Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay is Contributing Editor for the Arts of the Islamic World. She brings her expertise in Islamic and Roman architecture, art and archaeology, as well as in digital scholarship and pedagogy to the Smarthistory Board. She has served on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America and of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Her books include Bayt Farhi and the Sephardic Palaces of Ottoman Damascus in the Late 18th and 19th Centuries (2018), Classical New York: Discovering Greece and Rome in Gotham (2018), and Housing the New Romans: Classical Style and the Housing the New Romans: Architectural Reception and Classical Style in the Modern World (2017). She is currently an Associate Professor at The Graduate Center, The City University of New York and the Executive Officer of the M.A. in Liberal Studies.
Contrary to the white marble of the ancient Mediterranean we see today, the ancient Greeks and Romans painted their statues in vibrant colors
An elaborate mausoleum was a monument of the Samanid dynasty's new, thriving capital of Bukhara—and was one of the great architectural masterpieces of Central Asia from the early tenth century.
Bayt Farhi, a Sephardic palace in Ottoman Damascus, helps us to learn about the complex history of Damascus's Jewish quarter and ongoing challenges with contemporary restorations
Once a temple to Zeus, the Great Mosque of Damascus, has survived the Syrian Civil War, and stands as one of the world's most important historic structures.