The Art of
the Umayyad Period (661–750)
EWER
(8th–early 9th century)
After the death of
Muhammad in 632, a series of four caliphs (Arabic: khalifa,
"successor"), known as the Rightly Guided, succeeded. Under their
command, the Arab armies carried the new faith from Arabia to the shores of the
Mediterranean and to the eastern reaches of Iran. However, following the
assassination of cAli ibn Abi Talib—Muhammad's cousin, son-in-law, and fourth
caliph (r. 656–61)—in 661, Muawiyah, the governor of Syria under the Rightly
Guided Caliphs, seized power and established the Umayyad caliphate, the first
Islamic dynasty (661–750). During Muawiyah's reign (661–80), the seat of
Islamic power was transferred from the Arabian Peninsula to Syria.
Under
Muawiyah's successors, the important historic city of Damascus was transformed
into the capital of an empire that extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Indus River.
The Umayyad period
is often considered the formative period in Islamic art. At first, even though
Arabic became the official language and Islam the principal religion of the
diverse lands unified under Umayyad rule, artists continued to work in their
established manner. The main artistic influence came from the late antique
classical naturalistic tradition, which had been prevalent on the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean. This was also supplemented by the more formal
modes developed by the Byzantines and Sasanians, a factor that especially
affected metalwork, textiles, and the depiction of animal, vegetal, and figural
motifs. With time, however, artists developed new techniques, forms, and
decorative conventions that distinguished their works from earlier ones. Thus,
through a process of adoption, adaptation, and creation, a new sense of
artistic expression emerged that became distinctly Islamic in character shortly
after the demise of the Umayyad dynasty.
As with the arts, the Umayyad
period was also critical in the development of Islamic architecture. While
earlier architectural traditions continued, the requirements of the new
religion and customs of the new Arab rulers necessitated a different usage of
space. In the case of religious buildings, the Umayyads often constructed their
monuments on sites of historical or symbolic significance.
The Dome of the Rock
in Jerusalem (691), the first major Umayyad architectural undertaking completed
under the patronage of the caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), was built on a
prominent site formerly occupied by Solomon's Temple and later associated with
Muhammad's ascent to heaven. Other renowned religious buildings from the
Umayyad period date from the reign of al-Walid (r. 705–15) and include the
enlarged mosque in Medina (706–10), the former house of Muhammad.
Also
significant are the mosques of Damascus (706), where the site of the former
Roman temple and fourth-century Byzantine church dedicated to Saint John the
Baptist was transformed into the congregational mosque of the Umayyad capital,
and of Jerusalem (709–15). In terms of secular architecture, Umayyad desert
palaces such as Mshatta, Qasr cAmra (Jordan), cAnjar (Lebanon), Khirbat
al-Mafjar (Palestine), and Qasr al-Hayr East and West (Syria) (all ca.
700–750), are a testimony to the wealth of their patrons and the creativity of
Umayyad architects.
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