English description: The volume presents articles from different academic fields. The geographical focus lies on the Eastern Mediterranean, its chronological framework comprises mainly the 9th to 13th century. The collected articles share a common approach inviting the reader to think across the established academic and institutional boundaries of Islamic and Byzantine art history and neighbouring disciplines. The Eastern Mediterranean is presented as an area that has been shaped by lasting processes of cultural interchange inducing an osmosis of artistic forms of expression. German description: Die interdisziplinaren Beitrage dieses Bandes unterziehen uberkommene Denk- und Erklarungsmuster einer kritischen Revision. Sie stellen das Verbindende des antiken Erbes und einer daraus entwickelten gemeinsamen "visuellen Kultur" dem nur scheinbar Trennenden machtpolitischer Auseinandersetzungen und religioser Gegensatze gegenuber und gewinnen so neue Erkenntnisse.