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

MES Public Talks Seminar given by Prof. Alain George, University of Oxford

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The Great Mosque of Damascus is an iconic monument of world architecture, and the oldest mosque still standing in something close to its original state, having been built just as the first Islamic century was drawing to a close. In this lecture, I will discuss the political crisis that erupted upon its foundation, the Roman and Christian building layers that form its spatial context, and the aesthetic values that underpinned the Umayyad monument.

Alain George is IM Pei Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of Oxford