Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham, commonly known as Abd al-Rahman I, was the founder of the Umayyad dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia in Al-Andalus for nearly three centuries. Abd al-Rahman was a member of the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus, and his establishment of a government in Iberia represented a break with the Abbasids, who had overthrown the Umayyads in Damascus in 750.
Dirham coin of Abd al-Rahman I
A 19th century depiction of Abd al Rahman I
An illustration of The Song of Roland from the Grandes Chroniques de France, A romanticization of Battle of Roncevaux Pass.
The hypostyle hall, with its distinctive two-tiered arches, inside the Great Mosque of Córdoba, begun by Abd al Rahman I in 785–786.
The Iberian Peninsula, also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in South-western Europe, defining the westernmost edge of Eurasia. It is divided between Continental Portugal and Peninsular Spain, comprising most of the region, as well as Andorra, Gibraltar, and a small part of Southern France. With an area of approximately 583,254 square kilometres (225,196 sq mi), and a population of roughly 55 million, it is the second-largest European peninsula by area, after the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Satellite image of the Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula and Southern France, satellite photo on a cloudless day in March 2014
A model recreating the Chalcolithic settlement of Los Millares
An instance of the Southwest Paleohispanic script inscribed in the Abóbada I stele.
