Once the legendary dynasty of the Omayyads had chosen Damascus as its capital in the 7th century, the Syrian city acquired a fabulous reputation. For almost 100 years Damascus was the cultural linchpin of the world, a city where the most learned men of the Mediterranean region lived and the most skillful craftsmen worked. The Omayyad caliphs contributed to this golden age; they summoned the most skilled craftsmen in Byzantium to work on the mosaics in the newly constructed Omayyad Mosque.

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