Spandrel from the interior octagonal arcade showing a stylized floral and fruit-bearing plant growing from a jewellled vase. Note the necklace encircling the top central stem and the Kufic inscription band thought to be the oldest surviving sample of Quranic Arabic writing. This excerpt reads, "... He gives life and He gives death and over all things is imnipotent..."
يحي و يميت و هو على كل شيء قدير...
Seventh Century Umayyad mosaics in the Qubbat al-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock), Masjid al-Aqsa, Jerusalem. Original mosaics attributed to the caliph Abd al-Malik bin Marwan (ruled 685-705 C.E.).
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