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88-795: The origins of the horseshoe arch are complicated. It appeared in pre-Islamic Sasanian architecture such as the Taq-i Kasra in present-day Iraq and the Palace of Ardashir in southwestern Iran (3rd century CE). It also appeared in Late Roman or Byzantine architecture , as well as in Roman Spain . In Byzantine Syria , the form was used in the Baptistery of Saint Jacob at Nusaybin (4th century CE) and in Qasr Ibn Wardan (564 CE). Another possible origin of

176-562: A banquet; the Roman influence here is clear, and the mosaics may have been laid by Roman prisoners. Buildings were also decorated with wall paintings; particularly fine examples have been found on Mount Khajeh in Sistan . Umayyad dynasty The Umayyad dynasty ( Arabic : بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ , romanized :  Banū Umayya , lit.   'Sons of Umayya') or Umayyads ( Arabic : الأمويون , romanized :  al-Umawiyyūn )

264-548: A circle and are framed in an alfiz . The Córdoban style of horseshoe arch spread all over the Caliphate and adjacent areas, and was adopted by the successor Muslim emirates of the peninsula, the taifas , as well as by the architecture of the Maghreb under subsequent dynasties. Its use remained especially consistent in the form of mosque mihrabs . In the northern Iberian Peninsula, where Asturias and other Christian kingdoms ruled,

352-449: A dome. The Persians solved the problem of constructing a circular dome on a square building by the squinch. This is an arch built across each corner of the square, thereby converting it into an octagon on which it is simple to place the dome. The dome chamber in the palace of Firouzabad is the earliest surviving example of the use of the squinch and so there is good reason for regarding Persia as its place of invention. The early palaces of

440-593: A grandson of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik , escaped to Muslim Spain, where he founded the Emirate of Córdoba , which his descendant, Abd al-Rahman III , transformed into a caliphate in 929. Under the Umayyads, Al-Andalus became a centre of science, medicine, philosophy and invention during the Islamic Golden Age . The Caliphate of Córdoba disintegrated into several independent taifa kingdoms in 1031, thus marking

528-456: A large vaulted apartment. The openings are in general doorways of moderate size, but sometimes they are arches of the full width of the subordinate room or apartment. As many as seventeen or eighteen rooms have been found in a palace. The exterior ornamentation of the Sassanid from the ground to the cornice, while between them are a series of tall narrow doubly recessed arches. Far less satisfactory

616-718: A revolt by the people of Medina and Ibn al-Zubayr in Mecca. Yazid's cousin, Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sufyan , and the Umayyads residing in Medina, led by Marwan, were expelled. Yazid dispatched his Syrian army to reassert his authority in the Hejaz and relieve his kinsmen. The Umayyads of Medina joined the Syrians in the assault against the rebels in Medina and defeated them at the Battle of al-Harra . The Syrians proceeded to besiege Mecca , but withdrew upon

704-800: A state of society when attention to security hardly allowed the architect the free exercise of the more delicate ornaments of his art". The unique characteristic of Sassanid architecture, was its distinctive use of space. The Sassanid architect conceived his building in terms of masses and surfaces; hence the use of massive walls of brick decorated with molded or carved stucco. Stucco wall decorations appear at Bishapur, but better examples are preserved from Chal Tarkhan near Rayy (late Sassanid or early Islamic in date), and from Ctesiphon and Kish in Mesopotamia. The panels show animal figures set in roundels, human busts, and geometric and floral motifs. Sassanid art revived forms and traditions native to Persia; and in

792-652: Is also found in early Christian architecture in Byzantine Anatolia and became characteristic of Christian architecture in Cappadocia , though the origins of this regional feature are sometimes debated. An early example of its use in Anatolia is found at the Alahan Monastery in present-day southern Turkey , dating most likely from the 5th century CE. In Visigothic Spain , horseshoe arches are found, for example, in of

880-472: Is generally without ornament; but in one case we meet with a foiling of small arches round the great one. The domed apartments are squares of from 25 to a little more than 40 feet. The domes are circular at their base, but a section of them would exhibit a half ellipse, with its longest and shortest diameters proportioned as three to two. The height to which they rise from the ground is not much above 70 feet. A single building will have two or three domes, either of

968-508: Is not considered part of the Umayyad dynasty because he was chosen by consensus ( shura ) among the inner circle of Muslim leadership and never attempted to nominate an Umayyad as his successor. Nonetheless, as a result of Uthman's policies, the Umayyads regained a measure of the power they had lost after the Muslim conquest of Mecca. The assassination of Uthman in 656 became a rallying cry for

