The Relocation of Jerusalem

This chapter examines the history of the conflict between Fatimid and Macedonian dynasties as it was shaped by periods of military engagement punctuated by truces. The climate of uncertainty meant that the reception of large numbers of pilgrims at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or of the Resurrection was severely disrupted. However, war encouraged other forms of contact and exchange, resulting in the importation of the art and architecture of Syria-Palestine into Byzantium not only by diplomats, soldiers, and camp-followers who returned home, but also by former caliphal subjects—Muslims and Christians of various confessional persuasions—who were forced to resettle in enemy territory. The influence of these groups extended into the Byzantine heartland, as evinced by the spread of an aesthetic that referenced the Arabic language and the Kufic script. The material culture of Hellas from the period indicates that provincial society was encouraged to celebrate imperial successes and remain committed to war-effort in the long term. Athens was proposed to Christians as an alternative destination for would-be pilgrims to the Holy Land. But it was also promoted as the originator and possessor of the truths whose perversion was argued to underlie the theology of Ismaʿili Shiʿi Islam.