The starting point of Study 1, on the ‘Art of Late Antique Egypt and Alexandria’, was the Old Testament paintings on a large piece of linen, now housed in the Abegg-Stiftung near Bern. Examination of these paintings revealed a uniquely Egyptian tradition in this genre, of painting scenes in pale tones on dark blue linen. After an extensive study, it was possible, with the help of early Church historian Teresa Morgan, to conclude that they were made for a Christian audience, rather than a Jewish one. We also discovered that there was an unrecognised tradition in Egypt of large-scale textiles with figural scenes in resist-dyed, loop-pile, and tapestry methods of production. From our research on Ethiopic manuscripts and the influence of Egypt they display, came two study-days and public-engagement events at the Bodleian Library, and a publication of the library’s holdings of Eritrean and Ethiopic material, as well as a major monograph on the remarkable and recently discovered Garima Gospels (the earliest surviving Ethiopian gospel-book). Parallel work on the Luxor ‘cult-chamber’ wall-murals has led to a full reinterpretation of these important paintings, in the context of late imperial ideology and iconography.
Study 2, on the ‘Art of Late Antique Syria: Floor Mosaics’, had three main sections. The first focussed on the distinctive ‘Syrian’ geometric patterns, which had a long continuity – into the early Islamic period. The same patterns were found to occur, not only in synagogues and Islamic buildings, but also in churches; so, contrary to what had been assumed, they were not used only where figural scenes were being avoided. The second section concerned pavements in churches with animals on them. Unlike elsewhere, where hunt scenes are common, a tradition developed in Syria of mosaics with various wild animals, unaccompanied by human figures. The third section examined a previously unexplored phenomenon, which is almost unique to Syria (and Jordan), of the depiction of biblical scenes on church floors. A comprehensive book on the Syrian floor-mosaics in their regional context, the first thorough study these have ever received, is at an advanced stage of preparation, for submission to Cambridge University Press.
For Study 3, on ‘Early Islamic Wall Mosaics and Paintings’, the decision was made to focus on the extensive wall-mosaics of the Great Mosque of Damascus, since these had not been re-examined in the light of recent developments in the study of mosaics elsewhere, and since, in a continuous series of repairs and reworkings, they also demonstrate a remarkable continuity in Islamic mosaic-working. Although it was not safe for western scholars to visit the mosque, over 1,200 photographs (old and new), including a unique set of recent high-resolution colour images taken from scaffolding and with additional lighting, were assembled to study and to form the basis of a full colour published record of the mosaics. Through careful examination of the images (looking at both the technique and the iconography of the mosaics), combined with a re-examination of the surviving (or documented) inscriptions and the historical texts, it proved possible to identify, not only what was the original work of the early eighth century, but also a succession of repairs and reworkings. These discoveries, important in themselves, will be additionally significant when looking at other instances of continuity of local glass wall-mosaic traditions, such as in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This research has shown that schools of mosaic-work long outlasted the Umayyad period (which ended in 750), a conclusion which is completely novel. The re-examination of the mosaics of the Great Mosque, illustrated with the new colour photographs, will be presented in a comprehensive book, currently at an advanced stage of preparation, which will become the definitive publication of the monument.
Researchers on the project gave multiple talks in Oxford, and also delivered papers in Cambridge, London and Norwich, as well as a variety of locations in Germany, Italy, Jordan, the Netherlands, and the USA. To enable effective study of the art-works under consideration, and to facilitate rapid comparison with other monuments, some 21,000 new photographs were up-loaded onto the Manar al-Athar website (www.manar-al-athar.ox.ac.uk) with full metadata in both English and Arabic. These images are freely available, at all resolutions, world-wide, and include much material that is currently unvisitable and under threat, as well as high-quality images of monuments that have already been destroyed (at sites like Palmyra and Aleppo).