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1056-429: Is now known that the two designers who were hired by al-Mansur to plan the city's design were Naubakht, a former Persian Zoroastrian, and Mashallah, a former Jew from Khorasan, Iran. The Great Mosque of Samarra is another example, where the spiral edifice was based on Persian architecture, such as the spiral tower in the middle of Firouzabad , a former Sassanid capital. In Afghanistan at Bamian are ruins that show

1144-506: Is the much more elaborate design adopted at Ctesiphon , where six series of blind arches of different kinds are superimposed the one on the other, with string−courses between them, and with pilasters , placed singly or in pairs, separating the arches into groups, and not regularly superimposed, as pillars, whether real or seeming, ought to be. The interior ornamentation was probably, in a great measure, by stucco, painting, and perhaps gilding. All this, however, if it existed, has disappeared; and

1232-399: Is variously proportioned. The depth may be a little more than the breadth, or it may be nearly twice as much. In either case, the front occupies one of the shorter sides, or ends of the edifice. The outer wall is sometimes pierced by one entrance only; but, more commonly, entrances are multiplied beyond the limit commonly observed in modern buildings. The great entrance is in the exact center of

1320-617: The Almoravids (11th-12th centuries), the first pointed horseshoe arches began to appear in the region and then became more widespread during the Almohad period (12th-13th centuries). This pointed horseshoe arch is likely of North African origin. Art historian Georges Marçais attributed it in particular to Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia ), where it was present in earlier Aghlabid and Fatimid architecture . As Muslim rule retreated in Al-Andalus,

1408-511: The Church of Santa Eulalia de Boveda near Lugo and the Church of Santa Maria de Melque near Toledo . Some tombstones from that period have been found in the north of Spain with horseshoe arches in them, eliciting speculation about a pre-Roman local Celtic tradition. In early Islamic architecture , some horseshoe arches appeared in Umayyad architecture of the 7th to 8th centuries. They are found in

1496-545: The Emirate period , used horseshoe arches prominently and ubiquitously, often enclosing them in an alfiz (rectangular frame) to accentuate the effect of its shape. This can be seen at a large scale in their major work, the Great Mosque of Córdoba . Its most distinctive form, however, was consolidated in the 10th-century during the Caliphal period , as seen at Madinat al-Zahra , where the arches consist of about three quarters of

1584-699: The Mudéjar style , which developed from the 12th to the 16th centuries under Spanish Christian rule, continued the tradition of horseshoe arches in the Iberian Peninsula. Horseshoe arches also continued to be used in the Maghreb, in the architecture of Morocco , Algeria , and Tunisia . Horseshoe arches were also common in Ghurid and Ghaznavid architecture (11th-13th centuries) in Central Asia , though in this region they had sharp pointed apexes, in contrast with those of

1672-630: The Muslim invasion of Spain , the Visigoths of the Iberian Peninsula used them in their architecture . Although it is possible that Andalusi architecture borrowed the horseshoe arch from Umayyad Syria, these local precedents make it just as likely that it developed locally instead. The "Moorish" arch, however, was of a slightly different and more sophisticated form than the Visigothic arch, being less flat and more circular. The Umayyads of Al-Andalus, starting with

1760-787: The Parthian period Hellenistic art was being interpreted freely by the peoples of the Near East and throughout the Sasanian period there was a continuing process of reaction against it. Sasanian art revived forms and traditions native to Persia; and in the Islamic period these reached the shores of the Mediterranean. The splendour in which the Sasanian monarchs lived is well illustrated by their surviving palaces, such as those at Firouzabad and Bishapur in Fars , and

1848-676: The Qays tribes of Qinnasrin, and afterward retook Egypt. Before his death in 685, Marwan voided the succession arrangement, appointing his sons Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Aziz , in that order, instead. Abd al-Aziz was made governor of Egypt and another son, Muhammad was appointed to defeat the Qays tribes of the Jazira . Soon after Abd al-Malik acceded, while he was away on a military campaign, he faced an attempted coup in Damascus by Amr al-Ashdaq. Abd al-Malik suppressed

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1936-703: The Sultan Qalawun Complex in Cairo, built in 1285. Andalusi-style horseshoe arches are also found alongside the minaret of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, probably dating from 13th-century renovations ordered by Sultan Lajin to the older 9th-century mosque. In addition to their use across the Islamic world, horseshoe arches became popular in Western countries in Moorish Revival architecture, which became fashionable in

