Lecture Notes

Click on any of the images to see a more in-depth set of notes on the topic.

The Formative Period
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/birth-islam)	1. Birth of Islam
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/vocab-islam)	2. Vocabulary of Islamic Architecture
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/early-mosques)	3. The Architecture of the Early Mosques

The Classical Period
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/umayyad)	4. Umayyad Grandeur: First Imperial Expressions
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/abbasids)	5. The Splendors of the Abbasids
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/ifriqiya)	6. Religious Monuments of the West: Ifriqiya and Spain
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/fatimid)	7. The Fatimid Caliphate: A New Tradition and Old Forms
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/iran-mosques)	8. Mosques of Iran and Central Asia (8th-11th Century)

The Medieval Period
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/seljuqs)	9. The Great Seljuqs, the Sunni Revival, and the Four-Iwan Plan
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/anatolia)	10. Anatolia, Iraq, and Syria (11th-13th Century)
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/ayyubids)	11. Architecture of the Ayyubids and Mamluks
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/ilkhanids)	12. Religious Architecture of the Ilkhanids
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/muslim-india)	13. Religious Architecture of the Muslim Dynasties in India (12th-15th Century)
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/mamluck)	14. Late Mamluk Religious Architecture
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/timurids)	15. Religious Architecture of the Timurids

The Age of the Gunpowder Empires
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/anatolia-turks)	16. Religious Architecture of Anatolia (14th-15th Century)
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/sinan)	17. Classical Ottoman Architecture: The Age of Sinan
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/safavids)	18. The Maydan-i-Shah in Isfahan, the Safavid Capital
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/mughal)	19. Mughal Mausolea

The Modern Period
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/baroque)	20. XIXth Century Religious Architecture
[](/courses/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/pages/lecture-notes/historicism)	21. Historicism and Religious Architecture in the Late Twentieth Century

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Concepts

Islam: One of today’s global religions and the third monotheistic religion, revealed after Judaism and Christianity and accepting them both. Brought by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632) in Arabia, it soon spread all over the southern and eastern Mediterranean, Africa, and south, east, and central Asia. In Arabic, the word Islam literally means “to surrender, to submit (to the will of God)”, which is the essence of the religion.

Mecca: Birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and a major trading center in Arabia that linked Byzantine Syria in the north with Yemen in the south. The tribe of Qureish lived in Mecca and was divided into 40 clans of varying wealth and status.

Qibla: The direction of Mecca toward which Muslims are required to face when they perform their prayer.

Mecca: The cult and trade center.

The Palaces of Yemen: Signs of a sophisticated agrarian culture.

Monuments

Frontal view of the so-called Khaznet-Firawn (the Treasury of Pharoah), a second century A.D. rock tomb in Petra. Petra: Rock cut tombs Palmyra: A caravan city turned imperial center with heavy Roman influences. The Iwan Kisra at Ctesiphon. Bostra (Bosra): View of the Roman amphitheater that was turned into a citadel in the Ayyubid Period.

Petra: The Nabatean capital carved in the rock with hybrid Hellenistic sensitivities.

The Ka’ba in Mecca: The center of worship and pilgrimage before Islam which became the axis mundi of Islam’s conception of the universe and the qibla towards which worshippers face when praying. Date of building unknown.

Palmyra: A caravan city turned imperial center with heavy Roman influences.

Mada`in Salih, Saudi Arabia: North Arabian, Nabatean trade cities that connected Syria in the North and Yemen in the South.

Iwan Kisra at Ctesiphon: The seat of Sassanian kings, the rulers of the second superpower of the time (other than Byzantium).

Rusafa (Sergiopolis): Capital of the Ghassanids, clients of Constantinople.

Bostra (Bosra): A Syrian-Roman city and another capital of the Ghassanids; the illustration of urban splendor in the eyes of the Prophet Muhammad.

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Concepts

Post-Seljuq Period: After the desintegration of the Great Seljuq Empire, many spin-off dynasties carved out smaller provinces in Anatolia (which opened up to Turkish immigration after the Seljuks defeated the Byzantines at the battle of Manzikert in 1071), Syria, and Mesopotamia. The most important among them were the Seljuqs of Rum (Anatolia) and the Zengids.

The Crusades: A series of campaigns launched in 1099 by Christian Europe against the Islamic East, ostensibly to liberate the Holy Land. In 1187, Salah al-Din (Saladin), the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, took Jerusalem back. In 1292, Acre, the last stronghold of the Crusaders in Palestine, fell to the Mamluks.

The Counter-Crusade: A movement to recover the Islamic lands occupied by the Crusades. It was fueled by the ruling military and religious elite as part of a wider moral reinvigoration of the community that was translated architecturally in the spread of religious institutions such as madrasas and mausolea.

Monuments

The Madrasa of Nur al-Din, interior view of the muqarnas dome. The Great Mosque of Dunaysir, facade of the prayer hall. The Great Mosque of Dunaysir, interior view with mihrab and squinch. The Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi, west portal. The Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi, north portal. The Madrasa al-Mustansiriyya in Baghdad, general view from the courtyard. The Madrasa al-Mustansiriyya in Baghdad, foundation enscription above main entrance. The Madrasa al-Mustansiriyya in Baghdad, stucco decoration above a door. The Madrasa al-Firdaws in Aleppo, general view from courtyard.

The Madrasa of Nur al-Din at Damascus

(1167-68): A representative of the iwan plan, this is the premier royal madrasa in Damascus. It is distinguished by its tiered muqarnas dome. The madrasa type is believed to have been imported from the eastern Iranian realm of the Seljuqs and spread all over Syria and Anatolia in the twelfth century and Egypt in the thirteenth.

The Great Mosque of Dunaysir (Kochisar)

Heavily influenced by the plan of the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, this mosque, founded in 1214, exhibits the interaction between Iranian, Classical, and Syrian traditions in the Medieval architecture of Upper Mesopotamia.

The Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrik (Divrigi)

Established by the wife of Ahmet Shah, the Mengujukid ruler of the city, in 1228-29, the mosque manifests the new development of hypostyle mosques in Anatolia (the reduction of the court), and the fusion of several traditions in the nascent architectural vocabulary. Very complex, and sometimes chaotic, themes and modes of stone carving appear in the portals. This makes the entire structure a curious museum of the various Anatolian decorative styles of the period.

The Madrasa al-Mustansiriyya in Baghdad

(finished 1233). A late Abbasid tour-de-force, this monumental madrasa was built by the caliph al-Mustansir on a site overlooking the river Tigris. It accommodated teaching in the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence and in hadith (Prophet’s traditions), and students were lodged in separate cells on two floors. The madrasa’s choice location and pronounced monumentality reflect its high caliphal patronage.

The Madrasa al-Firdaws in Aleppo

(1235-36): Founded by Dhayfa Khatun, the strong wife of the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo al-Zahir Ghazi. This is the most celebrated Syrian madrasa and the finest example of austere stone architecture. It is balanced in composition and conservative in decoration with a fine mihrab topped with a “Syrian knot,” a decorative element that later spread to Anatolia.

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Concepts

The Ayyubids: A family of Kurdish amirs who ruled Syria and Egypt (1176-1250). Their founder was Salah al-Din (Saladin), the exemplary knight and hero of the Counter-Crusade.

The Mamluks: A curious phenomenon that is not encountered outside the Islamic world, Mamluks were imported slaves, mostly of Turkish or Caucasian stock, who were destined for a military career. The Mamluks ruled Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1517.

Waqf: Endowment deed. In the medieval period, amirs and dignitaries endowed charitable structures both for pious and social reasons and as a means to preserve some of the wealth generated by their iqta’, or revenues form land holdings granted by the state only while they are actively in the service.

Khanqah: Institution for sufis which usually contains a mosque, quarters for a number of sufis, and a meeting hall where the hudur is performed. Its introduction into the urban environmrnt in major cities marked the recognition of popular religious practices by both the ruling and the clerical classes.

Hudur: Sufi acts of devotion which took the form of dancing, singing, and whirling among other ways. Each Sufi order had its distinctive hudur.

Monuments

Contemporary view with the dome and minaret and the shops hiding the facade. The Mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars in Cairo, general view. The Mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars in Cairo, view of the Western Portal. The Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in Cairo, general view. The Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in Cairo, view of the northwestern minaret. The Khanqah of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir, main iwan from courtyard. The Khanqah of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir, side facade with three levels of cells. The Khanqah of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir, view of the portal. The Complex of Sultan Qalawun in Cairo, view of the mausoleum dome and the minaret. The Complex of Sultan Qalawun in Cairo, detail of the external facade with its gothic influences. The Complex of Sultan Qalawun in Cairo, main or eastern iwan in the madrasa with its tripartite arched opening.

Madrasa of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub

(1243) First madrasa in Cairo to accommodate the four schools of law. Built in the heart of the Fatimid city, it was composed of two separate, self-contained courtyard units, parallel in plan, separated by a passage, and having each two large iwans. A mausoleum for the founder was added shortly after the completion of the complex by Shajar al-Durr, his wife.

The Mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars in Cairo

(1267-9): First royal Mamluk mosque in Cairo. Hypostyle in plan, and fortress-like in elevation, the mosque with its three portals displays local and Seljuk influences. Its minbar and mihrab are said to have been built with wood and marble taken from a Crusader’s church in Jaffa.

The Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in Cairo

(1318 and 1335). This hypostyle structure is distinguished by the arrangement of alternate courses of red and black stone in its arches and niches, and by its two unusual minarets which may have been a direct import from Ilkhanid Iran.

The Khanqah of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir

(1307-10). A structure with a biaxial plan, this Khanqa had a mausoleum added on its qibla side. It contained rooms for the sufis aligned on its two longitudinal sides.

The Complex of Sultan Qalawun in Cairo

(1284-85). Contains a bimaristan (hospital), a madrasa, and a mausoleum for the founder. The street façade is well articulated and shows the confluence of Syrian (Crusader and Islamic) arrangements. The madrasa is a four-iwan type with a basilical organization in the qibla iwan. The Dome of the mausoleum echoes the octagonal plan of the Dome of the Rock.

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Concepts

The Ilkhanids: Il-khan (Subordinate of the Khan) was the title assumed by Hülegü (1256-65), after he became the Mongol ruler of Iran and Khurasan. The Ilkhanids eventually converted to Islam and adopted the Iranian culture. It was from that period that the material culture of Iran flourished after the severe blow caused by the Mongol invasion.

