The history of the Umayyad caliphate is often presented as a transitional phase lying somewhere between the charismatic authority of the Rightly Guided caliphs and the fully Islamicized culmination of the caliphate under the Abbasids. In particular the Umayyad period is portrayed in early Islamic sources as one infused with expressions of kingship or mulk; from the sensuous court life to the ceremonial surrounding the office of the caliph. In a sense the Umayyads are seen in terms of their attachment to an Arab jāhilī identity distinct from an Islamic one on the one hand, and their importation of the trappings of royalty from Byzantine and Sasanian sources on the other. This reading also presents Umayyad authority constructs as a combination of two sources; pre-Islamic Arabian kingship, such as that of the Lakhmids and Ghassanids, and constructs of pre-Islamic Meccan tribal authority. For example the governor and later caliph, Muʿawiya b. abi Sufyan (602-680 CE) is described both as a “super-shaykh” and a malik, or king; with his diplomacy and patience lauded as virtues typical of an Arabian tribal leader, all the while accused of being the first caliph to introduce mulk, or kingship into the Islamic caliphate. Unsurprisingly the architecture of the first century of Islam reveals a pattern of syncretism more or less consistent with this narrative. As Islam consolidated its power within the classical world, iconic imagery of authority first manifested within the places where power was often asserted; the mosque and residences of the early Umayyad caliphs and governors, known as the dār al-imāra. This paper will focus upon the latter by examining the early governors’ residences (dār al-imāra) in Islam during the governorship and reign of Muʿawiya as caliph (602-680 CE). The impact of the pre-Islamic configuration of the dār al-nadwa or House of Deputies in relation to the Kaʿba and its sacred enclosure in Mecca will also be considered. Finally, the appearance of the first qubbat al-khadrā’, or dome of the green, particularly in regards to the evidence that casts these domes as heavenly domes, will be examined.