A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD)
The connection between Umayyad and Byzantine mosaic manufacture is a debated issue: on the one hand, Arab sources report that Umayyad caliphs received craftspeople and materials to adorn religious buildings from the Byzantine emperor; on the other hand, the reliability of these texts has long been d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Heritage |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/4/158 |
| _version_ | 1797504116170162176 |
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| author | Sara Fiorentino |
| author_facet | Sara Fiorentino |
| author_sort | Sara Fiorentino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The connection between Umayyad and Byzantine mosaic manufacture is a debated issue: on the one hand, Arab sources report that Umayyad caliphs received craftspeople and materials to adorn religious buildings from the Byzantine emperor; on the other hand, the reliability of these texts has long been disputed among scholars, and other possible influences have been hypothesised. Was early Islamic mosaic manufacture related to Byzantine tradition and to what extent? Were materials and artisans gathered from Byzantium and/or territories under the Byzantine control? Based on a multi-analytical approach, glass tesserae from Khirbat al-Mafjar, the Great Mosque of Damascus, and the Dome of the Rock have been analysed. Results speak of a tale of two legacies, demonstrating that, parallel to a continuity with the manufacture of glass tesserae in the late antique Levant—pointing, more specifically, to a re-use of materials from abandoned buildings—legacies other than Byzantine occurred. It emerged that Egypt definitively played a role in mosaic making during the Umayyad caliphate, acting as a supplier of skilled artisans and materials. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:00:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0a4d6e0465b94065b76455afe83f39d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-9408 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:00:04Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heritage |
| spelling | doaj.art-0a4d6e0465b94065b76455afe83f39d72023-11-23T08:35:57ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082021-09-01442810283410.3390/heritage4040158A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD)Sara Fiorentino0Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via Zamboni, 40126 Bologna, ItalyThe connection between Umayyad and Byzantine mosaic manufacture is a debated issue: on the one hand, Arab sources report that Umayyad caliphs received craftspeople and materials to adorn religious buildings from the Byzantine emperor; on the other hand, the reliability of these texts has long been disputed among scholars, and other possible influences have been hypothesised. Was early Islamic mosaic manufacture related to Byzantine tradition and to what extent? Were materials and artisans gathered from Byzantium and/or territories under the Byzantine control? Based on a multi-analytical approach, glass tesserae from Khirbat al-Mafjar, the Great Mosque of Damascus, and the Dome of the Rock have been analysed. Results speak of a tale of two legacies, demonstrating that, parallel to a continuity with the manufacture of glass tesserae in the late antique Levant—pointing, more specifically, to a re-use of materials from abandoned buildings—legacies other than Byzantine occurred. It emerged that Egypt definitively played a role in mosaic making during the Umayyad caliphate, acting as a supplier of skilled artisans and materials.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/4/158ancient glassmosaicsIslamic glassUmayyad caliphateByzantinearchaeometry |
| spellingShingle | Sara Fiorentino A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD) Heritage ancient glass mosaics Islamic glass Umayyad caliphate Byzantine archaeometry |
| title | A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD) |
| title_full | A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD) |
| title_fullStr | A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD) |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD) |
| title_short | A Tale of Two Legacies: Byzantine and Egyptian Influences in the Manufacture and Supply of Glass Tesserae under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD) |
| title_sort | tale of two legacies byzantine and egyptian influences in the manufacture and supply of glass tesserae under the umayyad caliphate 661 750 ad |
| topic | ancient glass mosaics Islamic glass Umayyad caliphate Byzantine archaeometry |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/4/158 |
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