Islamic

Detail of a mosaic in the courtyard arcade of the Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria.

Beilieved to possibly be the work fo Byzantine artists and include elements common in Late Antique art, mosaics have been greatly influenced upon. Once having extensively covered the walls of the Great Mosque, a conch shell niche "supports" an arcaded pavilion with a flowering rooftop flaked by trutures showin in classical perspective. The Mosaics owe much to Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine art. This is where the idea that the artists were possibly Byzantine mosaicists. Temples, cluseters of houses, trees, and rivers are the most dominating forms that take place in the mosaics; stylized designs that also are found to appear in Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine ornament. "Zoomorphic" forms, human or animal, do not appear in either the pictorial or ornamental spces, as it true of all mosaics int he Great Mosque. Islamic tradition shuns the representation of fauna or any kind in sacred places. Many passages from the Koran describe the gorgeous places of Paradise awaiting the faithful.

Religiously mosaics are often found within the walls of the Mosques. All are made intricately, and often writing in arabic can be found within the images. Other than being pleasing to the eye, I do not feel that it plays quite the role that the images of Christ play within the Christian churches. But despite this, it still has an effect. Beautiful things have reason to cause contemplation. When looking into the designs created by mosaics, I feel a deep appreciation for the art of design.