2024-698: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus , though their horseshoe shape is not very pronounced. They are also found in the Umayyad Palace at the Amman Citadel in present-day Jordan . According to Giovanni Teresio Rivoira, an archeologist writing in the early 20th century, the pointed variant of the horseshoe arch is of Islamic origin. According to Rivoira, this type of arch was first used in the Ibn Tulun Mosque , completed in 879. Wijdan Ali also describes this as

2112-471: The early Muslim conquests , conquering the Maghreb , Hispania , Central Asia , Sind , and parts of Chinese Turkestan , but the constant warfare exhausted the state's military resources, while Alid and Kharijite revolts and tribal rivalries weakened the state from within. Finally, in 750 the Abbasids overthrew Caliph Marwan II and massacred most of the family. One of the survivors, Abd al-Rahman ,

2200-405: The tribes of Arabia , "be accepted with caution", but "that too great skepticism with regard to tradition would be as ill-advised as absolute faith in its statements". Della Vida asserts that since the Umayyads who appear at the beginning of Islamic history in the early 7th century were no later than third-generation descendants of Umayya, the latter's existence is highly plausible. By circa 600,

2288-505: The 10th century. The Umayyads longed for the Levant , and they established in al-Andalus the same trees, plants and food crops which their ancestors had cultivated in Syria, serving the same traditional foods. Wholesale importation of Syrian styles of living contributed to an extensive Syrianization of the entire countryside of al-Andalus. In the early 7th century, prior to their conversion to Islam,

2376-712: The 19th century. They were widely used in Moorish Revival synagogues. They were employed in the Neo-Mudéjar style in Spain, another type of Moorish Revival style. They are used in some forms of Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture , a 19th-century style associated with the British Raj . Exaggerated horseshoe arches were also popular in some forms of Art Nouveau architecture , notably in Brussels . Among other examples, this can be seen on

2464-511: The Abbasid massacres of the Umayyad family, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya (better known as Abd al-Rahman I), a grandson of Caliph Hisham, made his way to al-Andalus, where the mawali of the Umayyads helped him establish a foothold in the province. Once he established the Emirate of Cordoba in 756, he invited other Marwanids, who were keeping a low profile under Abbasid rule, to settle in the Emirate. He

2552-623: The Abu al-Is line came the politically important family of Asid ibn Abi al-Is, whose members served military and gubernatorial posts under various Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs. The al-As line produced Sa'id ibn al-As, who served as one of Uthman's governors in Kufa. The most well-known family of the Anabisa branch was that of Harb's son Abu Sufyan Sakhr. From his descendants, the Sufyanids, came Mu'awiya I, who founded

2640-614: The Banu Makhzum, led by Abu Jahl , as a result of the heavy losses that the Banu Makhzum's leadership incurred fighting the Muslims at the Battle of Badr in 624. An Umayyad chief, Abu Sufyan , thereafter became the leader of the Meccan army that fought the Muslims under Muhammad at the battles of Uhud and the Trench . Abu Sufyan and his sons, along with most of the Umayyads, embraced Islam toward

2728-618: The Banu Umayya's parent clan, the Banu Abd Shams. Mu'awiya, who had been appointed governor of Syria by Umar, retained his post. Two Umayyads, al-Walid ibn Uqba and Sa'id ibn al-As , were successively appointed to Kufa , one of the two main Arab garrisons and administrative centers in Iraq. Uthman's cousin, Marwan ibn al-Hakam , became his chief adviser. Although a prominent member of the clan, Uthman

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2816-448: The Islamic period these reached the shores of the Mediterranean. The influence of Sassanid architecture reached far beyond their borders, it had a distinctive influence on Byzantine architecture and Islamic architecture . Islamic architecture in fact borrowed heavily from Persian architecture. Baghdad , for example, was based on Persian precedents such as Firouzabad in Persia. In fact, it

2904-555: The Marwanids were killed in the Abbasid purges of 750. However, a number of them settled in Egypt and Iran, where one of them, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani , authored the famous source of Arab history, the Kitab al-Aghani , in the 10th century. Uthman, the third Rashidun caliph, who ruled between 644 and 656, left several descendants, some of whom served political posts under the Umayyad caliphs. From

2992-468: The Muslim community). Abu Bakr showed favor to the Umayyads by awarding them a prominent role in the Muslim conquest of Syria . He appointed an Umayyad, Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As , as commander of the expedition, but replaced him with other commanders, among whom was Abu Sufyan's son, Yazid . Abu Sufyan had already owned property and maintained trade networks in Syria. Abu Bakr's successor, Caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ), while actively curtailing

