Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East are a group of
Christian mosaics created between the 4th and the 8th centuries in ancient
Syria,
Palestine and
Egypt when the area belonged to the
Byzantine Empire. The eastern provinces of the
Eastern Roman and later the
Byzantine Empires inherited a strong artistic tradition from
Late Antiquity. The tradition of making mosaics was carried on in the
Umayyad era until the end of the 8th century. The great majority of these works of art were later destroyed but archeological excavations unearthed many surviving examples.