Word: isaurian
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Dates: during 1959-1959
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...site of Mount Sinai at the confluence of contending religions was responsible for the fact that the monastery contains nearly all the icons which survive from before the 8th century. In 726, the Emperor Leo the Isaurian ordered all icons within the Byzantine realm destroyed to discourage idolatry. Only those at Mount Sinai escaped, since the monastery had fallen under Omayyad rule. The Moslems left the monastery in peace; in return, the monks allowed the Moslems to build a mosque within the monastery...
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