Syria in the Islamic Period

Syria passed from Roman to Islamic rule in the mid-seventh century CE as the advancing Arab armies took control of the region after the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 VR. Social and religious change was slow in the early periods of Umayyad and Abbasid rule, but the arrival of Islam in the 630s CE saw the city of Damascus rise to prominence as the capital of the newly formed caliphate. And by the eighth century, Damascus, along with Baghdad to the east and Cordoba to the west, became one of the most powerful socio-political centers of the Islamic world. The grand Umayyad mosque in Damascus represents the power of the burgeoning Islamic empire based in Syria. The Byzantines returned for a short while in the tenth and eleventh centuries by retaking parts of northern Syria, mainly around Antioch and Edessa. These gains, however, would be relatively short lived. In the Kidner collection, Damascus, Anjar, and the region around Aleppo feature prominently.