3080-594: The Quraysh had developed trans-Arabian trade networks, organizing caravans to Syria in the north and Yemen in the south. The Banu Umayya and the Banu Makhzum , another prominent Qurayshite clan, dominated these trade networks. They developed economic and military alliances with the nomadic Arab tribes that controlled the northern and central Arabian desert expanses, gaining them a degree of political power in Arabia. Muhammad

3168-573: The Qurayshite opposition to his successor, Muhammad's cousin and son in-law Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib of the Banu Hashim. The Qurayshite elite did not hold Ali responsible, but opposed his accession under the circumstances of Uthman's demise. Following their defeat at the Battle of the Camel near Basra , during which their leaders Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , both potential contenders of

3256-546: The Sasanians were no mere imitators. The art of this period reveals an astonishing virility. In certain respects it anticipates features later developed during the Islamic period. The conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great had inaugurated the spread of Hellenistic art into Western Asia; but if the East accepted the outward form of this art, it never really assimilated its spirit. Already in

3344-456: The Sassanid buildings that have been measured and described are assigned to the century between 350 and 450 CE; and we are unable to trace the exact steps by which the Sassanid style was gradually elaborated. We come upon it when it is beyond the stage of infancy, when it has acquired a marked and decided character, when it no longer hesitates or falters, but knows what it wants, and goes straight to its ends. Its main features are simple and uniform,

3432-462: The Sassanid have ceased to exist. Ardashir I and Shapur I, and their immediate successors, undoubtedly erected residences for themselves exceeding in size and richness the buildings which had contented the Parthians, as well as those in which their own ancestors, the tributary kings of Persia under Parthia, had passed their lives. But these residences have almost wholly disappeared. The most ancient of

3520-524: The Umayyad Caliphate in 661, and Mu'awiya I's son and successor, Yazid I . Sufyanid rule ceased with the death of the latter's son Mu'awiya II in 684, though Yazid's other sons, Khalid and Abd Allah, continued to play political roles, and the former was credited as the founder of Arabic alchemy . Abd Allah's son Abu Muhammad Ziyad al-Sufyani , meanwhile, led a rebellion against the Abbasids in 750, but

3608-590: The Umayyad clan, was the third Rashidun caliph, ruling in 644–656, while other members held various governorships. One of these governors, Mu'awiya I of Syria , opposed Caliph Ali in the First Muslim Civil War (656–661) and afterward founded the Umayyad Caliphate with its capital in Damascus . This marked the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty, the first hereditary dynasty in the history of Islam , and

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3696-425: The Umayyads, leading representatives of those who had opposed the Prophet [Muhammad] until the latest possible moment, had within thirty years of his death reestablished their position to the extent that they were now at the head of the community which he had founded. In contrast to Uthman's empowerment of the Umayyads, Mu'awiya's power did not rely on the clan and, with minor exceptions, he did not appoint Umayyads to

3784-425: The building contains square apartments, vaulted with domes, which are circular at their base, and elliptical in their section, and which rest on pendentives; fourthly, that the apartments are numerous and en suite, opening one into another, without the intervention of passages; and fifthly, that the palace consists of a court, placed towards the rear of the building, with apartments opening into it. The parallelogram

3872-510: The caliphate, died, the mantle of opposition to Ali was taken up chiefly by Mu'awiya. Initially, he refrained from openly claiming the caliphate, focusing instead on undermining Ali's authority and consolidating his position in Syria, all in the name of avenging Uthman's death. Mu'awiya and Ali, leading their respective Syrian and Iraqi supporters, fought to a stalemate at the Battle of Siffin in 657. It led to an indecisive arbitration, which weakened Ali's command over his partisans, while raising

3960-426: The capital city of Ctesiphon in modern Iraq . In addition to local traditions, Parthian dynastic architecture must have been responsible for a great many of the Sasanian architectural characteristics. All are characterised by the barrel-vaulted iwans introduced in the Parthian period, but now they reached massive proportions, particularly at Ctesiphon. The arch of the great vaulted hall at Ctesiphon attributed to

4048-513: The clan by provoking internal divisions. Among the measures taken was the replacement of Marwan from the governorship of Medina in 668 with another leading Umayyad, Sa'id ibn al-As. The latter was instructed to demolish Marwan's house, but refused. Marwan was restored in 674 and also refused Mu'awiya's order to demolish Sa'id's house. Mu'awiya appointed his own nephew, al-Walid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan , in Marwan's place in 678. In 676, Mu'awiya installed his son, Yazid I , as his successor. The move

