FLOOR MOSAICS IN THE EARLY ISLAMIC LEVANT: THE FINAL FLOURISH OF AN ANCIENT ARTFORM – TAASA Review September 2020

Ana Silkatcheva I n the Holy Land, west of the River Jordan and north of the Dead Sea, and some 5km north of the centre of Jericho, stand the ruins of one of the earliest Islamic caliphal palatial complexes.

Dated to the first half of the 8th century, the archaeological site is designated Khirbat al-Mafjar and popularly known as Hisham’s Palace after the 10th Muslim caliph, a member of the Umayyad dynasty and the putative owner and builder of the complex.

One building, the bath-house, has a particularly lavish decorative program...