Umayyad

views updated May 29 2018

Umayyad a member of a Muslim dynasty that ruled the Islamic world from ad 660 (or 661) to 750 and Moorish Spain 756–1031. The dynasty claimed descent from Umayya, a distant relative of Muhammad.
Ummayad Mosque a mosque in Damascus, Syria, built ad 705–15 on the site of a church dedicated to St John the Baptist. Within the mosque is a shrine believed to contain the relic of the saint's head.