Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper re-examines a mural painting discovered during the fourth excavation season in the Qasr al-Imara of Kufa (Iraq) in 1957 and published in 1971. A re-assessment of the archaeological context and the iconographical analysis of the painting allow us to confirm its dating to the early decades from the foundation of Kufa (638-661 CE) and therefore
to identify it as the earliest known artistic evidence datable to the Islamic period. Moreover, by considering later attestations of the motifs appearing in the painting, it is possible to observe a continuity in the use of the same decorative forms, in different artistic media and geographical contexts, throughout the early Islamic period (7th-9th centuries).