Assess the impact of Byzantine and Sassanian cultures on Umayyad Essay

Assess the impact of Byzantine and Sassanian cultures on Umayyad secular architecture and its decoration, with reference to spec - Essay Example Previous to the ascend of the Islam culture in the earliest ADS- 5th and 6th Centuries- the persons, according to Blair & Bloom (2009) who lived in the Arab peninsula, had a main responsibility in shaping the present day Islam art. The then inhabitants of the Arab peninsula are comprehensive of the Byzantine in the Northwest whilst the Sassanian Empire was situated in the North East (Blair & Bloom, 2009). This paper shall evaluate the surfacing of the Islam world in relation to the Sassanian and Byzantine Empires, via an examination of the then cultures, the adjustments and adoption of the same to the Islam world. The paper shall also attempt to give clear instances such as Qusayr Al-Hayr East, Khirbat Al Mafjar, and Qusayr Amra amongst others. 2.0. The Byzantine Empire This empire as seen in the thoughts compiled by Ekhtiar (2011) was born out of the Roman Empire, and had Constantinople as its midpoint. The empire comprised of the Balkans - Palestine, Syrians, Egyptians, and Asia mi nors- and had Christianity as its major faith (Blair & Bloom, 2009). Nevertheless, the empire was also open to a Jewish population and other Christian sects. In relation to art, the empire has strong Roman roots that saw the empire have a great influence from pagan classical inheritance (Blair & Bloom, 2009). ... The then emperor, Justinian reconstructed the city of Antioch at Syria by dividing it into streets, by constructing sewers, fountains, and water channels (Ekhtiar, 2011). At the same time, the emperor built baths, theaters and other buildings to a great city (Ekhtiar, 2011). However, with time the city faced frequent tests ranging from inadequate funds to develop the city, but one would argue that the broad avenues and ‘modern’ buildings replaced the classical monuments and the general lifestyle of the town life (Blair & Bloom, 2009). On the other hand, Ekhtiar (2011) indicates that the Sassanian Empire was also developing gradually to urban civilization. 3.0. The Sassanian Empire Founded in the 208-40 AD by Ardashir, the empire became Rome Byzantine’s empire major challenger (Irwin, 1997). The empire stretches to the Far East from the Indus and Oxis rivers, and had had numerous conflicts with the Byzantine at the time of Justinian rule (Irwin, 1997). In the compi lation of Irwin (1997), the empire is said to practice the Zoroaster faith, though the Manichaenism was gaining root in the territory as well which used paintings to explain its message as seen in the Islam art, by its founder Mani (Irwin, 1997). The Sassanian is said to have a huge relationship with the Byzantine architecture, an explanation of the type of drinking cups used by the Sassanian portray a huge percentage of Dionysian imagery (Irwin, 1997).The Sassanian also used the scrolling vine from the Byzantine art, and the same is replicated in the then Islamic culture. The Sassanians are also indicated to have their motifs as the peacock, the winged crown and the palm that were