blue and gold mosaic; colored tiles or glass

Ingredients

colored tiles, glass, gold

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The inscriptions are described as being rendered out of the same squares of tile used for vegetal patterns (p. 95). This mosaic style was 'translated' into the Islamic context by Umayyad Caliph al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (d. 715 CE) from the Byzantine Empire's aesthetic qualities (p. 94). The inscriptions on the Inner Octagonal Arcade specifically address God's supreme power (p. 91).

Evidence

"The inscriptions of the Inner and Outer Octagonal Arcades are rendered in blue and gold mosaic. The gold inscriptions on a blue background are additionally set off by vegetal mosaics on a gold background (see fig. A.19)."

Remarks

The mosaic medium reinforces the acknowledgement of a heterogeneous society and the tension between word and image (p. 94-95). Architectural inscriptions in square kufic are generally rendered from colored tiles or glass in blues, greens, and yellows (p. 96). The use of mosaics evokes the memory of Christian figural imagery, though here they are used non-figurally to negotiate tensions with the Christian community (p. 94).