Jerusalem, Damascus & Cordoba

Name - Dome of the Rock

Date - 691-2

Culture - Islamic

OG Location - Jerusalem (Israel)

Function - Art historians agree that this unique monument functioned, at least in part, as a victory symbol, affirming the Islamic Empire’s position as the new and dominant regional power

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Material - A rock that marks the place where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac, marble columns, glass mosaics featuring gold and inlaid mother-of-pearl.

Other - Named after material used in construction, features a dome over a cylindrical drum, an octogonal plan, Roman arches

Name - Dome of the Rock Interior

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Name - Great Mosque of Damascus

Date - 715

Culture - Syrian

OG Location - Syria

Function - Meant to represent paradise, Friday mosque and Christian church

Patron - Commissioned in the early eighth century by Caliph al-Walid I (ruled 705–15 CE)

Material - Glass, tile, gold, mother-of-pearl

Name - Great Mosque of Damascus (Mihrab, interior)

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Other - Interior marks the focal point of prayer, features precious stones and mother-of-pearl, Kufic inscriptions, geometric patterns created by the repetition and intersection of basic forms

Name - Great Mosque of Cordoba

Date - 785-987

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OG Location - Spain

Function - Designed for use by royalty and the leader of Muslim worship (imam)

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Other - Features horseshoe arches, a hypostyle hall, Corinthian columns and shafts from a previous Christian church at the same site, some of the patterns used here are also featured at the Umayyad palace in Madinat al-Zahra, the horseshoe arches featured here indicate an assimilation from previous Visigothic architecture

Name - Great Mosque of Cordoba (Plan and Maqsura and Mihrab)

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Other - X is maqsura, maqsura was a space reserved for the caliph and his entourage, techniques and design elements associated with early Umayyad rulers in Damascus and Jerusalem, gold Kufic inscriptions framing the opening of the mihrab, multilobed and interlocking stone arches this space is covered by a melon-shaped ribbed dome on an octagonal base