During the era of the Umayyad Caliphate, from 661 to 750 AD, regarding the Byzantine impact on early Islamic architecture, Byzantine artistic heritage constitutes a fundamental source for the new Islamic art. , particularly in Syria and Palestine. Considerable Byzantine influences can be detected in distinctive early Islamic monuments in Syria and Palestine, such as on the Dome of the Rock in AD 691 in Jerusalem, or on the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. While the Dome of the Rock clearly refers in its plan - and partially in its decoration - to Byzantine art, the plan of the Umayyad Mosque also bears a remarkable similarity to the Christian basilicas of the 6th and 7th centuries, but it has been modified and enlarged. the transverse axis and not on the normal longitudinal axis as in Christian basilicas. This modification better serves the liturgy of Islamic prayer. The original mihrab of the mosque is located almost in the middle of the eastern part of the Qibla wall and not in the middle, a feature which can be explained by the fact that the architect could have tried to avoid the impression of a Christian apse which would result from the arrangement of the mihrab in the middle of the transept. The tiling, geometric patterns, multiple arches, domes, and polychrome bricks and stones that characterize Islamic and Moorish architecture were influenced to some extent by Byzantine architecture.