4136-653: The death of Yazid. Afterward, Ibn al-Zubayr declared himself caliph and expelled the Umayyads of the Hejaz a second time. They relocated to Palmyra or Damascus, where Yazid's son and successor, Mu'awiya II , ruled at a time when most provinces of the Caliphate discarded Umayyad authority. After Mu'awiya II died in 684, the junds of Palestine, Homs and Qinnasrin recognized Ibn al-Zubayr, while loyalist tribes in Damascus and al-Urdunn scrambled to nominate an Umayyad as caliph. The Banu Kalb, lynchpins of Sufyanid rule, nominated Yazid's surviving sons Khalid and Abd Allah , but they were considered young and inexperienced by most of

4224-411: The direction of Mecca's military affairs in times of war, instead of an actual field command. This early experience in military leadership proved instructive, as later Umayyads were known for possessing considerable political and military organizational skills. The historian Giorgio Levi Della Vida suggests that information in the early Arabic sources about Umayya, as with all the ancient progenitors of

4312-417: The end of Muhammad's life, following the Muslim conquest of Mecca . To secure the loyalty of prominent Umayyad leaders, including Abu Sufyan, Muhammad offered them gifts and positions of importance in the nascent Muslim state. He installed another Umayyad, Attab ibn Asid ibn Abi al-Is , as the first governor of Mecca. Although Mecca retained its paramountcy as a religious center, Medina continued to serve as

4400-644: The family, their burgeoning alliance with the powerful Banu Kalb tribe as a counterbalance to the influence of the Himyarite tribes who entered the Hims district during the conquest, or the lack of a suitable candidate at the time, particularly amid the plague of Amwas , which had already killed Abu Ubayda and Yazid. Caliph Umar died in 644 and was succeeded by Uthman ibn Affan , a wealthy Umayyad merchant, early convert to Islam, and son-in-law and close companion of Muhammad. Uthman initially kept his predecessors' appointees in their provincial posts, but gradually replaced many with Umayyads or his maternal kinsmen from

4488-412: The first systematic use of the pointed variant. Horseshoe arches of a slightly pointed form were also used in Aghlabid architecture of the 9th century, including the Great Mosque of Kairouan (circa 836) and the Mosque of Ibn Khayrun (866). It was in Al-Andalus (on the Iberian Peninsula ) and western North Africa (the Maghreb ) that horseshoe arches developed their characteristic form. Prior to

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4576-438: The front. This entrance is commonly by a lofty arch which (if we set aside the domes) is of almost the full height of the building, and constitutes one of its most striking features. From the outer air, we look straight into the heart of the edifice, in one instance to the depth of 115 feet, a distance equal to the length of Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster. Similar entrances are common in the mosques of Armenia and Persia, and in

4664-453: The genealogical tradition would have lived in the late 5th century, was charged with the maintenance and protection of the Kaʿba and its pilgrims. These roles passed to his sons Abd Shams , Hashim and others. Abd Shams was the father of Umayya , the eponymous progenitor of the Umayyads. Umayya succeeded Abd Shams as the qa'id (wartime commander) of the Meccans. This position was likely an occasional political post whose holder oversaw

4752-439: The great impact of Iranian art and architecture (specially from Sassanid era) from the 4th to the 8th century. Frescoes and colossal Buddhas adorn Bamian's monasteries, revealing a fusion of Sassanid-Iranian and Greco-Buddhist elements. Byzantine architecture had influence on some Sassanid architecture, one of the good examples is at Bishapur , some of the floors were decorated with mosaics showing scenes of merrymaking as at

4840-439: The horseshoe arch motif is India, where rock-cut temples with mildly incurved horseshoe arches survive from early periods, though these were sculpted in rock rather than constructed, and probably imitate earlier forms in wood. For example, horseshoe arch shapes are found in parts of the Ajanta Caves and Karla Caves dating from around the 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. Horseshoe arches made of baked brick have been found in

4928-573: The influence of the Qurayshite elite in favor of Muhammad's earlier supporters in the administration and military, did not disturb the growing foothold of Abu Sufyan's sons in Syria, which was all but conquered by 638. When Umar's overall commander over the province, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah , died in 639, he appointed Yazid governor of the Damascus , Palestine and Jordan districts of Syria. Yazid died shortly after and Umar installed his brother Mu'awiya in his place. Umar's exceptional treatment of Abu Sufyan's sons may have stemmed from his respect for

