The domination of the Arabs over a large part of the East from the sixth century on created the proper conditions for the development and revival of the art of ceramics which produced highly artistic and decorative objects besides the utilitarian ones. The town of Nicaea, being the natural junction between East and West, becomes the manufacturing center of ceramics, which are clearly influenced by Byzantium and Persia and, through the latter, by China, Syria and Egypt. From the sixteenth century on the ceramic production of Nicaea reaches its climax and exhibits a variety of distinctive styles, such as the Damascus and the Rhodes or Lindos ones.