Catalogue of the exhibition (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 03/12/12-07/08/12)

Publishers' description:
This groundbreaking volume explores the epochal transformations and unexpected continuities in the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the ninth century. As the period opened, the empire's southern provinces—the vibrant, diverse areas of North Africa and eastern Mediterranean—were at the crossroads of trade routes reaching from Spain to China. These regions experienced historic upheavals when their Christian and Jewish communities encountered the emerging Islamic world, and by the ninth century an unprecedented cross-fertilization of cultures had taken place. This extraordinary age is brought vividly to life by leading international scholars, their writings accompanied by sumptuous illustrations of the period's most notable arts and artifacts. Resplendent images of authority, religion, and trade—embodied in precious metals, brilliant textiles, fine ivories, elaborate mosaics, manuscripts, and icons, many of them never before published—highlight the dynamic dialogue between the rich array of Byzantine styles and evolving Islamic aesthetic. With its masterful exploration of two centuries that would shape the medieval world, Byzantium and Islam provides a revelatory interpretation of a period with profound ramifications for the modern era.

Table of contents:
Director's Foreword
Sponsors' Statements
Acknowledgments
Lenders to the Exhibition
Contributors to the Catalogue
Map: Byzantium and Islam 7th–9th Century
Note to the Reader
Byzantium
Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition (7th–9th Century)
Helen C. Evans
Gerasa
Lisa R. Brody
Catalogue Numbers 1–3
Heraclius
Helen C. Evans
Catalogue Numbers 4–7
Classical Survival
Helen C. Evans
Catalogue Numbers 8–15
Sasanian Expansion to the Mediterranean
Alexander Nagel
Catalogue Numbers 16–20
Christian Communities during the Early Islamic Centuries
Brandie Ratliff
Catalogue Numbers 21–24
Sinai from the Seventh to the Ninth Century: Continuity in the Midst of Change
Hieromonk Justin of Sinai
Catalogue Number 25
Icons from the Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai
Kathleen Corrigan
Catalogue Numbers 26–31
Arab Christians
Sidney H. Griffith
Catalogue Numbers 32–38
The Syriac Church
Nancy Khalek
Catalogue Numbers 39–40
Coptic Christianity
Elizabeth S. Bolman
Catalogue Numbers 46–50
The Coptic Monastery of Bawit
Domonique Bénazeth
Catalogue Numbers 51–53
To Travel to the Holy
Brandie Ratliff
Catalogue Numbers 54–61
The Stylites of Syria
Brandie Ratliff
Catalogue Numbers 62–65
Mosaics during the Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods
Robert Schick
Catalogue Numbers 66–67
Jews and Judaism between Byzantium and Islam
Steven Fine
Catalogue Numbers 68–78
Christian Mosaics in Early Islamic Jordan and Palestine: A Case of Regional Iconoclasm
Finbarr B. Flood
Catalogue Numbers 79–81
Commerce
"Ornaments of excellence" from "the miserable gains of commerce": Luxury Art and Byzantine Culture
Thelma K. Thomas
Catalogue Numbers 82–83
Arab-Byzantine Coins: Money as Cultural Continuity
Clive Foss
Catalogue Numbers 84–92
Weights and Measures from Byzantium and Islam
Stefan Heidemann
Catalogue Numbers 93–97
Silks
Thelma K. Thomas
Catalogue Numbers 98–103
Dress Styles from Syria to Libya
Cècilia Fluck
Materials and Techniques of Late Antique and Early Islamic Textiles Found in Egypt
Kathrin Colburn
Catalogue Numbers 104–114
Animal Motifs
Mina Moraitou
Catalogue Numbers 115–118
Vine Rinceaux
Gabriele Mietke
Catalogue Numbers 119–123
Inscribed Textiles
Cècilia Fluck
Catalogue Numbers 124–125
Inscribed Objects
Robert Schick
Catalogue Numbers 126–129
Jewelry: Ideologies and Transformation
Stephen R. Zwirn
Catalogue Numbers 130–132
Women
Mina Moraitou
Catalogue Numbers 133–140
Islam
Country Estates, Material Culture, and the Celebration of Princely Life: Islamic Art and the Secular Domain
Anna Ballian
Catalogue Number 142
Qasr al-Mshatta
Anna Ballian
Catalogue Number 142
Al-Fudayn
Anna Ballian
Catalogue Numbers 143–148
Al-Qastal
Anna Ballian
Catalogue Numbers 149–152
An Abbasid Residence at al-Humayma
Rebecca M. Foote
Catalogue Numbers 153–154
Ornamental Motifs in Early Islamic Art
Mina Moraitou
Catalogue Numbers 155–162
Fustat
Iman R. Abdulfattah
Catalogue Numbers 163–172
Secular Inscriptions
Mina Moraitou
Catalogue Numbers 173–176
Faith, Religion, and the Material Culture of Early Islam
Finbarr B. Flood
Catalogue Number 177
Religious Inscriptions in Early Islamic Art
Linda Komaroff
Catalogue Numbers 178–187
The Qur'an
Finbarr B. Flood
Catalogue Numbers 188–139
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Photograph Credits