Dargah: A Persian term for entrance vestibule, it became an important element in Timurid architecture and developed into monumental proportions along very symmetrical lines.

Monuments

The Mihrab of Sultan Oljeitu at the Isfahan Masjid-i-Jomeh. The Mosque of Ali Shah in Tabriz, general view drawn by Pascal Coste in the middle of the 19th century. The Mosque of Ali Shah in Tabriz, view of the back of the massive iwan. The Mausoleum of Sultan Oljeitu at Sultaniyya, general view. The Masjid-i-Jomeh at Varamin, side facade. The Masjid-i-Jomeh at Varamin, pishtak leading to prayer hall. The Masjid-i-Jomeh at Varamin, detail of stucco enscription.

The Mihrab of Sultan Oljeïtu at the Isfahan Masjid-i-Jomeh

(1310). A most unusual, carved stucco mihrab added onto a structural wall along with the whole vaulted oratory, called the winter hall.

The Mosque of Ali Shah in Tabriz

(1315): Considered the largest iwan mosque of its time, this huge vaulted structure overlooking a large court with a big central pool (possibly meant as a reflective pool) was seen as the Islamic challenge to the legendary Iwan-i Kisra.

The Mausoleum of Sultan Oljeïtu at Sultaniyya

(1307-13). Intended as a major component of a larger complex, this octagonal structure with eight slender minarets and a huge, blue-glazed dome is not well understood. Oljeïtu had the idea of transforming it into a mashhad for Ali and his son al-Husayn when he converted to Shiism but then changed his mind again and made it his own, and plastered the interior. The buidling shows the striving for verticality and the perfection of pre-existing traditions.

The Masjid-i-Jomeh at Varamin

(1322-26). Built under Abu Said, the son of Oljeïtu, this mosque is a very symmetrical composition which displays the ideal four-iwan plan. Its Dargah announces later developments.

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Concepts

Muslim Dynasties in Delhi

The Mamluk kings of Delhi (1193-1290)
The Khaljis of Delhi (1290-1320)
The Tughluqid Dynasty of Delhi (1320-1414)

Muslim Dynasties in the Provinces

The Sharqi Sultans at Jaunpur (1394-1479)
The Bahmanid Sultanate at Gulbarga (1347-1527)

Trabeate Architecture: The characteristic architectural principle of Hindu India based on the post-and-lintel system, mostly done in stone, and related stylistically and decoratively to carved wood architecture.

Arcuate Architecture: The contrasting architectural principle based mostly on vaults, arches, and domes, executed in brick. It is generally attributed to Mesopotamia and Persia, and seen as the Islamic style brought to India with the invading Turkish armies.

Monuments

The Minaret of Jam, general view. The Mosque of Quwwat al-Islam, view of the mosque with the arched screen in front the qibla wall and the iron column in the courtyard. The Mosque of Quwwat al-Islam, detail of the hypostyle columns, which are all reused from Hindu temples. The Qutb Minar, detail of the muqarnas balcony. The Tomb of Iltutmish at Delhi, mihrab view. The Tomb of Iltutmish at Delhi, detail of a squinch. The Tomb of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq at Delhi-Tughluqabad, general view.

The Minaret of Jam, Afghanistan

(1163-1203). This cylindrical, heavily-ornamented, 65-meter high brick tower is the most remarkable of a group of little-understood towers/minarets spread all over the medieval Turko-Iranian regions from Iraq to India.

The Mosque of Quwwat al-Islam (Might of Islam)

(1193-99, 1220-29, and 1316). Delhi’s earliest congregational mosque started by Aybak, the first Mamluk sultan of Delhi. It shows the conflict between the Hindu building tradition and the architectural requirements of mosques. It was enlarged twice.

The Qutb Minar of Quwwat al-Islam Mosque

(1199). Built by Aybak as a victory tower. It echoes the minaret of Jam, built by his master Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad of Ghur, but rises 7 meters higher.

The Ala’i Darwaza at Quwwat-al-Islam Mosque

(1311-16). The remaining gate of the expansion intended by Sultan Khalji. It shows the mastering of Islamic stone tradition by Indian masons and/or the influence of Seljuk immigrants.

The Congregational Mosque at Jaunpur

(1394-1479). This mosque is influenced by Tughluqid forms, but its screen in the qibla façade is transformed into a huge propylon.

The Tomb of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq at Delhi-Tughluqabad

(1325). Built in a fort in an artificial lake, this mausoleum is made of a red sandstone cube, with heavily slanted sides, and a white marble dome on top.

The Tomb of Iltutmish at Delhi behind the Quwwat al-Islam

(1210-35). Though using Hindu building techniques, this mausoleum is rooted, functionally and symbolically, in the Islamic tradition. Its Islamic character is formally expressed in the dome resting on squinches, mihrab, and Qur’anic inscriptions.

The Congregational Mosque at Gulbarga in the Deccan

(1367). Built by the Bahmanid Muhammad I, this mosque is totally covered. The vaults, domes, and arches in the façades indicate a strong Persian influence.

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Concepts

Qubba: Arabic for dome, used in medieval terminology for mausolea. The domes of Cairo are among the most impressive examples of vault architecture, especially for the carved stone domes over tombs, and more particularly for those of the late Mamluk period which excelled in geometric and floral patterns carving on the convex dome surface.

Qa’a-Mosque Type: Probably a development borrowed from residential architecture, this type has a qa’a plan (the most common hall type in Egypt), which normally has two iwans facing each other on the main axis, with wall recesses on the two remaining sides, while the central space is covered with a wooden cupola.

Sabil-Kuttab: A charitable structure composed of a sabil (drinking fountain) on the ground floor, and a kuttab (Qur’anic school for boys) on top, which was usually a room open on all sides.

Monuments

The Mosque of Sultan Hasan, general view with mausoleum in front. The monumental portal of Sultan Hasan with its muqarnas conch. The Mosque of Sultan Hasan: An intricate carved stone medallion on the portal of the Mosque. The Mosque of Sultan Hasan: View from below of the cascading muqarnas and the fluted half-dome atop the Mosques portal. The Mosque of Sultan Hasan: View from the main iwan towards the courtyard and the ablution fountain. The Mosque of Sultan Hasan: View towards the Qibla wall in the main iwan. The Khanqah of Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq: Main or northwestern facade of the Khanqah with the two minarets (last stories rebuilt) and the sabil-kuttab unit next to the entrance. The Khanqah of Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq: One of the two stone carved domes with its chevron pattern. The Khanqah of Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq: Interior of the dome with the four muqarnas squinches and the continuous knotted decorative pattern and inscription band around the drum (repainted in the 1980s). The Funerary-Religious Complex of Sultan Qaytbay: General view of the complex with the prominent sabil-kuttab unit on the left. Qaytbays stone carved dome with stellar patterns. The Funerary-Religious Complex of Sultan Qaytbay: Detail of the star pattern on the stone dome. The Funerary-Religious Complex of Sultan Qaytbay: View of the interior of the qaa-type prayer hall. The Mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi: Southern facade of the Mosque on al-Darb al-Ahmar. General view of the Sabil-Kuttab. Main or northern facade of the Sabil-Kuttab on Saliba street.

The Mosque of Sultan Hasan

(1356-61). The most monumental of all Cairene mosques, it stands like a fortress across from the Citadel of Cairo. The structure is a four-iwan, four-madrasa composition with a mausoleum right on the qibla axis of the mosque. The huge portal is oriented to impress the viewer coming from the Citadel. Its minarets mark the beginning of the line of development of the 3-tiered Mamluk minarets.

The Khanqah of Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq

(1400-11). A very symmetrical composition which contains a hypostyle mosque, cells for sufis, and two minarets and two carved stone qubbas, which are the largest stone domes in Cairo.

The Funerary-Religious Complex of Sultan Qaytbay

(1472-74). Probably the most beautiful funerary complex in Cairo, it has a mosque, a madrasa, and a qubba. It also has the most elegant 3-tiered minaret and the most intricately-carved stone dome with stellar patterns.

The Mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi

(1479-81). One of the most exemplary qa’a-type mosques, it sits prominently at a major intersection on al-Darb al-Ahmar, the main ceremonial thoroughfare in Cairo.

The Sabil-Kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay

(1479). The earliest stand-alone Sabil-Kuttab in Cairo, it establishes the type as a pietistic endowment in the urban milieu without it being attached to a larger religious complex.

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Concepts

Timur: (1370-1405) A Mongol chieftain, Timur started from Transoxania to build a world empire. He conquered Khurasan, Iran, Iraq, and parts of Syria and Anatolia. He massacred whole populations, but saved the craftsmen whom he sent to his capital Samarqand to embellish it. His was the last empire initiated by the steppe people.

Tile Decoration

Banna’i Technique: meaning the builder’s technique, it consists of revetment of glazed bricks set within unglazed ones to form geometric patterns.
Haftrangi (Cuerda Seca): a technique that permits the creation of multi-colored patterns on the same tile before firing without letting the colors run together.
Mosaic-faience: reached its apex in the 14th century, it is a patterned arrangement of closely fitted small pieces of tiles which have surface glaze of different colors.

Monuments

General view of the Bibi-Khanum Mosque as it stood in 1995 with the halt of the Soviet large-scale restoration project. The Bibi-Khanum Mosque in Samarqand: View of one of the two ribbed and tiled side domes of the mosque after it has been completely restored. The Gur-i-Amir Mausoleum in Samarqand: General view of the mausoleum with its tiled portal and massive ribbed and tiled dome. The Gur-i-Amir Mausoleum in Samarqand: Detail of the tiled portal with the signature of the builder, Mohammad ibn Mahmud al-Banna al-Isfahani (the builder from Isfahan) in a cartouche in the center. General view of the Shah-i Zinda complex. The Shah-i Zinda Complex in Samarqand: Two of the azure colored tiled domes with their high drums decrated with monumental Kufic patterns. Side facade of the Madrasa of Ulugh Beg. The Madrasa of Ulugh Beg in Samarqand: Main or entrance facade of the Madrasa with its massive pishtak and two side cylindrical minarets. General view of the Registan Square with the Madrasa of Ulugh Beg to the left, the Shirdor Madrasa on the right (1635-36) and the Tilakari Madrasa (1660) in the center.

