From lusterware ceramics to "Kufic" script to the engagement with classical scientific literature, the artistic legacies of the Abbasid caliphate are varied.
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.
Mosaics were highly valued throughout the first few centuries of Islam and were used alongside other precious materials as one element of elite architectural display.
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.