Editing Islamic art (section)

==== Pre-dynastic ====
The period of a rapid expansion of the Islamic era forms a reasonably accurate beginning for the label of Islamic art. Early geographical boundaries of the Islamic culture were in present-day [[Syria]]. It is quite difficult to distinguish the earliest Islamic objects from their predecessors in Persian or [[Sasanian art|Sasanian]] and [[Byzantine art]], and the conversion of the mass of the population, including artists, took a significant period, sometimes centuries, after the initial [[spread of Islam]]. There was, notably, a significant production of unglazed ceramics, witnessed by a famous small bowl preserved in the [[Louvre]], whose inscription assures its attribution to the Islamic period. Plant motifs were the most important in these early productions.

Influences from the Sassanian artistic tradition include the image of the king as a warrior and the lion as a symbol of nobility and virility. [[Bedouin]] tribal traditions mixed with the more sophisticated styles of the conquered territories. For an initial period coins had human figures in the Byzantine and Sassanian style, perhaps to reassure users of their continued value, before the Islamic style with lettering only took over.