The Bibi-Khanum Mosque in Samarqand

(1399-1404). Popularly named after Timur’s wife, this is the mosque he intended to be the royal monument. Its tall projecting portal, with its flanking minarets was repeated inside in the qibla iwan. The mosque displays Timur’s concern for monumental effect and theatrical arrangement.

The Gur-i-Amir Mausoleum in Samarqand

(1404). Initially a religious complex appropriated to build a tomb for Timur’s grandson Muhammad Sultan, it became the burial place for Timur and his male descendants. It formed a part of a larger religious complex, and a later madrasa abutted on its side. The double-shell dome achieves both an interior harmony and an exterior verticality.

The Shah-i Zinda Complex in Samarqand

(1360-1434). Named Shah-i Zinda (the Living King) after a cousin of the Prophet who reportedly disappeared in Samarqand, this funerary alley, dotted with exquisite domes built over 70 years for members of Timur’s family, present the pinnacle of all the tile techniques known to the Timurids.

The Madrasa of Ulugh Beg in Samarqand

(1417-20). Standing in front of the Registan square, this four-iwan madrasa has four domed chambers on the corners, possibly functioning as mausolea, and a vaulted prayer hall on the iwan axis. The Registan square was defined later by the addition of two other madrasas to form a locus of urban life.

The Ghiyathiyya Madrasa at Khargid

(1436-43). Built by Shah Rukh, this is another ideal four-iwan plan, executed in absolute symmetry, with two storeys of rooms inserted between the iwans. The façade has two flanking minarets and a projecting portal, but with less craving for verticality.

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Concepts

The Ottomans: A Turkish dynasty named after Ghazi Osman, who established a small principality in the northwestern corner of Anatolia in the 13th century. The Ottomans fulfilled an Islamic dream in conquering Constantinople (Istanbul) and formed the largest empire of its time which comprised the Balkans, Greece, Anatolia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, the Holy Cities of Arabia, Algeria, and Tunisia. The empire lasted until 1924. The early Ottomans had a close relationship with sufis and dervishes, but the building of an Islamic empire brought the ulema class to the forefront. Early Ottoman religious architecture reflects the balancing of traditional Orthodox themes with the mystical sufi ones in its forms and functions.

Ghazi: Warrior or conqueror, used both as a title and as a means of attracting Turkomans to fight for the faith and for the expanding principality.

Akhi: Member of the Sufi network that Islamized Anatolia and formed the religious counterpart to the warrior class.

Imaret: Soup kitchen, it was one of the major charitable units in any religious Ottoman complex.

Tabkhane: Hospice, sometimes attached to a mosque for the free lodging of wandering dervishes and travelers.

Monuments

General View of the restored Yesil Cami at Iznik. Üç Serefeli Cami at Edirne: Detail of the base of the northwestern minaret with its spiral stone pattern called Burmali. Southern facade of the Yesil Cami (Mosque). Yesil (Green) Complex at Bursa: Interior view of the Mihrab in the Yesil Turbe (Mausoleum). Yesil (Green) Complex at Bursa: Detail of the tiled Mihrab in the Yesil Turbe. Main facade of the Hüdavendigar Complex. Hüdavendigar Complex, Bursa: Interior view towards the prayer iwan.

Yesil Cami (Green Mosque) at Iznik

(1378-91). A single dome mosque built by the vizir Hayreddin Pasha. It has part of the central dome supported on columns, which announces the future development of Ottoman mosques.

Üç Serefeli Cami at Edirne

(1438-47): Built by Murat II, it is a turning point in Ottoman architecture: a hypostyle mosque with a large, domed maqsura that dominates both the interior space and exterior profile of the mosque.

Yesil (Green) Complex at Bursa

(1412-20). An urban charitable complex which comprises a mosque, a türbe, a hammam, and an imaret. It was built by Mehmet I. Superior example of the use of Iznik tiles.

Isa Bey Mosque, Selçuk

(1375). Like the Mosque of Dunaysir, it shows the influence of the venerated model (here the Damascus Mosque) in new architectural developments in Anatolia, but still emphasizes the role of domes (two in this case) in indetifying religious architecture.

Hüdavendigar Complex, Bursa

(1366-86). A multiple iwan zawiya-mosque topped by a madrasa. It was built by Murad I who extended the empire into Europe, organized it with the help of the ulema class (hence the madrasa) and introduced the Janissaries system.

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Concepts

Koca Sinan (1499?-1588): The greatest Ottoman architect, he served as chief architect or the Architect of Dar-Usaadet (the Abode of Felicity) for 50 years (1538-88). He built or supervised a total of 316 structures in Istanbul alone. He greatly influenced the development of Ottoman architecture and produced its most celebrated masterpieces.

The Kulliye: From the Arabic kull (the whole), it was used in Ottoman times to designate the religious, social, and charitable complexes. Kulliyes were built by sultans, their wives, and their high officials. A great kulliye normally comprises a congregational mosque, one or more madrasas, a soup kitchen (imaret), a hospital (dar al-shifa), a school for kids (mektab), a bath, fountains, and possibly the mausoleum of the founder and his family.

Monuments

The Church of Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia): View of the Church from the southwest. The Church of Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia): Mihrab area. Central Dome Mosques Based on Four Supports with Two or More Half-Domes: Aerial view of the Suleymaniye Kulliye from the southwest. Central Dome Mosques Based on Four Supports with Two or More Half-Domes: Facade of the mosque from the courtyard. Central Dome Mosques Based on Four Supports with Two or More Half-Domes: Detail of an engaged column on the side of the main mosques portal. The Turbe of Haseki Hurrem, Suleymans consort. Central Dome Mosques Based on Eight Supports: View from the outer court entrance toward the Mosques portal.

The Church of Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia)

(532-37). The edifice that most affected the Ottoman architects and patrons as an object of admiration and probably imitation. Sinan is reported to have felt relieved only when he completed his dome of the Selimiye Mosque at Edirne which equalled the width of Ayasofia’s dome.

Central Dome Mosques Based on Four Supports with Two or More Half-Domes

(1550-57). The largest Ottoman half-domed mosque, it sits on the top of the sixth hill that dominates the city and cascades down in a pyramidical arrangement of its domes, half-domes, counterweights, and butresses. The mosque forms the center of a kulliye with a dar al-hadith, four madrasas, an imaret, a tabkhane, a mektab, a medical school (tibb medrese), bath, fountain, and the mausolea of the founder, his wife, and Sinan himself (in a corner).

Central Dome Mosques Based on Eight Supports

(1569-74). The masterpiece of Sinan, it has a radially symmetrical plan with the four minarets acting as end points, and a huge, central dome rising above eight counterweights. The kulliye had only two madrasas behind the mosque.

Central Dome Mosques Based on Six Supports

(1572). Heavily indebted to the Üç Serefeli mosque at Edirne, the hexagonal plan of the dome’s supports completely covers the interior space. The dome is butressed by four half-domes on the hexagon’s angular sides.

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Concepts

The Safavids (1501-1732): Of an obscure origin which is most probably Sunni and Kurdish, the Safavids (named after a sufi master, Shaykh Safi) forged for themselves an illustrious genealogy that goes back to ‘Ali, and proceeded to forcibly change Iran into a Shiite state. In the process they shaped the modern image of the Iranian nation.

Shah Abbas I (1588-1629): The greatest Safavid monarch, he moved the capital to Isfahan in 1598, and built there a royal city that extended to the south of the old city and connected it with the Zayandeh river via a wide avenue, the Chahar Bagh (Four Gardens) Avenue. Shah Abbas’s royal buildings were organized around his central Maydan or along the Chahar Bagh Avenue.

The Maydan-i-Shah: Among the largest open squares in the world (1700 by 525 ft), it was the focal point of Shah ‘Abbas’s plan. Its four sides were lined up with shops on two levels, and each side of the Maydan had a monumental structure in its centre.

Monuments

The Mosque of Shaykh Lutfallah: View of the Mosques facade on the Maydan-i-Shah as seen from the balcony of the Ali Qapu. The Mosque of Shaykh Lutfallah: The richly tiled portal of the Mosque topped with the off-axis golden tiled dome. The Mosque of Shaykh Lutfallah: The tiled muqarnas conch above the mosque entrance. The Masjid-i-Shah: General view of the Mosque from the Maydan-i-Shah showing the portal with its two minarets echoed by the prayer hall iwan with its two minarets and dome. The Masjid-i-Shah: The main portal with its two flanking minarets overlooking the Maydan-i-Shah. The Masjid-i-Shah: Interior view toward the east showing the entrance and eastern iwans. The Masjid-i-Shah: The tiled dome of the prayer hall with its central sun motif.

The Mosque of Shaykh Lutfallah

(initially Sadr Mosque) Situated in the east of the Maydan with its golden tiled dome. It was constructed for an important shaykh in 1602 and used as the private oratory of the shah and his family.

The Masjid-i-Shah

The congregational 4-iwan mosque built between 1612 and 1638 that marks the south of the Maydan with its magnificent portal flanked by two minarets and its dazzling tiled dome.

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Concepts

The Mughals of India: A dynasty whose founder Babur (1526-30) descended from the most illustrious Mongol conquerors, Ghenkis Khan and Timur, hence the name. They ruled most of India for three centuries before direct British rule was set in 1858. The period between Babur’s reign and 1707, when five of his descendants, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangazeb ruled is considered the age of the Great Mughals.

Chahar Bagh: (Persian, four gardens) Quadripartite garden enclosure with a cruciform plan.

Hazira or Rawda: (Arabic) terms used in the Mughal period to designate a tomb or a mausoleum. The originial meaning of the former is “enclosure”, the latter “garden.” This suggests the garden origin of tomb-gardens.

Hasht-Bihisht: (Persian, eight paradises) A late name to an old type of building that has a radially symmetrical plan with eight parts surrounding a central chamber which is almost always domed. In Islamic times, this plan was most suited to house a reception/audience hall, or a tomb. It was popularized by Timur and his descendants in both their palatial and religious monuments. Later developments emphasized the faç by adding turrets to the four corners, by raising the central part of the faç via a pishtak, and/or by doubling the side through chamfering the corners.

