold: **qibla** (direction to Mecca), **mihrab** (niche marking it), **minbar** (pulpit), **minaret** (call-to-prayer tower), and **iwan** (vaulted hall). Precisely naming these components — and what each does — is frequently the difference-maker on architecture questions for this content area.
Practice Art History
Our practice bank is drawn from across the whole course rather than filtered to one unit, which is closer to how the exam asks anyway — it will not tell you which unit a question is testing.
Questions about this unit
How much of the AP Art History exam is Unit 7?
Unit 7, West & Central Asia, is worth 4% of the Art History multiple-choice section according to the published course framework. Across all 10 units that makes it one of the lighter units, so it is not where a review phase should start.
What topics are covered in Art History Unit 7?
West & Central Asia covers Islamic art, Architecture, Calligraphy and Textiles. We publish 8 terms with definitions for this unit, all of them on this page.
How should I study Art History Unit 7?
Read the 2 lessons below first — about 30 minutes — then drill the 8 terms in cram mode until you can produce each definition from memory rather than just recognize it. Recognition is what makes a unit feel finished when it is not. Finish with practice questions and read the explanation for every one you get right by elimination as well as the ones you miss.
All 10 units of AP Art History
Unit names, topics and exam weights follow the published College Board course framework for AP Art History. AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which does not endorse this site.