Arts of the Islamic World (early period): Umayyad

Base of the dome, Dome of the Rock, 687, Jerusalem (photo: Virtutepetens, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Dome of the Rock, 687, Jerusalem (photo: Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis)
Dome of the Rock

The most important artwork is the dome of rock in Jerusalem. This includes Coptic, Sassanian, Byzantine elements in its decorativeness. This was created in 691. This remains in Islamic architectural masterpiece to this day. The Dome of the Rock is an Quabat al-Sakhrah a shrine in Jerusalem. It was built by Umayyad caliph ‘Abd al Malik ibn Marwan in the late 7th century CE. Is the oldest surviving is long monument. The rock over shrine is built sacred to Muslims and Jews. This was the first major Muslim monument. Also, the first major Umayyad architectural undertaking complete under Marwan. This was awesome bill on permanent site formerly occupied by Solomon’s Temple. 

     To start off with the background, they were 4 leaders known as rightly gilded caliphs. Caliphate is a representative. Caliphs are believed to be the successor to prophet Muhammad. They continued the spread of Islam immediately following the death of the prophet. After the 4 leaders died, Mu’awiya took over and established the Umayyad Dynasty. After the death of Mohammed people of Islam were determined and relied on religion and artwork. The immediate needs of religion included places of worship; known as mosque and holy books. This was for the Koran’s to convey the word to God. The first artistic projects were ornamented mosques where to faithful could gather and Koran’s with outstanding calligraphy. As Islam being a new religion, it has zero artistic vocabulary of its own.

    The interior and exterior structure are decorated with marble mosaics and metal plaques. Mosaics or a picture or pattern productive by arranging together small colored pieces of hard material such as stone, tile, or glass. Dome’s mosaics exclude any representations of human or animal forms, but they include Arabic script and vegetal patterns intermixed with images such as jewels or crowns. The Arabic inscriptions run all around the octagonal arcade. The building is not a mosque and doesn’t fit into other categories of Muslim religious structures. 


Cite this page as: Glenna Barlow, "Arts of the Islamic world: The early period," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed September 25, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world-the-early-period/.

 Khalidi, Tarif. “Legacy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Sept. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Abd-al-Malik-Umayyad-caliph/Legacy. 

Yalman, Suzan. Based on original work by Linda Komaroff. “The Art of the Umayyad Period (661–750).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/umay/hd_umay.htm (October 2001) 

Comments

  1. EmeraldSeptember 26, 2020 at 4:41 PM

    Hi Chloe! I think you need to fix your first sentence, "the dumb of rock in Jerusalem". I hate auto-correct because if the word is spelled right you wont know until it too late. I think this monument is amazing with all the deep blues and golds. I also love all the shapes and vegetal design that is throughout most of their artwork. The back story is also really interesting. I think you did a great job.

    ReplyDelete
  2. M. RobersonSeptember 27, 2020 at 3:32 PM

    Hello Chloe, for the dome being the Muslims first major monument, it certainly does not disappoint! It is an incredible structure, and it is interesting that is was built on land that was previously occupied by other people, good job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Justin DwinellSeptember 27, 2020 at 6:37 PM

    Chloe,
    I agree with Emerald about correcting your first sentence, but other than that great post. Before your post I didn’t even know that the “Dome of the Rock” is home to Jerusalem. Honestly, I didn’t even know it existed. The architecture and design in this monument, that is sacred to Muslims and Jews, is absolutely breathtaking. It truly blows my mind how intact and how well preserved this building is being how old it is.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amanda SantistevanSeptember 27, 2020 at 7:29 PM

    Great and informative blog of the Great Dome. These architectures have so much thought and time put into not only building them but also, with decorating them, especially with the mosaics. I didn't think about it before but I wonder why the artwork in the dome does not have imagery of animals or humans.

    ReplyDelete

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