Pietra Dura: Semi-precious stone (lapis, onyx, jasper, topaz, and cornelian) inlays in marble following geometric or floral designs.

Chatri: (originally Persian for umbrella) A small, vaulted pavilion used in India mostly.

Monuments

The Taj Mahal in Agra: View of the mausoleum across the Yamuna River. The Taj Mahal in Agra: View of the Mausoleum on its plinth from the main central approach through the garden. The Taj Mahal in Agra: View of the side octagonal chamber of the mausoleum and one of the four minarets. The Taj Mahal in Agra: Red sandstone facade of the mosque on the side of the mausoleum. The Tomb of Akbar at Sikandra: The main facade of the tomb. The Tomb of Akbar at Sikandra: Detail of the Tombs facade showing the preponderance of chatris. Facade of the tomb of Humayun. The Tomb of Humayun in Delhi: Corner view of the Mausoleum showing the chamfering of the corner chamber. The Tomb of Itimad al-Dawla in Agra: Detail of the marble screen with polygonal and star patterns.

The Taj Mahal in Agra

(1632-54). (Crown Palace) The majestic mausoleum built for the empress Mumtaz Mahal by her husband Shah Jahan. Iconographically highly charged, it represents the epitome of Islamic mausolea. Its plan is that of a Hasht Bihisht with four minarets framing it on the four sides of its square platform.

The Tomb of Akbar at Sikandra

(1604-13). A pavilion larger than Humayun’s in the center of a larger chahar bagh, this tiered composition of four planes above the plinth creates an horizontal axis that terminates with a cenotaph open to the sky.

The Tomb of Humayun in Delhi

(1565). A massive domed pavilion on a square base set in the center of a huge garden divided recursively into nine chahar baghs.

The Tomb of Itimad al-Dawla in Agra

(1628). A low pavilion over a square plinth, situated in the center of a chahar bagh and surrounded by four minarets at the four corners. This is the first monument to employ white marble and pietra dura.

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Concepts

Islamic Architecture: Is taken today to mean the architecture built by or for Muslims, or that built in Islamic lands or under Islamic government, a large corpus indeed.

Functional Typology of Religious Structures

Structures for prayer:
- neighborhood mosque (masjid).
- congregational mosque (jami or masjid jami).
- prayer enclosure (musalla or namaz-gah).
Structures for religious education
- Qur’anic school for children (kuttab).
- religious college (madrasa).
Monastic structures:
- monastic fortress (Ribat).
- urban Sufi lodge (Khanqah and/or takiyya or tekke).
- retreat for a famous sheikh (zawiyya).
Memorial structures:
- saint (wali) tomb or reliquary (maqam or mazar).
- memorial of a vision (mashhad).
- mausoleum (qubba or turba) with charitable functions attached.
- funerary garden or enclosure (rawd).

Monuments

Mihrab: A recess, mostly in the form of arched niche, in the qibla wall, facing the direction toward Mecca. Minaret: A tower, circular, octagonal, or square in section, built next to or in a mosque, from which the Muslims are called to prayer. Minbar: A pulpit near the mihrab, from which the prayer leader gives the sermon on Fridays. Ablution Fountain: A feature frequently but not always encountered in mosques. It is usually put in the center of the mosques courtyard for the worshipers to perform their ritual washing before prayer. Hypostyle Hall of the Mosque of the Umayyad, Damascus. Hypostyle Hall of the Mosque of Cordoba, Spain. Two of the Four Iwan of the Friday Mosque in Isfahan. The Selimiyye Mosque in Edirne - the most majestic central-domed Mosque built by Sinan.

Liturgical Elements of the Mosque

Mihrab: A recess, mostly in the form of arched niche, in the qibla wall, facing the direction toward Mecca.

Minaret: A tower, circular, octagonal, or square in section, built next to or in a mosque, from which the Muslims are called to prayer.

Minbar: A pulpit near the mihrab, from which the prayer leader gives the sermon on Fridays.

Ablution Fountain: A feature frequently but not always encountered in mosques. It is usually put in the center of the mosque’s courtyard for the worshipers to perform their ritual washing before prayer.

The Hypostyle Mosque: Mosque in which the prayer hall is formed of rows of vertical supports, or columns, that can multiply indefinitely. Dominant type in the early period.

The Iwan Mosque: Mosque in which the prayer hall is an iwan, or more, up to four iwans, surrounding a courtyard. It was the most popular type in the medieval period, and remained dominant in Iran.

The Central-Dome Mosque: A Mosque in which the prayer hall’s space is dominated by a central dome surrounded by smaller and lower semi-domes. It was introduced by the Ottomans in the 15th century.

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Concepts

The Turkish Baroque Style: The name given to the Ottoman architectural and decorative production from the mid eighteenth century until the third quarter of the nineteenth century. The style was concomitant with the gradual Westernization of the Ottoman elite’s lifestyle and tastes is characterized by a profusion of curved, undulating motifs, imported European patterns, and unrestrained, extroverted plans.

Neo-Islamic Styles: The nineteenth century started with the first European military interventions in the Orient and ended with most of it under direct colonial rule. Architecture was affected by these new political realities and by the disciplinary developments in Europe where architecture had become an academic field with its rules and parameters. European styles began shaping the outlook of “Oriental” cities and the tastes of their inhabitants. Also European and European-trained designers became the masters of the building trades everywhere. These same professionals acted as the interpreters of the architectural heritage of the countries in which they worked. They documented, analyzed, and classified the structures they encountered, which permitted the introduction of these formerly-unexplored styles. Consequently, hybrid styles of building and decoration were produced in both East and West that borrowed freely and sometimes indiscriminately from the varied repertoires of non-western architectures, and blended them with various European structural, constructional, functional, and stylistic modes. The end results came to be known collectively as Oriental styles and individually we encounter various epithets such as the Neo-Moorish, Neo-Saracen, Neo-Mamluk, Neo-Mughal and so on.

Monuments

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul: General view of the single domed mosque with its two slender minarets. The Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul: View of the horseshoe-shaped frontal court of the mosque. The Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul: The highly ornamented Baroque fountain at the entrance of the mosque. The Nusretiye Mosque, Istanbul: General view of the Empire-style mosque. The Nusretiye Mosque, Istanbul: Interior view of the prayer hall looking up towards the dome showing the rococo decorative patterns. The Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, Cairo Citadel: General view of the Mosque on top of the Citadel of Cairo. The Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, Cairo Citadel: Side facade of the Mosque showing the central and side domes. The Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, Cairo Citadel: The ablution fountain in the center of the courtyard and the clock tower of Napoleon III in the background. The Mosque of al-Rifai in Cairo: Side view of the Mosque from the center of the Maydan of Salah al-Din showing both its southeastern and southwestern facades. The Mosque of al-Rifai in Cairo: Main or southeastern facade of the Mosque overlooking the Maydan of Salah al-Din. The Mosque of al-Rifai in Cairo: View of the Mosques two Mamluk-style minarets and entrance dome with the southeastern minaret of the Mosque of Sultan Hasan to the right. The Dolmabahçe Mosque, Istanbul: View of the dome on its tympana and the Corinthian column like minarets of the mosque.

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul

Completed by Osman III in 1755, this is the first Baroque Ottoman mosque. Its prayer hall follows the rigid square, domed plan but its courtyard curves in a horseshoe form.

The Nusretiye Mosque, Istanbul

(1822-26). Is built by Mahmut II, the promoter of new order, after he managed to eliminate the Janissaries, hence the name which means “victory.” It is one of the most extreme examples of the rococo dominance in late Ottoman architecture.

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, Cairo Citadel

Built between 1830 and 1848, the mosque has a pure central-domed plan with two slender pencil minarets. Its surface articulation contrasts sharply in its eclecticism with its structural straightforwardness. The mosque is a rhetorical composition designed to emulate the early style of royal Ottoman mosques of Istanbul. The initial design of the mosque by the French architect Pascal Coste was to apply a neo-Mamluk style. Coste designed two mosques for Muhammad Ali: one in Alexandria and the Citadel mosque. Neither was ever built.

The Mosque of al-Rifai in Cairo

Begun in 1869 and designed in a neo-Mamluk style, the mosque was left unfinished until 1906 when Max Herz Bey, the famous restorer of Islamic monuments in Cairo completed it. It stands opposite the grand mosque of Sultan Hasan as an attempt of the Khedival family to measure up to the achievements of the Mamluks.

The Dolmabahçe Mosque, Istanbul

(1852-53). Is built by the first of the Balian family of architects, Karabet, as an adaptation of a neo-classical style to the requirements of a small royal mosque. Its minarets take the shape of Corinthian columns. It, and the palace that gave it its name, are two examples of the strong influence of Western models in late Ottoman architecture.

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Concepts

Historical Background: The last two decades witnessed the resurgence of a historicist movement in architecture in the Islamic world that was influenced by contemporary architectural thinking in the West and fervent searches for cultural identities in the recently formed nation-states. The manifestations of this movement range from the romantic approach to historical precedents pioneered by the late Egyptian architect Hasan Fathy, to the free, and often arbitrary, usage of forms detached from their historical and geographic contexts, as exemplified by the high-quality works of the Egyptian ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Wakil and the Iraqi Basil al-Bayati. They move on to include the rational, abstracted, and at times minimalist projects of architects trained in the modern tradition who applied logical and deductive methods to their dealing with history, and to include the scientific historicism whose proponents classify, analyze, and re-interpret historical examples to justify their uses.

Monuments

National Assembly Mosque, Ankara, Turkey: A view from the North of the mosque. National Assembly Mosque, Ankara, Turkey: The qibla facade of the mosque showing the transparent mihrab. The Great Mosque of Niono, Mali: General view of the Mosque showing the use of traditional decorative forms. Sherefudins White Mosque, Visoko, Bosnia: View of the Mosques roof and minaret. Sherefudins White Mosque, Visoko, Bosnia: Interior view towards the mihrab showing the use of skylights to articulate the space. Sherefudins White Mosque, Visoko, Bosnia: Detail of the minaret top showing the use of tubular form to suggest Arabic calligraphy. The Corniche Mosque, Jedda, Saudi Arabia: General view of the Mosque. The Corniche Mosque, Jedda, Saudi Arabia: Detail of the plastic, sculpture-like domical roof. Mosque of Hassan II Casablanca, Morocco: View of the mosque from the East showing the circular educational center in the forefront. Mosque of Hassan II Casablanca, Morocco: View of the entrance facade of the mosque with the gigantic minaret in the forefront.