5016-406: The interiors now present a bare and naked appearance, which is only slightly relieved by the occasional occurrence of windows, of ornamental doorways, and of niches , which recall well−known features at Persepolis . In some instances, the arrangement of the larger rooms was improved by means of short pillars, placed at some distance from the walls, and supporting a sort of transverse rib, which broke

5104-426: The later buildings being merely enlargements of the earlier, by an addition to the number or size of the apartments. The principal characteristics of the style are, first, that the plan of the entire building is a parallelogram, without adjuncts or projections; secondly, that the main entrance is into a lofty vaulted porch or hall by an archway of the entire width of the apartment; thirdly, that beside these oblong halls,

5192-495: The main branches of the Umayyads were the A'yas and the Anabisa. The former grouped the descendants of Umayya's sons Abu al-As , al-As, Abu al-Is and al-Uways, all of whose names shared the same or similar root, hence the eponymous label, 'A'yas'. The Anabisa, which is the plural form of Anbasa, a common name in this branch of the clan, gathered the descendants of Umayya's sons Harb , Abu Harb, Abu Sufyan Anbasa, Sufyan, Amr and Umayya's possibly adopted son, Abu Amr Dhakwan. Two of

5280-429: The major provinces or his court in Damascus. He largely limited their influence to Medina, where most of the Umayyads remained headquartered. The loss of political power left the Umayyads of Medina resentful of Mu'awiya, who may have become wary of the political ambitions of the much larger Abu al-As branch of the clan—to which Uthman had belonged—under the leadership of Marwan ibn al-Hakam. Mu'awiya attempted to weaken

5368-427: The massacre of Nahr Abi Futrus. All the Umayyad immigrants were granted estates, stipends, command roles in the army, and provincial offices. While all the emirs, and later caliphs, of al-Andalus were direct descendants of Abd al-Rahman I, the families of Abd al-Malik ibn Umar (the Marwani clan) and Habib ibn Abd al-Malik (the Habibi clan) both became prominent at the provincial, military, judicial and cultural levels into

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5456-419: The only one to rule over the entire Islamic world of its time. Umayyad authority was challenged in the Second Muslim Civil War , during which the Sufyanid line of Mu'awiya was replaced in 684 by Marwan I , who founded the Marwanid line of Umayyad caliphs, which restored the dynasty's rule over the Caliphate. The Islamic empire reached its largest geographical extent under the Umayyads. The Umayyads drove on

5544-554: The other junds of Syria, with Abd al-Aziz over Damascus, al-Abbas over Homs and Umar over Jordan, as well as giving them command roles in the frontier wars against the Byzantines in Anatolia. He retired his uncle Muhammad ibn Marwan from the Jazira, installing his half-brother Maslama there instead. Al-Walid I's attempt to void his father's succession arrangements by replacing Sulayman with his son Abd al-Aziz failed and Sulayman acceded in 715. Rather than nominating his own sons or brothers, Sulayman appointed his cousin, Umar II ,

5632-465: The other loyalist tribes. Marwan volunteered his candidacy and gained the consensus of the tribes, acceding to the caliphate at a summit in Jabiya in 684. Per the arrangement agreed by the tribes, Marwan would be succeeded by Khalid, followed by Amr al-Ashdaq , the son of Sa'id ibn al-As. Marwan and the allied tribes, led by the Kalb, defeated Ibn al-Zubayr's supporters in Syria, led by the Qurayshite governor of Damascus, al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri , and

5720-455: The palaces of the latter country. In the mosques "lofty and deeply−recessed portals," "unrivalled for grandeur and appropriateness," are rather the rule than the exception; and, in the palaces, "Throne−rooms" are commonly mere deep recesses of this character, vaulted or supported by pillars, and open at one end to the full width and height of the apartment. The height of the arch varies in Sassanid buildings from about fifty to eighty−five feet; it

5808-419: The pendentives, or sometimes both above and below. The domes had a number of small holes, which admitted some light, and the upper part of the walls between the pendentives was also pierced by windows. There are no passages or corridors in the Sassanid palaces. The rooms for the most part open one into the other. Where this is not the case, they give upon a common meeting−ground, which is either an open court, or

5896-432: The political center of the Muslims. Abu Sufyan and the Banu Umayya relocated to the city to maintain their growing political influence. Muhammad's death in 632 created a succession crisis, while nomadic tribes throughout Arabia that had embraced Islam defected from Medina's authority. Abu Bakr , one of Muhammad's oldest friends and an early convert to Islam, was elected caliph (paramount political and religious leader of

