This document contains descriptions and images of important architectural and artistic works from the major world religions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism between 300-1200 CE. The works described include early Christian churches and art from Rome, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the expansion of Islam by 850 as shown in maps, the Hagia Sophia and its mosaics in Istanbul, Islamic calligraphy and architecture from the Kaaba to mosques in Timbuktu and Cordoba, as well as giant Buddha statues from Afghanistan and China during this period.

1. Islamic. The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.
Late 680s–691.
[Fig. 4.1]

2. Map: The Spread of Christianity by 600 CE.
ca. 305 CE.
[Fig. Map 4.1]

3. Map: The Expansion of Islam to 850.
[Fig. Map 4.2]

4. Jewish. Model of the Second Temple of Jerusalem.
20 CE.
[Fig. 4.2]

5. Early Christian. Cutaway drawing: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, showing
site of Christ’s Tomb (line drawing).
ca. 300 CE.
[Fig. 4.3]

6. Early Christian. The Good Shepherd.
300 CE. Marble. Height: 39".
Vatican Museums, Rome. [Fig. 4.4]

7. Early Christian. Drawing: Traditional Christian Symbols (line drawing).
[Fig. 4.5]

8. Early Christian. Reconstruction drawing of Old St. Peter’s, Rome.
ca. 320-327 CE (Atrium added later 4th century).
Vatican Museums, Rome. [Fig. 4.6]

9. Early Christian. Ground plan, Old St. Peter's, Rome.
320-327 CE.
[Fig. 4.7]

10. Early Christian. Interior of the Church of Santa Costanza, Rome.
ca. 350 CE.
[Fig. 4.8]

11. Early Christian. Ground plan, Church of Santa Costanza, Rome.
ca. 350 CE.
[Fig. 4.9]

12. Early Christian. Ambulatory vault mosaic, Church of Santa Costanza, Rome.
Late fourth or early fifth century CE. Mosaic.
[Fig. 4.10]

13. Mithraic. Mithraic relief.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Peris, 1997 (1997.145.3).
Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY. [Fig. 4.11]

14. Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
(formerly Constantinople).
532-537 CE.
[Fig. 4.12]

15. Map: The Byzantine Empire at the death of Justinian in 565 and in 1025.
[Fig. Map 4.3]

16. Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus. Interior, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
(formerly Constantinople).
532-537 CE.
[Fig. 4.13]

17. Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus. Ground plan, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
(formerly Constantinople).
532-537 CE.
[Fig. 4.14a]

18. Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus. Vertical cross-section, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
(formerly Constantinople).
532-537 CE.
[Fig. 4.14b]

19. Byzantine. Theotokos and Child with Saint Theodore and Saint George.
Sixth century. Encaustic on board.
Monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai. [Fig. 4.15]

20. Byzantine. Emperor Justinian with Maximian, Clergy, Courtiers, and Soldiers.
Wall mosaics, San Vitale, Ravenna.
ca. 547 CE. Mosaic.
[Fig. 4.16]

21. Byzantine. Empress Theodora with Courtiers and Ladies of Her Court. Wall mosaics,
San Vitale, Ravenna.
ca. 547 CE. Mosaic.
[Fig. 4.17]

22. Islamic. Left page of double frontispiece to volume VII of the Qur’an of Baybars
Jashnagir, from Egypt.
1304-06. Manuscript illumination. 18-1/2" x 12-1/2".
British Library, London. [Fig. 4.18]

23. Ahmed Karahisari. Frontispiece, Calligraphic Qur’an, from Istanbul.
ca. 1550. Manuscript illumination. 19-2/3" x 13-3/4".
Museum of Turkish and. [Fig. 4-CL.1]

24. Islamic. Bismillah in the form of a parrot, from Iran.
1834-35. Ink on paper under wax coating.
Islamic Art, Istanbul. [Fig. 4-CL.2]

25. Islamic. Five examples of the bismillah in different Islamic cursive scripts
(calligraphic drawings).
Cincinnati Art Museum, Franny Bryce Lehmer Fund, 1977.65. [Fig. 4-CL.3]

26. Islamic. Mihrab niche, Isfahan, Iran.
ca. 1354-55. Mosaic of polychrome glazed tiles on fritware body set into plaster. 135-
1/16" x 113-11/16".
©1982. [Fig. 4-CL.4]

27. Islamic. The Kaaba, center of the Haram Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Last rebuilt 1631.
[Fig. 4.19]

28. Islamic. Djingareyber Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali.
ca.1312.
[Fig. 4.20]

29. Great Mosque of Córdoba. Interior.
Begun 785, extended 852, 950, 961–76, and 987.
[Fig. 4.21]

30. Map: The spread of Buddism, 500 BCE - eleventh century CE.
[Fig. Map 4.4]

31. Buddhist. Colossal Statue, Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
Northern Wei dynasty, ca. third century CE. Stone. Height: 175'.
[Fig. 4.22]

32. Buddhist. Large Seated Buddha with Standing Bodhisattva, from cave 20, Ungang,
Shaanxi, China.
Northern Wei dynasty, ca, 460-70 CE. Stone. Heigt: 44'.
[Fig. 4.23]

33. Medieval France, Islamic influence. Saint Michel d’Aiguilhe, Le-Puy-en-Venay,
France. Portal.
ca. 1162-80.
[Fig. 4.24]

34. Islamic (probably Fatimid Egypt). Griffin from the Islamic Mediterranean, probably
Fatimid Egypt, appropriated as decoration for Pisa Cathedral.
Eleventh century. Bronze. Height: 3' 6-1/8".
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Pisa. [Fig. 4.25]