▁areas ▁European - made ▁goods ▁could ▁not ▁match ▁the ▁quality ▁of ▁Islam ic ▁or ▁By z antine ▁work ▁until ▁near ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁Middle ▁A ges . ▁Lux ury ▁text iles ▁were ▁widely ▁used ▁for ▁cl othing ▁and ▁hang ings ▁and ▁also , ▁fort un ately ▁for ▁art ▁history , ▁also ▁often ▁as ▁shr oud s ▁for ▁the ▁bur ial s ▁of ▁important ▁figures , ▁which ▁is ▁how ▁most ▁surv iving ▁examples ▁were ▁preserved . ▁In ▁this ▁area ▁By z antine ▁sil k ▁was ▁influenced ▁by ▁S ass an ian ▁text iles , ▁and ▁Islam ic ▁sil k ▁by ▁both , ▁so ▁that ▁is ▁hard ▁to ▁say ▁which ▁culture ' s ▁text iles ▁had ▁the ▁greatest ▁influence ▁on ▁the ▁Cl oth ▁of ▁St ▁G ere on , ▁a ▁large ▁t apest ry ▁which ▁is ▁the ▁earliest ▁and ▁most ▁important ▁European ▁im itation ▁of ▁Eastern ▁work . ▁European , ▁especially ▁Italian , ▁cloth ▁gradually ▁caught ▁up ▁with ▁the ▁quality ▁of ▁Eastern ▁imports , ▁and ▁adopted ▁many ▁elements ▁of ▁their ▁designs . ▁ ▁By z antine ▁pot tery ▁was ▁not ▁produced ▁in ▁high - quality ▁types , ▁as ▁the ▁By z antine ▁el ite ▁used ▁silver ▁instead . ▁Islam ▁has ▁many ▁had ith ic ▁inj unction s ▁against ▁e ating ▁off ▁pre cious ▁metal , ▁and ▁so ▁developed ▁many ▁vari eties ▁of ▁fine ▁pot tery ▁for ▁the ▁el ite , ▁often ▁influenced ▁by ▁the ▁Chinese ▁por cel ain ▁war es ▁which ▁had ▁the ▁highest ▁status ▁among ▁the ▁Islam ic ▁el ites ▁themselves ▁— ▁the