Abbasid architecture developed in the Abbasid caliphate between 750 and 945, mainly in its center of Mesopotamia. The Abbasids inherited Persian architectural traditions and were later influenced by Central Asian styles. They developed their own styles, especially in the decoration of their buildings, and fundamentally defined the form and art of Islamic architecture. Baghdad, then the center of the Islamic world, became the center of Islamic art, and the Abbasid taste gradually gained ground in Western Asia and North Africa. It was here that the intricate ornamental patterns that replaced the depiction of man and animal first appeared, which later became a hallmark of the entire Islamic world. Although the Abbasids lost control of much of their empire after 870, their architecture continued to be copied by the successor states of Iran, Egypt, and North Africa.
As power passed from the Umayyads to the Abbasids, Christian styles evolved into a style based more on Sassanian architecture with its own Iranian-Persian elements. From Umayyad architecture, built in stone and developed mainly in the Mediterranean, in Damascus and Jerusalem, the East moved to another based on baked or sun-dried clay brick and covered with carved or cast plaster stucco, often painted.[1] This was probably due to the lack of raw materials.
An important event was the creation or great expansion of cities that became the capital of the empire. Al-Mansur (r. 754-755), the founder of the Abbasid dynasty, established in 762 on the banks of the Tigris the "City of Peace", now known as Baghdad, about 35 km from the ancient Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon. With its plan strictly designed to symbolize the center of the world, the city proclaimed the supremacy of Islamic architecture. Walled city with four gates, in its center was a royal palace with a golden dome and a large mosque attached. Unfortunately, the building has not survived to this day, but the descriptions are so abundant that almost the entire city can be reconstructed from them. The main gate of the palace, the so-called golden gate, opened with an ornate iwan. Al-Mansur also planned the city of Al Raqa, along the Euphrates. Also the caliph Al-Mutásim (r. 833-842), decided to found in the year 835 a new capital along the Tigris, Samarra, abandoning the old capital Baghdad. It was a political response to the conflicts created by the implantation of its mercenary troops, made up of Mamluks, in response to the weight of the Arab elites in the Abbasid government. This city saw 60 years of work, with racecourses and hunting grounds.[1] Its main building was the gigantic Dar-al-Amma palace or Jawsaq al-Jaqani, whose remains extend over about 170 hectares north of the current town.
Abbasid architecture
Introduction
Abbasid architecture developed in the Abbasid caliphate between 750 and 945, mainly in its center of Mesopotamia. The Abbasids inherited Persian architectural traditions and were later influenced by Central Asian styles. They developed their own styles, especially in the decoration of their buildings, and fundamentally defined the form and art of Islamic architecture. Baghdad, then the center of the Islamic world, became the center of Islamic art, and the Abbasid taste gradually gained ground in Western Asia and North Africa. It was here that the intricate ornamental patterns that replaced the depiction of man and animal first appeared, which later became a hallmark of the entire Islamic world. Although the Abbasids lost control of much of their empire after 870, their architecture continued to be copied by the successor states of Iran, Egypt, and North Africa.
As power passed from the Umayyads to the Abbasids, Christian styles evolved into a style based more on Sassanian architecture with its own Iranian-Persian elements. From Umayyad architecture, built in stone and developed mainly in the Mediterranean, in Damascus and Jerusalem, the East moved to another based on baked or sun-dried clay brick and covered with carved or cast plaster stucco, often painted.[1] This was probably due to the lack of raw materials.
An important event was the creation or great expansion of cities that became the capital of the empire. Al-Mansur (r. 754-755), the founder of the Abbasid dynasty, established in 762 on the banks of the Tigris the "City of Peace", now known as Baghdad, about 35 km from the ancient Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon. With its plan strictly designed to symbolize the center of the world, the city proclaimed the supremacy of Islamic architecture. Walled city with four gates, in its center was a royal palace with a golden dome and a large mosque attached. