Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World

Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World

Various authors
2015
172 pages
143 illustrations
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Building on the groundbreaking 2012 exhibition “Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition,” which explored the transformations and continuities in the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the ninth century, the present volume extends the exhibition catalogue’s innovative investigation of cultural interaction between Christian and Jewish communities and the world of Islam.

Eleven essays by internationally distinguished scholars address such topics as the transmission of Christian imagery to the Mediterranean, icons preserved in The Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai, interaction between Jewish communities and the Muslim world, the purposeful mutilation of figurative floor mosaics in places of worship, the evolution of classical and Byzantine motifs in a new cosmology for Muslim rulers, and interconnections in the realm of music. Each essay provides compelling evidence that the era of transition from Byzantine to Islamic rule in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa resulted in unprecedented cultural cross-fertilization and significantly affected the development of the Mediterranean world for centuries to come.

Plate with David Slaying a Lion, Silver, Byzantine
Byzantine
629–630
Plate with David's Confrontation with Eliab, Silver, Byzantine
Byzantine
629–630
Plate with the Battle of David and Goliath, Silver, Byzantine
Byzantine
629–30
Plate with the Presentation of David to Saul, Silver, Byzantine
Byzantine
629–630
Plate with David Anointed by Samuel, Silver, Byzantine
Byzantine
629–630
Plate with the Arming of David, Silver, Byzantine
Byzantine
629–630
Gold Earring with Pearls and Sapphires, Gold, sapphire, pearls, Byzantine
Byzantine
6th–7th century
Gold Earring with Pearls and Sapphires, Gold, sapphire, pearls, Byzantine
Byzantine
6th–7th century
Gold Necklace with Cross, Gold, Byzantine
Byzantine
6th century
Gold Necklace with Pearls and Stones of Emerald Plasma, Gold, pearls, emerald plasma, Byzantine
Byzantine
6th–7th century
Girdle with Coins and Medallions, Settings: gold - sheet: wire - beaded.  Coins: gold - stamped., Byzantine
Byzantine
ca. 583, reassembled after discovery
Gold Necklace with Ornaments, Gold, Byzantine
Byzantine
6th century
Tusk Fragment with the Ascension, Ivory; carved
720–970 Radiocarbon date, 95% probability
Tusk Fragment with Christ Enthroned, Ivory; carved
810–1010
Censer with a Lioness Hunting a Boar, Bronze, Coptic
Coptic
6th–7th century
The Fieschi Morgan Staurotheke, Gilded silver, gold, enamel worked in cloisonné, and niello, Byzantine
Byzantine
early 9th century
Papyrus Fragments from a Lectionary, Papyrus with ink, Coptic
Coptic
580–640
Ostrakon with a Troparion (Early Hymn), Pottery fragment with ink inscription, Coptic
Coptic
580–640

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———. 2015. Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Symposia. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.