Arts of the Islamic World: the Early Period

• ceramics or architecture
• The immediate needs of the religion included places to worship (mosques) and holy books (Korans) to convey the word of God.
• So, naturally, many of the first artistic projects included ornamented mosques where the faithful could gather and Korans with beautiful calligraphy.
• Architecture was a combination of multiple cultures; a standard was not yet established
• The Umayyad dynasty produced little of what we would consider decorative arts (like pottery, glass, metalwork), but under the Abbasid dynasty production of decorative stone, wood and ceramic objects flourished. 
• he use of luster painting (which gives ceramic ware a metallic sheen) became popular in surrounding regions and was extensively used on tile for centuries. 
• Artisans in Samarra developed a new method for carving surfaces that allowed for curved, vegetal forms (called arabesques) which became widely adopted.
• Overall, the Abbasid epoch was an important transitional period that disseminated styles and techniques to distant Islamic lands.