National Assembly Mosque, Ankara, Turkey

(1987-89). A modernist place of worship for a secularist government, this mosque was designed by the Cinici group. Constructed in exposed concrete, the mosque displays innovative abstractions of all the traditional elements of Islamic architecture. The plexiglass mihrab adds an unusual symbolic touch by alluding to the notion of the mihrab as the gate to the luminous hereafter.

The Great Mosque of Niono, Mali

(1973). A community effort, supervised by master builder Lassiné Minta, this mosque was initially built between 1945-48 and enlarged several times, the last of which between 1969-73. It is seen as conserving the cultural identity via the use of traditional, vernacular forms and methods of construction.

Sherefudin’s White Mosque, Visoko, Bosnia

(1980). Designed by the architect Zlatko Ulgjen, it masterfully assimilates modern influences, especially Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp Cathedral, and traditional Ottoman forms and elements. This mosque is firmly anchored in the present, but whose indebtness to its past is well-articulated.

The Corniche Mosque, Jedda, Saudi Arabia

(1986). One of a series of small mosques commissioned by the Saudi government and designed by the Egyptian architect Abd al-Wahid al-Wakil. He freely blends together forms, and even fragments of forms, to create plastic, sculpture-like structures. The results are always visually pleasing, but somewhat disturbing in their indifference toward the disparate, and sometimes clashing, traditions from which they were copied.

Mosque of Hassan II Casablanca, Morocco

(1986-93). A gigantic mosque by the sea, this is the epitome of new state symbols magnified by the royal dynasty’s claim of prophetic lineage. The architecture and decoration of the mosque are predicated on the idea that the architectural language of the past is the only legitimate one. The French architect, Michel Pinseau, was thus limited in his design to explorations of monumentality and opulence.

Edinbrugh, Scotland Great Mosque

(1987). A project by the master formalist Basil al-Bayati, it combines abstracted elements from historical styles with touches of “Oriental” fantasy in a tightly-controlled composition. The mosque achieves through this blend a certain level of universalism without really breaking from the hold of received, romanticized images of Islamic architecture.

The Mosque of Gurna, Egypt

(1945). Designed as an integral part of a whole village, New Gurna, by the visionary Egyptian architect Hasan Fathy, it is a prime example of a vernacular structure recast through the subjective and lyrical interpretations of building traditions by the architect.

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Concepts

The House and Mosque of the Prophet at Medina: The Islamic prototype of both religious and residential architecture, built in 622 C. E. (1 A.H. or After Hegire, the emigration of the Prophet to Medina), and enlarged several times in the first century of Islam, the most important of which is the enlargement of al-Walid, the Umayyad caliph, in 707.

The Early Congregational Mosques of the Amsar

Misr: Name of early Islamic garrison towns, founded in the conquered regions. The most famous amsar (plural of misr) were Busra and Kufa in Iraq, Fustat in Egypt, and Qayrawan in Tunisia. These settlements grew from informal encampments around a central mosque to capital cities within the first century Hegire (7th-8th century C. E.).

The Mosque of Basra in Iraq (635, rebuilt 665).
Other Early Examples of Mosques in Bosra, South Syria (late 7th c.).

Monuments

The House and Mosque of the Prophet at Medina. Axonometric of the Prophet Mosque in Medina (after Creswell). View of the prayer hall of the Mosque of Amru in Fustat. Plan of the Original Mosque of Kufa after Creswell.

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Concepts

**The Umayyads**: First Islamic dynasty (661-750) established by a companion of the Prophet, Mu’awiya. Their capital was Damascus. They built the first monumental mosques.

Abd al-Malik: Fifth Umayyad caliph (685-705), organized the Caliphate, Arabicized the administration and Islamized the coinage after he had subdued several revolts against the rule of his family.

The Night Journey and the Ascension (Al-Isra’ wa-l-Miraj): The miraculous journey of the Prophet from Mecca to Jerusalem and his ascension to Heaven to receive from God major doctrinal requirements.

New Elements in Mosque Architecture

Concave mihrab: reportedly first introduced in the Mosque of the Prophet at Medina in 707.

Minaret: earliest examples may have been the towers flanking the northern side of the original Roman temenos where the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus was built.
Maqsura: a private area in the prayer hall enclosed by a wood screen for the ruler and his entourage.
Dome in the central nave in front of the mihrab: first appeared in Damascus and may have been adopted from palatial Roman and Byzantine precedents as illustrated in mosaic by the representation of the “Palace of Thoederic” in St. Appolinaire Nuevo in Ravenna (ca. 490).
Khazna: treasury, a structure possibly used as a vault in the mosque’s courtyrad.

Decoration of Mosques:

The use of inscriptions in the Kufic style.
The use of glass mosaic.
The absence of figural representation.
Vegetal and geometric motifs, derived mostly from Classical traditions.

Monuments

Aerial view of the Dome of the Rock in the middle of the Haram al-Sharif. The Dome of the Rock, 692. View of the interior showing the inner ambulatory arcade. View of the Umayyad mosque form the west with the minaret of Qaytbay in front and the minaret of Jesus in the back. The northern portico of the mosque with the khaznat (treasury) dome in the foreground and the minaret of al-Arus (the Bride) in the back. View of the prayer hall of the mosque with the shrine of St. John the Baptist. A detail of the Barada mosaic of the eastern wall of the mosque courtyard. A view of the eastern façade of al-Aqsa Mosque. Interior view of the prayer hall of al-Aqsa Mosque.

Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra): The first consciously-monumental Islamic structure is a martyrium built in Jerusalem (692) by ‘Abd al-Malik to commemorate the sanctity of the site and the city in general.

Umayyad Mosque of Damascus (ca. 706-15): First imperial mosque built by Caliph al-Walid I (705-15), the son of Abd al-Malik.

The Farthest Mosque (al-Masjid al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem

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Concepts

The Abbasids: The second major Islamic dynasty (750-1258), were the descendants of al-Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, hence the name. Their effective rule lasted only for a little more than a century. After that they became the figureheads of an elusive Islamic unity that did not exist in reality.

Dar al-Salam (the Abode of Peace): The round city founded in 762 by al-Mansur (754-75), the second Abbasid caliph, to be his royal center on the western bank of the river Tigris. Its plan and symbolism were the result of a synthesis of many previous traditions. What started as the enclosed, round city of al-Mansur soon expanded on both banks of the river and its name reverted to that of the ancient name of the site, Baghdad.

Samarra: The new capital city established by caliph al-Mu’tasim in 836 to house his growing army of Turkish slave-warriors (Mamluks) on the Tigris, 60 miles north of Baghdad. It developed into a conglomeration of secluded caliphal palaces and houses for the troops on a grandiose scale. The city remained capital of the Abbasid empire until 883, then it was abandoned and Baghdad regained its old position.

Al-Qata’i’ (the wards or the fiefs): the new settlement built north of Fustat on the site of the future Cairo by Ahmad ibn-Tulun, the Turkish governor of Egypt sent by the Abbasids.

Monuments

Plan of Abu Jafar al-Mansur Mosque, 894 A general view of the mosque of al-Mutawakkil showing the external wall with semi-circular towers. The Mosque of Ibn-Tulun: A general view of the mosque with the fountain dome in the center. The Mosque of Ibn-Tulun: A general view of the mosque with the courtyard and porticos. The Mosque of Ibn-Tulun: View of the mosque minaret. The Mosque of Ibn-Tulun: The mihrab of al-Afdal, the Fatmid vizir, dated 1193. A view of the Malwiyya. A view looking up at the Malwiyya. Plan of the Qubbat al-Sulaibiyya (after Creswell). Stucco Decoration, Samarra Style: An example of style A from the Islamic Museum in Cairo. Stucco Decoration, Samarra Style: View of the entrados of two arches in the Mosque of Ibn-Tulun, showing two examples of style B. Stucco Decoration, Samarra Style: An example of style C from the Islamic Museum in Cairo.

The Great Mosque at Dar al-Salam: Built by Abu Ja’far al-Mansur in 762, demolished and rebuilt in 808-9, then enlarged in 873-75.

The Great Mosque of Samarra (Mosque of al-Mutawakkil): Founded by caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-61) is the largest mosque in the Islamic classical period (240 by 156 m).

The Mosque of Ibn-Tulun: The furthest westerly evidence of the spread of the Abbasid imperial style. This mosque is distinguished by its combination of columns and piers (eastern and western influences), its spiralling minaret and exclusive dependence on brick as a building material. Its porticos are composed of brick piers with four engaged brick columns which run along its four sides.

The Malwiyya: The famous spiralling, free-standing minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra. It was repeatedly compared to Mesopotamian Ziggurats.

The Qubbat al-Sulaibiyya: First monumental mausoleum in Islam, built for the caliph al-Muntasir (862).

Stucco Decoration, Samarra Style: A style that tended towards the abstraction of scrolls, stems, and leaves that belonged to the decorative vocabulary of Antiquity. Following the degree of abstraction, three styles have been identified:

Style A: vine-leave ornament bearing resemblance to the Hellenistic, naturalizing origin.
Style B: vegetal ornament with some abstraction such as no stalks from which the leaves grow.
Style C: moulded pattern, very abstract with a combination of vegetal and geometric motifs. Patterns are normally inscribed within borders.

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Concepts

Ifriqiya: Present day Libya, Tunisia, and most of Algeria.

Al-Andalus: Southern Spain, but used in Arabic sources to designate all of Islamic Spain.

Ribat: Originally designated a building type that was both military and religious in character. It was a fortified barrack for those volunteers (murabitun) whose piety led them to devote themselves to guarding the frontiers of the Islamic state.

Qayrawan: The Islamic capital of Ifriqiya, founded by Uqba ibn Nafi’ in 664. He built in it a dar al-imara (palace of the governor) and the congregational mosque which carries his name (the Mosque of Sidi Uqba).

The Aghlabids: A dynasty that ruled Ifriqiya and Sicily between 800 and 909. Their capital was at Qayrawan, and they paid tribute to the Abbasids.

