Column Capital, c. 960–76. Spain, Cordoba, Madinat al-Zahra, Spanish Umayyad period (756–1031). Marble; overall: 26 x 37 x cm (10 1/4 x 14 9/16 x 11 1/4 in.). This capital comes from the palatial city of Madinat al-Zahra near Cordoba (Spain) which was begun by caliph Abd al-Rahman III (r. 912–61) around 936. Large parts of the Iberian Peninsula were then under Islamic rule and experienced a cultural flowering. The city, destroyed already in 1010, was the most magnificent palace complex in Europe at the time.

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