5984-475: The political end of the Umayyad dynasty. The Umayyads, or Banu Umayya, were a clan of the larger Quraysh tribe, which dominated Mecca in the pre-Islamic era . The Quraysh derived prestige among the Arab tribes through their protection and maintenance of the Kaʿba , which at the time was regarded by the largely polytheistic Arabs across the Arabian Peninsula as their most sacred sanctuary. A Qurayshite leader, Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy , who based on his place in

6072-405: The region's Arab tribal nobility. As a result, Mu'awiya became widely recognized as caliph, though opposition by the Kharijites and some of Ali's loyalists persisted at a less consistent level. The reunification of the Muslim community under Mu'awiya's leadership marked the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate. Based on the accounts of the traditional Muslim sources, Hawting writes that: ...

6160-403: The reign of Shapur I (241-272) has a span of more than 80 ft, and reaches a height of 118 ft. from the ground. This magnificent structure fascinated architects in the centuries that followed and has always been considered one of the most important pieces of Persian architecture. Many of the palaces contain an inner audience hall which consists, as at Firuzabad, of a chamber surmounted by

6248-427: The revolt and personally executed his kinsman. By 692, he defeated Ibn al-Zubayr, who was killed, and restored Umayyad authority across the Caliphate. Abd al-Malik concentrated power into the hands of the Umayyad dynasty. At one point, his brothers or sons held nearly all governorships of the provinces and Syria's districts. Abd al-Aziz was retained over Egypt until his death shortly before Abd al-Malik's in 705. He

6336-406: The same size, or occasionally of different dimensions. It is a peculiarity of their construction that they rest not on drums, but on pendentives . A series of semi−circular arches is thrown across the angles of the apartment, each projecting further into it than the preceding, and in this way the corners of the square are rounded off into a circle. A cornice ran round the apartment, above or below

6424-674: The so-called Tomb of the Brick Arches in Aksum (present-day Ethiopia ), built during the Kingdom of Aksum and tentatively dated to the 4th century CE. In a 1991 publication, archeologist Stuart C. Munro-Hay suggests that these could be evidence that transmission of architectural ideas took place via routes not previously considered by scholars. He suggests that the brick-built horseshoe arches could have been an Aksumite innovation based on ideas transmitted via trade with India. Further evidence of their use

6512-465: The son of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, as his successor. While the traditional sources present the choice as related to the persuasion of the court theologian, Raja ibn Haywa , it may have been related to Umar II's seniority and his father's previous position as Marwan I's second successor. The family of Abd al-Malik protested the move, but were coerced into a compromise whereby Yazid II , the son of Abd al-Malik and Atika, would follow Umar II. A survivor of

6600-452: The sons of Abu al-As, Affan and al-Hakam , each fathered future caliphs, Uthman and Marwan I, respectively. From the latter's descendants, known as the Marwanids, came the Umayyad caliphs of Damascus who reigned successively between 684 and 750, and then the Cordoba -based emirs and caliphs of Muslim Spain, who held office until 1031. Other than those who had escaped to al-Andalus, most of

6688-508: The stature of Mu'awiya as Ali's equal. As Ali was bogged down combating his former partisans, who became known as the Kharijites , Mu'awiya was recognized as caliph by his core supporters, the Syrian Arab tribes, in 659 or 660. When Ali was assassinated by a Kharijite in 661, Mu'awiya marched on Kufa, where he compelled Ali's son, Hasan , to cede caliphal authority and gained recognition from

6776-654: The street façade of the Cauchie House . Sasanian architecture Sasanian architecture refers to the Persian architectural style that reached a peak in its development during the Sasanian era. In many ways the Sasanian Empire period (224–651 CE) witnessed the highest achievement of Iranian civilization, and constituted the last great pre-Islamic Persian Empire before the Muslim conquest. Much of Sasanian architecture

6864-438: The uniformity of the roof. The pillars were connected with the side walls by low arches. Such are the main distinctions of Sassanid palace architecture. The general effect of the great halls is grand, though scarcely beautiful and, in the best specimens, the entire palace has an air of simple severity which is striking and dignified. The edifices are regarded as "indicating considerable originality and power," though they "point to

6952-628: The use of horseshoe arches continued under the influence of previous Visigothic architecture and of contemporary Islamic architecture. The addition of an alfiz around horseshoe arches was one detail more specifically borrowed from Islamic styles. Starting in the 9th century, some Mozarabs (Christians living under Muslim rule) left al-Andalus and settled in the northern Christian territories, where they contributed to popularizing this form locally, as exemplified by San Miguel de Escalada (10th century). The Mozarabs also incorporated horseshoe arches into their art, such as in illuminated manuscripts . Under