The Umayyads of Spain (756-1031): After the fall of the Umayyad dynasty in 750, a scion of the family, Abd al-Rahman I, fled to Spain and established a principality in Cordoba independent of the Abbasids. His great grandson, Abd al-Rahman III (912-961) declared a new Umayyad caliphate with its capital in Cordoba.

Main Features of North African Mosques

Hypostyle plan with arcaded porticoes on the three sides of the courtyard.
T shaped plan of prayer hall (axial nave and transverse arcade in front of mihrab), with aisles perpendicular to the qibla wall.
Dome above the mihrab.
Square-based tower as minarets.

Monuments

The Masjid (or Musalla) of Bab Mardum: A view of the façade of the musalla with the interlacing arches. The Great Mosque of Cordoba: A view of the mosque with the minaret tower on the left and the cathedral of Charles V in the middle. The Great Mosque of Cordoba: An aerial view of the mosques prayer hall, showing the cathedral rising through its ceiling. The Great Mosque of Cordoba: Detailed view of the Bab al-Wazir on the western side of the mosque with its intricate stucco decoration. The Great Mosque of Cordoba: A view of the interior forest of columns and superimposed arches. The Great Mosque of Cordoba: View of the interlacing arcade of the maqsura in front of the mihrab. The Great Mosque of Cordoba: The ribbed dome in front of the mihrab.

The Masjid (or Musalla) of Bab Mardum, Toledo

(ca. 999), A neighborhood musalla with an open nine-bay plan and façades which repeat the decorative program of the great mosque of Cordoba.

The Great Mosque of Qayrawan

Founded in 670 and rebuilt several times, 773-4, 836, 863, 1294, it is the prototype for many later North African mosques. It has a unique mihrab with lustre tiles set in the spandrels, and carved marble panels inside the niche.

The Ribat of Susa, Tunisia

A fine example of the fortress-Ribat, its core dates to the period 770-96, and its last stage of construction (821-22) is attributed to the Aghlabid Ziyadat Allah. It consists of a fortified enclosure with one entrance and attached towers in the corners and in the middle of the walls. The courtyard is surrounded by vaulted porticoes on two levels with cells behind. The southern side of the second floor is occupied by a mosque with a mihrab in its center.

The Mosque of Muhammad ibn Khairun at Qayrawan (866)

One of the earliest surviving examples of a small neighborhood mosque, it is distinguished by its nine-bay plan (which will have a major role in the development of funerary and royal architecture) and its stucco decoration.

The Great Mosque of Cordoba

Probably the most exquisite mosque of western Islamic land, founded by ‘Abd al-Rahman I in 786, enlarged several times, 832-48 under Abd al-Rahman II, 962 under al-Hakam II, and 987 by al-Mansur, the vizir of Hisham II (this time it was extended to the west). The Mosque has an intricate hypostyle arrangement with double-tiered, arched supports, ribbed domes above the maqsura, and a unique mihrab-chamber with mosaic decoration.

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Concepts

Major Sects of Islam

The Sunnis: from sunna (tradition or custom), those who adhere to the standard practice (understod to be of the Prophet). Sunnis are the majority of Muslims and follow four schools of jurisprudence: the Shafi’i, Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali. They accept the legitimacy of both the Umayyads and Abbasids.
The Shiites: From shia (supporters), those who recognized ‘Ali as the only legitimate imam (political and religious leader) after the Prophet, and rejected most other caliphs, especially the Umayyads. They developed into several sects which differed in the number of imams they recognized. Most important are:
- The Twelvers Imamis: The majority of Shiites, they recognize twelve descendants of ‘Ali. Most of Iran became Shiite in the sixteenth century under the Safavids.
- The Ismailis: Recognize the first six imams, but differ with the Twelvers about the seventh, Ismail, hence their name.
  - The Fatimids: An Ismaili dynasty whose founder claimed descent from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet and wife of ‘Ali, and established a counter-caliphate in Ifriqiya (909-71), which was later expanded to include Egypt and southern Syria (969-1171).

Al-Qahira (Cairo): The new capital city of Egypt established by the Fatimids upon their conquest of the country in 969 north of Fustat, the old capital.

Characteristics of Fatimid Mosque Architecture

The use of projected portals and domes over mihrabs for ceremonial purposes.
The use of keel-shaped arches in porticoes and arcades.
The profusion of fine stucco decoration, especially in mihrabs and qibla walls.

Monuments

Al-Azhar Mosque: View of the main facade of the mosque with, from left to right, the minarets of the madrasa al-Aqbughawiyya, of Qaytbay, and of al-Ghuri. Al-Azhar Mosque: The original mihrab of the mosque discovered in 1930s. Al-Hakim Mosque: View of the projecting entrance portal. Al-Hakim Mosque: View of the northern encased minaret. Al-Hakim Mosque: A general view of the courtyard showing the mihrab dome and one of the two side domes. General view of the Mashhad al-Juyyushi. The Mashhad al-Juyyushi: View of the mashhad after the 1990s restoration. Al-Aqmar Mosque: Façade of the mosque after the recent addition of the third missing bay. Al-Aqmar Mosque: View of the original two bays of the façade. Al-Aqmar Mosque: The chamfering of the side walls of the mosque with inscription. Al-Aqmar Mosque: The central medallion above the entrance door with a Quranic verse inscribed around the central ring, which contains the words Muhammad and Ali.

Al-Azhar Mosque: (969-72) The royal congregational mosque of al-Qahira, founded in 969 and dedicated in 972, it evolved to become the religious center of Egypt and the most celebrated theological college in the Islamic world.

Al-Hakim Mosque: Built between 990 and 1003 outside the walls of al-Qahira, and named after al-Hakim, the third caliph in Egypt.

The Mashhad al-Juyyushi: Built by Badr al-Jamali, the commander of the armies (amir al-juyush, hence the name) in 1085 and identified as a mashhad (shrine).

Al-Aqmar Mosque: A small masjid built in 1125 north of the caliphal palace.

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Concepts

Characteristics of Islamic Monumentality:

Integration of Monuments in their Urban Context: The result of a predisposition to standardize, generalize, homogenize.

The Exceptions: Commemorative monuments.

Polyvalence of Forms: No specific form for a specific function.

The Importance of the Interior: The ephemeral nature of matter.

The Predominance of Decoration:

The amalgamation of forms, colors, surfaces
The repetition of decorative patterns
The abstraction of decoration

Architectural Terms

Qubba: Literally “dome”, but the word often signified the mausoleum of an amir or a pious man, which was usually, but not always, a cubical structure covered with a dome.

Mashhad: A complex term that means either a memorial for a shahid (witness of the greatness of God, but later exclusively meaning martyr) or a memorial for a true vision, which mostly involves the Prophet or members of his family.

Hazar-baf: a textile term borrowed in Persian brick architecture to designate the woven-like, checker-board quality of brick decoration that appeared in the ninth century.

Chahar taq: a term referring to the form of the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian fire temples of Iran; a domed square with an opening on each side and no doors

Dihqans: the landed nobility of pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia

Sasanians: dynasty which ruled Iran from 226-651; capital was Ctesiphon.

Sogdians: Central Asian people who inhabited and ruled the land roughly corresponding to the modern country of Uzbekistan up until the Arab invasion in the 8th century.

Ziyarids: dynasty which ruled part of the Caspian provinces of Iran from 932 to c. 1075; nominally Islamic but holding to pre-Islamic Persian traditions and claiming descent from the Sasanians; responsible for several tomb towers, including Gunbad-i Qabus and Pir-i Alamdar.

Samanids: dynasty which ruled part of former Sogdian territory from 819-1005; capital was Bukhara; patrons of New Persian literature, science and architecture.

Monuments

The Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara, general view. The Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara, detail of hazar-baf on the spandrel of the portal. The Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara, detail of the squinch. Masjid-i-Jami, Nayin, facade of the prayer hall. Masjid-i-Jami, Nayin, interior view of the hypostyle prayer hall. Masjid-i-Jami, Nayin, mihrab. Gunbad-i-Qabus, Gurgan, general view.

The Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara, Uzbekistan

(ca. 914), built by Nasr ibn Ismail, square canopy tomb; tapering walls; engaged columns on the corner; very rich decorative program using brick motifs and patterns. Dome support: ribbed, double-arched squinches.

Tarik Khana Mosque, Damghan, Iran

(between 750-89): hypostyle, large axial nave, heavy cylindrical brick piers support elliptical, pointed arches; roof, barrel vaults.

Masjid-i-Jami, Nayin, Iran

Nayin, Iran: (10th century), hypostyle; heavy cylindrical pillars; carved stucco decoration. Minaret is a transition between western minarets and later Iranian ones.

Masjid-i-Ta’, Balkh, Afghanistan

(first half of the 9th century). A nine-domed open pavilion with only a qibla wall, heavy brick piers and coupled-columns on the side walls; carved stucco decoration similar to Samarra styles.

Gunbad-i-Qabus in Gurgan, Iran

(1006-7), a ten-sided star plan, a high cylindrical tower (52 m) that ends in a conical dome. Paradoxically identified as a qasr in the inscription.

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Concepts

The Great Seljuqs (1038-1194): A Turkish, Sunni dynasty which ruled the whole Iranian world (including Khurasan and Transoxania), Iraq, Syria, and parts of Byzantine Anatolia.

The Sunni Revival: The term used to designate the movement that culminated with the Seljuqs who actively sought the elimination of Shi`ite principalities in the eastern Islamic world and the Shiite grip on the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, and who sponsored and fostered the renaissance in Sunni theology and jurisprudence.
Nizam al-Mulk (1020-92): The able vizier of the Seljuq sultans who organized the structure of their state, promoted Sunni learning, and sponsored madrasas in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq, all called Nizamiyya.

Four Iwan Type: A structure with cross-axes ending in four iwans surrounding a courtyard. In four-iwan mosques and madrasas, the prayer hall is the largest iwan. The type first appeared in Khurasan, probably developed from ancient Iranian models. It was the most popular type in the medieval period, and remained dominant in Iran.

The Madrasa: The specialized institution of learning that was adopted by the Seljuqs to promote Sunni teaching. A madrasa usually contains a mosque, classrooms, and lodgings for students and teachers. Madrasas appeared most probably in Khurasan in the 9-10th c. and spread all over the Islamic world in the 11-12th c.

