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Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس‎, trans. al-ʼAndalus, Spanish: Al-Ándalus, Portuguese: Al-Andalus) was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims (often given the generic name of Moors), at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries underwent constant changes due to wars with the Christian Kingdoms.<br/><br/> Following the Muslim conquest of Hispania, Al-Andalus was divided into five administrative areas roughly corresponding to Andalusia, Galicia and Portugal, Castile and León, Aragon and Catalonia, and Septimania. As a political domain or domains, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms.<br/><br/> Rule under these kingdoms saw the rise in cultural exchange and cooperation between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres in both the Mediterranean Basin and the Islamic world.
Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس‎, trans. al-ʼAndalus, Spanish: Al-Ándalus, Portuguese: Al-Andalus) was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims (often given the generic name of Moors), at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries underwent constant changes due to wars with the Christian Kingdoms.<br/><br/> Following the Muslim conquest of Hispania, Al-Andalus was divided into five administrative areas roughly corresponding to Andalusia, Galicia and Portugal, Castile and León, Aragon and Catalonia, and Septimania. As a political domain or domains, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms.<br/><br/> Rule under these kingdoms saw the rise in cultural exchange and cooperation between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres in both the Mediterranean Basin and the Islamic world.
This cylindrical pyxis - a kind of casket - was carved in 968 for Prince al-Mughira (son of the deceased Caliph Abd al-Rahman III and half-brother of the reigning Caliph al-Hakam). It is the finest example of the luxury ivory objects made for the members of the court of Madinat al-Zahra (the caliph's residence and city of government, established near Cordoba in 936).<br/><br/> Its four richly-decorated medallions are linked by borders of delicately pierced foliage, and this composition is reflected on the lid, whose medallions feature peacocks, falcons, lions, and a rider. There are four scenes on the body of the box. In one of these, a lutanist is flanked by two cross-legged figures who look at each other rather suspiciously.<br/><br/> One holds a fan, the other a bottle (an emblem often associated with the king), and a braided vegetal scepter of the kind used by the Umayyad Dynasty. The other images, such as that of a bull attacked by a lion, are all doubled. Some curious little scenes show back-to-back figures stealing eggs from falcons' nests, with dogs biting their ankles, and the final medallion portrays riders picking bunches of dates.