Review: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam

Abstract

Book Review| March 01 2023 Review: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam Alain George The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus: Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam London: Gingko Library, 2021, 264 pp., 164 illus. $85 (cloth), ISBN 9781909942455 Susana Calvo Capilla Susana Calvo Capilla Universidad Complutense de Madrid Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (2023) 82 (1): 84–86. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2023.82.1.84 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Susana Calvo Capilla; Review: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 1 March 2023; 82 (1): 84–86. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2023.82.1.84 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of the Society of Architectural Historians Search The majority of historic buildings preserved today reflect multiple events and vicissitudes that have changed the appearance, the meanings, and even the functions of the structures over time. The centuries have left traces, sometimes wounds, and the unraveling of these effects of time is the task of the art historian. In The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, Alain George seeks to reconstruct the story of the initial stages of the mosque through evidence found in the building itself. In the first chapter, “Palimpsests in Stone and Layered Texts: The Multiple Histories of the Umayyad Mosque,” the author exposes the reality that historians face. Like texts, buildings are complex palimpsests, as multilayered constructions. While successive fires and earthquakes have damaged the Mosque of Damascus, the building has always recovered, retaining many of its distinctive features and identifying elements, including its mural mosaics, transept and crenellated roofline. George explores a varied range... You do not currently have access to this content.