7040-868: The western Islamic world. Sometimes they were cusped or given multifoil flourishes. Around the same time or not long afterward, they begin to appear as far east as India , in Indo-Islamic architecture , such as in the Alai Darwaza gatehouse (dating from 1311) at the Qutb Complex in Delhi , though they were not a consistent feature in India. Some pointed arches with a slightly horseshoe shape appear in Ayyubid architecture in Syria. It appears, exceptionally, in some instances of Mamluk architecture . For example, it appears in some details of

7128-505: Was a member of the Banu Hashim , a Qurayshite clan related to the Banu Umayya through their shared ancestor, Abd Manaf. When he began his religious teachings in Mecca, he was opposed by most of the Quraysh. He found support from the inhabitants of Medina and relocated there with his followers in 622. The descendants of Abd Shams , including the Umayyads, were among the principal leaders of Qurayshite opposition to Muhammad. They superseded

7216-625: Was adopted by Muslims and became part of Islamic architecture . The Sasanian dynasty , like the Achaemenid Empire , originated in the province of Persis ( Fars ). They saw themselves as successors to the Achaemenians, after the Hellenistic and Parthian dynasty interlude, and perceived it as their role to restore the greatness of Persia . In reviving the glories of the Achaemenian past,

7304-659: Was an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe who were the ruling family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the pre-Islamic period , they were a prominent clan of the Meccan tribe of Quraysh , descended from Umayya ibn Abd Shams . Despite staunch opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad , the Umayyads embraced Islam before the former's death in 632. Uthman , an early companion of Muhammad from

7392-700: Was filled with far more Umayyads than under his Sufyanid predecessors, a result of the clan's exile to the city from Medina. He maintained close ties with the Sufyanids through marital relations and official appointments, such as according Yazid's son Khalid a prominent role in the court and army and wedding to him his daughter A'isha. Abd al-Malik also married Khalid's sister Atika , who became his favorite and most influential wife. After his brother Abd al-Aziz's death, Abd al-Malik designated his eldest son, al-Walid I , his successor, to be followed by his second eldest, Sulayman . Al-Walid acceded in 705. He kept Sulayman as governor of Palestine, while appointing his sons to

7480-751: Was quoted by al-Maqqari as stating, "among the many [favors] bestowed on us by the Almighty ... is his allowing us to collect in this country our kindred and relatives, and enabling us to give them a share in this empire". Among those who heeded his call were his brother al-Walid and the latter's son al-Mughira, his first cousin Ubayd al-Salam ibn Yazid ibn Hisham, and his nephew Ubayd Allah ibn Aban ibn Mu'awiya. Others who arrived included Juzayy ibn Abd al-Aziz and Abd al-Malik ibn Umar (both grandsons of Marwan I) from Egypt, Bishr ibn Marwan's son Abd al-Malik from Iraq, and al-Walid I's grandson Habib ibn Abd al-Malik, who had escaped

7568-502: Was replaced by Abd al-Malik's son Abdallah . Abd al-Malik appointed his son Sulayman over Palestine, following stints there by his uncle Yahya ibn al-Hakam and brother Aban ibn Marwan . In Iraq, he appointed his brother Bishr over Kufa and a distant cousin, Khalid ibn Abdallah ibn Khalid ibn Asid , in Basra, before combining both cities under the governorship of his trusted general al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf . Abd al-Malik's court in Damascus

7656-565: Was ultimately slain. Abu Sufyan's other sons were Yazid, who preceded Mu'awiya I as governor of Syria, Amr, Anbasa, Muhammad and Utba . Only the last two left progeny. The other important family of the Anabisa were the descendants of Abu Amr, known as the Banu Abi Mu'ayt. Abu Amr's grandson Uqba ibn Abu Mu'ayt was captured and executed on Muhammad's orders during the Battle of Badr for his previously harsh incitement against Muhammad. Uqba's son, al-Walid, served as Uthman's governor in Kufa for

7744-558: Was unprecedented in Muslim politics—earlier caliphs had been elected by popular support in Medina or by the consultation of the senior companions of Muhammad . Mu'awiya's Umayyad kinsmen in Medina, including Marwan and Sa'id, accepted Mu'awiya's decision, albeit disapprovingly. The principle opposition emanated from Husayn ibn Ali , Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr , Abd Allah ibn Umar and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr , all prominent Medina-based sons of earlier caliphs or close companions of Muhammad. Yazid acceded in 680 and three years later faced

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