the Arab world of these empires perpetuated this art. Mongol rule Arab miniaturists had to adapt to the tastes of their new rulers and the Mongols who brought with them Chinese influences. This influence is felt in particular in the book of Manafi' al-hayawan by Ibn Bukhtishu (Pierpont Morgan Library, M.500), the Vestiges of the past of the University of Edinburgh (Ms.161) dated 1307 or even The marvels of creation and their peculiarities from the Bavarian State Library (C.Ar.464). However, this art continued regressing, Iraq gradually becoming a satellite region of the Ilkhanate and the network of local sponsors gradually disappeared. Last traces One of the last important illustrated Arabic manuscripts is a copy of Al-Qazwini's Wonders of Creation dated around 1370 and 1380 in Baghdad (Freer Gallery of Art, 54.33-114). It shows both Mongol and Persian influences, although it still remains faithful to the caliphale classical Arabic tradition. Subsequently, the few rare manuscripts still produced in this region lost their originality and almost totally assimilated to the Ottoman or Persian style. Influences Figurative art has been known to Arabs since pre-Islamic times. Many examples of figurative representations such as frescoes and reliefs of humans and animals adorn the palaces of the Umayyad period, as on the Mshatta Facade, or the desert castles of the Levant, or the harems of the Abbasid era. Persian influence Several Arabic manuscripts have frontispieces representing princes surrounded by their courts. Among these works, although intended for commoners, wealthy merchants or others, some have retained the frontispiece of the Persian manuscripts from which they were inspired. These prince portraits represent hieratic (highly formalised) and frozen characters. These are generally literary works intended for entertainment. Syro-Byzantine influences At the end of the twelfth century, a new influence appeared; it was medieval painting that came through Byzantine illumination developed in Syria. Christian iconography was taken up but adapted to the Muslim context. The manuscript of Dioscorides of Topkapi takes up models taken from Byzantine manuscripts that can be found in the Dioscorides of Vienna copied in Constantinople in the sixth century. But this influence can be found in manuscripts without any relation with ancient subjects, as in several manuscripts of the Maqamat. For example, In the Hariri of 1222 (BNF Ar.6094), the figures in the miniatures wear turbans while having Byzantine features and attitudes close to Christ or his apostles. Materials and techniques Types Two types of