Culture of the Umayyad Caliphate

The conversation between Islamic art and other monotheistic religions, such as Judaism and Christianity, that co-existed alongside Muslim rule during the Middle Ages, can be depicted through decorative compositions.

[5] Alternatively, supplemented by formal modes of development by the Byzantines and Sassanians, metalwork, textiles, depiction of animal, vegetal and figural motifs were influenced by Late Antiquity and naturalistic tradition, which had been prevalent from the eastern Mediterranean.

Despite this, coinage is the best evidence to depict a visual identity of the Umayyads of Syria,[1] with bronze examples being found in Qasr al-Mushatta after their minting had begun in 719-20 AD, Palestine.

[6] Arguably, as one of the driving forces in establishing the Umayyad rule, compositions in this period of the Late Antiquity 'were the earliest expressions of Islamic art on a grand scale’.

[3] Not only did the first caliphal rulers establish a distinctive, stylistic trend that identified their emerging culture to support the spread of Islam, but further used this to form a web of alliances with alternative kingdoms that once occupied the fringes of the Mediterranean.