Decoration of Vines and Grapes

early 8th century AD
Small Chamber, Amra, Jordan

The two small chambers on either side of the throne room are decorated with scrolls of vines and grapes, imitating the decoration found on Byzantine mosaics. The Umayyad artists drew on the Classical heritage of their newly-conquered territories, in order to decorate their royal palaces with secular themes rather than Christian or Islamic religious designs.