Muqarnas: Also called the stalactite or honeycomb, one of the most distinctive Islamic architectural elements used in domes, in domes’ transitional zones, in cornices and friezes, in conches above entrances, and on friezes supporting balconies of minarets. Its origin, symbolic meaning, and date of first appearance are frequently debated.

Monuments

The Great Mosque of Diyarbakir, facade of the eastern portico onto the courtyard. The Great Mosque of Diyarbakir, detail of the cornice and the inscription band. The Masjid-i Jomeh at Isfahan, view of two iwans from the courtyard. The Masjid-i Jomeh at Isfahan, interior view of the hypostyle hall. The Masjid-i Jomeh at Isfahan, interior view of the northern dome of Nizam al-Mulk. The Imam al-Dur Dome, general view. The Imam al-Dur Dome, view of the muqarnas dome from the inside.

The Great Mosque of Diyarbakir

(Founded 1091, and renovated in the 12th century): A Seljuq foundation on the model of the Great Umayyad mosque in Damascus, the mosque is remarkable for its use of diverse Classical and medieval Islamic motifs.

The Masjid-i Jomeh at Isfahan

(9th century, 11th and 12th century): An early hypostyle Abbasid mosque with cylindrical, brick piers to which the Seljuqs added two monumental and extraordinary domes, one on the qibla side (built by Nizam al-Mulk between 1072 and 1075) and one on the northern side (1088-89), and four iwans with pishtaks in the centers of its four porticoes overlooking the courtyard built in the early 12th century. It is the most cited example of the transformation from hypostyle plan to four-iwan plan.

The Imam al-Dur Dome, Samarra

(ca. 1085): a brick tapering cube, similar to the Samanid tomb, and a pointed muqarnas dome whose exterior reciprocates the interior arrangement.

