Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

2 results

  • 22 - ’Abbasids, Fatimids and Seljuqs

  • Edited by David Luscombe, University of Sheffield, Jonathan Riley-Smith, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    The New Cambridge Medieval History
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    14 October 2004, pp 675-720

  • Summary

    In the course of the tenth century, his Fatimid dynasty had risen to power, first in North Africa and then in Egypt and Syria, while the original Arab empire under the older 'Abbasids dynasty of caliphs had finally disintegrated under the weight of its own excessive taxation. Like the Fatimids, the Buyids were also Shi'ites or partisans of the fourth caliph 'Ali, in preference to the 'Abbasids who claimed descent from the Prophet's uncle. The tribes of bedouin Arabs, collectively known as the Banu Hilal, who made their appearance in North Africa in the middle of the eleventh century, shared with the Seljuqs a similar involvement in the conflict between Cairo and Baghdad, so much so that they are commonly said to have been sent from Egypt by the Fatimids in 1051 to punish the Zirids of Ifriqiya for their desertion to the 'Abbasids.

  • 9 - ART AND ARCHITECTURE

  • from PART VIII - ISLAMIC SOCIETY AND CIVILIZATION
  • Edited by P. M. Holt, Ann K. S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Islam
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    21 April 1977, pp 702-740

  • Summary

    This chapter provides an overview of Islamic art. The earliest mosques, such as the Prophet's mosque at Medina, or those of Kufa and Basra, were primitive structures, erected of perishable material. Three mosques had been erected during the reign of the Patriarchal Caliphs. The first was at Basra in 14/635 and the second at Kufa in 17/638. The third mosque was built by Amr b. al-As, the conqueror of Egypt, at Fustat in 21-2/641-2. The largest and probably the most beautiful Umayyad palace is Khirbat al-Mafjar in Jericho. The Great Mosque of Samarra, built by al-Mutawakkil is the largest mosque in Islam. Excavations by Soviet archaeologists in Samarqand and Afrasiyab, and by the Metropolitan Museum at Nishapur, exposed an interesting type of pottery. The Fatimids came to power in Tunisia and founded their capital Mahdiyya with its Great Mosque.