Abbasids [The]	The second major Islamic dynasty (750-1258), were the descendants of al-Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, hence the name. Their effective rule lasted only for a little more than a century. After that they became the figureheads of an elusive Islamic unity that did not exist in reality.
Abd al-Malik	Fifth Umayyad caliph (685-705), organized the Caliphate, Arabicized the administration and Islamized the coinage after he had subdued several revolts against the rule of his family.
Ablution Fountain	A feature frequently but not always encountered in mosques. It is usually put in the center of the mosque’s courtyard for the worshipers to perform their ritual washing before prayer.
Aghlabids [The]	A dynasty that ruled Ifriqiya and Sicily between 800 and 909. Their capital was at Qayrawan, and they paid tribute to the Abbasids.
Akhi	Member of the Sufi network that Islamized Anatolia and formed the religious counterpart to the warrior class.
Al-Andalus	Southern Spain, but used in Arabic sources to designate all of Islamic Spain.
Al-Qahira (Cairo)	The new capital city of Egypt established by the Fatimids upon their conquest of the country in 969 north of Fustat, the old capital.
Al-Qata’i’ (the wards or the fiefs)	The new settlement built north of Fustat on the site of the future Cairo by Ahmad ibn-Tulun, the Turkish governor of Egypt sent by the Abbasids.
Arcuate Architecture	The contrasting architectural principle based mostly on vaults, arches, and domes, executed in brick. It is generally attributed to Mesopotamia and Persia, and seen as the Islamic style brought to India with the invading Turkish armies.
Ayyubids [The]	A family of Kurdish amirs who ruled Syria and Egypt (1176-1250). Their founder was Salah al-Din (Saladin), the exemplary knight and hero of the Counter-Crusade.
Banna’i Technique	A tile decoration meaning the builder’s technique, it consists of revetment of glazed bricks set within unglazed ones to form geometric patterns.
Bostra	A Syrian-Roman city and another capital of the Ghassanids; the illustration of urban splendor in the eyes of the Prophet Muhammad.
Central-Dome Mosque [The]	Mosque in which the prayer hall’s space is dominated by a central dome surrounded by smaller and lower semi-domes. It was introduced by the Ottomans in the 15th century.
Chahar Bagh	(Persian, four gardens) Quadripartite garden enclosure with a cruciform plan.
Chahar taq	A term referring to the form of the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian fire temples of Iran; a domed square with an opening on each side and no doors.
Chatri	(originally Persian for umbrella) A small, vaulted pavilion used in India mostly.
Counter-Crusade [The]	A movement to recover the Islamic lands occupied by the Crusades. It was fueled by the ruling military and religious elite as part of a wider moral reinvigoration of the community that was translated architecturally in the spread of religious institutions such as madrasas and mausolea.
Crusades [The]	A series of campaigns launched in 1099 by Christian Europe against the Islamic East, ostensibly to liberate the Holy Land. In 1187, Salah al-Din (Saladin), the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, took Jerusalem back. In 1292, Acre, the last stronghold of the Crusaders in Palestine, fell to the Mamluks.
Dar al-Salam (the Abode of Peace)	The round city founded in 762 by al-Mansur (754-75), the second Abbasid caliph, to be his royal center on the western bank of the river Tigris. Its plan and symbolism were the result of a synthesis of many previous traditions. What started as the enclosed, round city of al-Mansur soon expanded on both banks of the river and its name reverted to that of the ancient name of the site, Baghdad.
Darga	A Persian term for entrance vestibule, it became an important element in Timurid architecture and developed into monumental proportions along very symmetrical lines.
Dihqans	The landed nobility of pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia.
Fatimids [The]	An Ismaili dynasty whose founder claimed descent from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet and wife of ‘Ali, and established a counter-caliphate in Ifriqiya (909-71), which was later expanded to include Egypt and southern Syria (969-1171).
Four Iwan Type	A structure with cross-axes ending in four iwans surrounding a courtyard. In four-iwan mosques and madrasas, the prayer hall is the largest iwan. The type first appeared in Khurasan, probably developed from ancient Iranian models. It was the most popular type in the medieval period, and remained dominant in Iran.
Ghazi	Warrior or conqueror, used both as a title and as a means of attracting Turkomans to fight for the faith and for the expanding principality.
**Great Seljuqs [The]	(1038-1194). A Turkish, Sunni dynasty which ruled the whole Iranian world (including Khurasan and Transoxania), Iraq, Syria, and parts of Byzantine Anatolia.
Haftrangi (Cuerda Seca)**	A technique that permits the creation of multi-colored patterns on the same tile before firing without letting the colors run together.
Hasht-Bihisht	(Persian, eight paradises) A late name to an old type of building that has a radially symmetrical plan with eight parts surrounding a central chamber which is almost always domed. In Islamic times, this plan was most suited to house a reception/audience hall, or a tomb. It was popularized by Timur and his descendants in both their palatial and religious monuments. Later developments emphasized the faç by adding turrets to the four corners, by raising the central part of the faç via a pishtak, and/or by doubling the side through chamfering the corners.
Hazar-baf	A textile term borrowed in Persian brick architecture to designate the woven-like, checker-board quality of brick decoration that appeared in the ninth century.
Hazira or Rawda	(Arabic) terms used in the Mughal period to designate a tomb or a mausoleum. The originial meaning of the former is “enclosure”, the latter “garden.” This suggests the garden origin of tomb-gardens.
Hudur	Sufi acts of devotion which took the form of dancing, singing, and whirling among other ways. Each Sufi order had its distinctive hudur.
Hypostyle Mosque [The]	Mosque in which the prayer hall is formed of rows of vertical supports, or columns, that can multiply indefinitely. Dominant type in the early period.
Ifriqiya	Present day Libya, Tunisia, and most of Algeria.
Ilkhanid [The]	Il-khan (Subordinate of the Khan) was the title assumed by Hülegü (1256-65), after he became the Mongol ruler of Iran and Khurasan. The Ilkhanids eventually converted to Islam and adopted the Iranian culture. It was from that period that the material culture of Iran flourished after the severe blow caused by the Mongol invasion.
Imaret	Soup kitchen, it was one of the major charitable units in any religious Ottoman complex.
Islam	One of today’s global religions and the third monotheistic religion, revealed after Judaism and Christianity and accepting them both. Brought by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632) in Arabia, it soon spread all over the southern and eastern Mediterranean, Africa, and south, east, and central Asia. In Arabic, the word Islam literally means,“to surrender, to submit” (to the will of God), which is the essence of the religion.
Ismailis [The]	Recognize the first six imams, but differ with the Twelvers about the seventh, Ismail, hence their name.
Iwan Mosque [The]	Mosque in which the prayer hall is an iwan, or more, up to four iwans, surrounding a courtyard. It was the most popular type in the medieval period, and remained dominant in Iran.
Khanqah	Institution for sufis which usually contains a mosque, quarters for a number of sufis, and a meeting hall where the hudur is performed. Its introduction into the urban environmrnt in major cities marked the recognition of popular religious practices by both the ruling and the clerical classes.
Koca Sinan [The]	(1499?-1588): The greatest Ottoman architect, he served as chief architect or the Architect of Dar-Usaadet (the Abode of Felicity) for 50 years (1538-88). He built or supervised a total of 316 structures in Istanbul alone. He greatly influenced the development of Ottoman architecture and produced its most celebrated masterpieces.
Kulliye [The]	From the Arabic kull (the whole), it was used in Ottoman times to designate the religious, social, and charitable complexes. Kulliyes were built by sultans, their wives, and their high officials. A great kulliye normally comprises a congregational mosque, one or more madrasas, a soup kitchen (imaret), a hospital (dar al-shifa), a school for kids (mektab), a bath, fountains, and possibly the mausoleum of the founder and his family.
Madrasa [The]	The specialized institution of learning that was adopted by the Seljuqs to promote Sunni teaching. A madrasa usually contains a mosque, classrooms, and lodgings for students and teachers. Madrasas appeared most probably in Khurasan in the 9-10th c. and spread all over the Islamic world in the 11-12th c.
Mamluks [The]	A curious phenomenon that is not encountered outside the Islamic world, Mamluks were imported slaves, mostly of Turkish or Caucasian stock, who were destined for a military career. The Mamluks ruled Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1517.
Maqsura	A private area in the prayer hall enclosed by a wood screen for the ruler and his entourage.
Mashhad	A complex term that means either a memorial for a shahid (witness of the greatness of God, but later exclusively meaning martyr) or a memorial for a true vision, which mostly involves the Prophet or members of his family.
Maydan-i-Shah [The]	Among the largest open squares in the world (1700 by 525 ft), it was the focal point of Shah ‘Abbas’s plan. Its four sides were lined up with shops on two levels, and each side of the Maydan had a monumental structure in its centre.
Mecca	Birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and a major trading center in Arabia that linked Byzantine Syria in the north with Yemen in the south. The tribe of Qureish lived in Mecca and was divided into 40 clans of varying wealth and status.
Mihrab	A wall recess, mostly in the form of arched niche, in the qibla wall, indicating the position of the prayer-leader facing the direction toward Mecca.
Minaret	A tall slender tower, circular or square in section, built next or in a mosque, from which the Muslims are called to prayer. Mosques may have one, two, three, four, and up to six minarets.
Minbar	The pulpit, mostly made of wood, put in a mosque near its mihrab, upon which the prayer-leader stands when he gives the congregational prayer’s sermon on Fridays and in holidays.
Mosaic-faience	A tile decoration that reached its apex in the 14th century, it is a patterned arrangement of closely fitted small pieces of tiles which have surface glaze of different colors.
Mughals of India [The]	A dynasty whose founder Babur (1526-30) descended from the most illustrious Mongol conquerors, Ghenkis Khan and Timur, hence the name. They ruled most of India for three centuries before direct British rule was set in 1858. The period between Babur’s reign and 1707, when five of his descendants, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangazeb ruled is considered the age of the Great Mughals.
Muqarnas	Also called the stalactite or honeycomb, one of the most distinctive Islamic architectural elements used in domes, in domes’ transitional zones, in cornices and friezes, in conches above entrances, and on friezes supporting balconies of minarets. Its origin, symbolic meaning, and date of first appearance are frequently debated.
Neo-Islamic Styles	The nineteenth century started with the first European military interventions in the Orient and ended with most of it under direct colonial rule. Architecture was affected by these new political realities and by the disciplinary developments in Europe where architecture had become an academic field with its rules and parameters. European styles began shaping the outlook of “Oriental” cities and the tastes of their inhabitants. Also European and European-trained designers became the masters of the building trades everywhere. These same professionals acted as the interpreters of the architectural heritage of the countries in which they worked. They documented, analyzed, and classified the structures they encountered, which permitted the introduction of these formerly-unexplored styles. Consequently, hybrid styles of building and decoration were produced in both East and West that borrowed freely and sometimes indiscriminately from the varied repertoires of non-western architectures, and blended them with various European structural, constructional, functional, and stylistic modes. The end results came to be known collectively as Oriental styles and individually we encounter various epithets such as the Neo-Moorish, Neo-Saracen, Neo-Mamluk, Neo-Mughal and so on.
Night Journey and the Ascension [The] ( Al-Isra’ wa-l-Miraj)	The miraculous journey of the Prophet from Mecca to Jerusalem and his ascension to Heaven to receive from God major doctrinal requirements.
Nizam al-Mulk	(1020-92). The able vizier of the Seljuq sultans who organized the structure of their state, promoted Sunni learning, and sponsored madrasas in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq, all called Nizamiyya.
Ottomans [The]	A Turkish dynasty named after Ghazi Osman, who established a small principality in the northwestern corner of Anatolia in the 13th century. The Ottomans fulfilled an Islamic dream in conquering Constantinople (Istanbul) and formed the largest empire of its time which comprised the Balkans, Greece, Anatolia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, the Holy Cities of Arabia, Algeria, and Tunisia. The empire lasted until 1924. The early Ottomans had a close relationship with sufis and dervishes, but the building of an Islamic empire brought the ulema class to the forefront. Early Ottoman religious architecture reflects the balancing of traditional Orthodox themes with the mystical sufi ones in its forms and functions.
Palmyra	A caravan city turned imperial center with heavy Roman influences.
Petra	The Nabatean capital carved in the rock with hybrid Hellenistic sensitivities.
Pietra Dura	Semi-precious stone (lapis, onyx, jasper, topaz, and cornelian) inlays in marble following geometric or floral designs.
Post-Seljuq Period	After the desintegration of the Great Seljuq Empire, many spin-off dynasties carved out smaller provinces in Anatolia (which opened up to Turkish immigration after the Seljuks defeated the Byzantines at the battle of Manzikert in 1071), Syria, and Mesopotamia. The most important among them were the Seljuqs of Rum (Anatolia) and the Zengids.
Qa’a-Mosque Type	Probably a development borrowed from residential architecture, this type has a qa’a plan (the most common hall type in Egypt), which normally has two iwans facing each other on the main axis, with wall recesses on the two remaining sides, while the central space is covered with a wooden cupola.
Qayrawan	The Islamic capital of Ifriqiya, founded by Uqba ibn Nafi’ in 664. He built in it a dar al-imara (palace of the governor) and the congregational mosque which carries his name (the Mosque of Sidi Uqba).
Qibla	The direction of Mecca toward which Muslims are required to face when they perform their prayer.
Qubba	Literally “dome”, but the word often signified the mausoleum of an amir or a pious man, which was usually, but not always, a cubical structure covered with a dome.
Ribat	Originally designated a building type that was both military and religious in character. It was a fortified barrack for those volunteers (murabitun) whose piety led them to devote themselves to guarding the frontiers of the Islamic state.
Rusafa(Sergiopolis)	Capital of the Ghassanids, clients of Constantinople.
Sabil-Kuttab	A charitable structure composed of a sabil (drinking fountain) on the ground floor, and a kuttab (Qur’anic school for boys) on top, which was usually a room open on all sides.
Safavids [The]	(1501-1732): Of an obscure origin which is most probably Sunni and Kurdish, the Safavids (named after a sufi master, Shaykh Safi) forged for themselves an illustrious genealogy that goes back to ‘Ali, and proceeded to forcibly change Iran into a Shiite state. In the process they shaped the modern image of the Iranian nation.
Samanids	Dynasty which ruled part of former Sogdian territory from 819-1005; capital was Bukhara; patrons of New Persian literature, science and architecture.
Samarra	The new capital city established by caliph al-Mu’tasim in 836 to house his growing army of Turkish slave-warriors (Mamluks) on the Tigris, 60 miles north of Baghdad. It developed into a conglomeration of secluded caliphal palaces and houses for the troops on a grandiose scale. The city remained capital of the Abbasid empire until 883, then it was abandoned and Baghdad regained its old position.
Sasanians	Dynasty which ruled Iran from 226-651; capital was Ctesiphon.
Shah Abbas I	(1588-1629): The greatest Safavid monarch, he moved the capital to Isfahan in 1598, and built there a royal city that extended to the south of the old city and connected it with the Zayandeh river via a wide avenue, the Chahar Bagh (Four Gardens) Avenue. Shah Abbas’s royal buildings were organized around his central Maydan or along the Chahar Bagh Avenue.
Shiites [The]	From shia (supporters), those who recognized ‘Ali as the only legitimate imam (political and religious leader) after the Prophet, and rejected most other caliphs, especially the Umayyads. They developed into several sects which differed in the number of imams they recognized. Most important are: The Twelvers Imamis, The Ismailis, The Fatimids.
Sogdians	Central Asian people who inhabited and ruled the land roughly corresponding to the modern country of Uzbekistan up until the Arab invasion in the 8th century.
Sunni Revival [The]	The term used to designate the movement that culminated with the Seljuqs who actively sought the elimination of Shi’ite principalities in the eastern Islamic world and the Shiite grip on the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, and who sponsored and fostered the renaissance in Sunni theology and jurisprudence.
Sunnis [The]	From sunna (tradition or custom), those who adhere to the standard practice (understod to be of the Prophet). Sunnis are the majority of Muslims and follow four schools of jurisprudence: the Shafi’i, Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali. They accept the legitimacy of both the Umayyads and Abbasids.
Tabkhane	Hospice, sometimes attached to a mosque for the free lodging of wandering dervishes and travelers.
Timur	(1370-1405) A Mongol chieftain, Timur started from Transoxania to build a world empire. He conquered Khurasan, Iran, Iraq, and parts of Syria and Anatolia. He massacred whole populations, but saved the craftsmen whom he sent to his capital Samarqand to embellish it. His was the last empire initiated by the steppe people.
Trabeate Architecture	The characteristic architectural principle of Hindu India based on the post-and-lintel system, mostly done in stone, and related stylistically and decoratively to carved wood architecture.
Turkish Baroque Style [The]	The name given to the Ottoman architectural and decorative production from the mid eighteenth century until the third quarter of the nineteenth century. The style was concomitant with the gradual Westernization of the Ottoman elite’s lifestyle and tastes is characterized by a profusion of curved, undulating motifs, imported European patterns, and unrestrained, extroverted plans.
Twelvers Imamis [The]	The majority of Shiites, they recognize twelve descendants of ‘Ali. Most of Iran became Shiite in the sixteenth century under the Safavids.
Umayyads (of Spain) [The]	After the fall of the Umayyad dynasty in 750, a scion of the family, Abd al-Rahman I, fled to Spain and established a principality in Cordoba independent of the Abbasids. His great grandson, Abd al-Rahman III (912-961) declared a new Umayyad caliphate with its capital in Cordoba.
Umayyads [The]	First Islamic dynasty (661-750) established by a companion of the Prophet, Mu’awiya. Their capital was Damascus. They built the first monumental mosques.
Waqf	Endowment deed. In the medieval period, amirs and dignitaries endowed charitable structures both for pious and social reasons and as a means to preserve some of the wealth generated by their iqta’, or revenues form land holdings granted by the state only while they are actively in the service.
Ziyarids	Dynasty which ruled part of the Caspian provinces of Iran from 932 to c. 1075; nominally Islamic but holding to pre-Islamic Persian traditions and claiming descent from the Sasanians; responsible for several tomb towers, including Gunbad-i Qabus and Pir-i Alamdar.

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Topics

Learning Resource Types

Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures

The Formative Period

The Classical Period

The Medieval Period

The Age of the Gunpowder Empires

The Modern Period

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Functional Typology of Religious Structures

Monuments

Liturgical Elements of the Mosque

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

New Elements in Mosque Architecture

Decoration of Mosques:

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Concepts

Characteristics of Fatimid Mosque Architecture

Monuments

Concepts

Characteristics of Islamic Monumentality:

Monuments

Concepts

Monuments

Course Info

Instructor

Departments

As Taught In

Level

Topics

Learning Resource Types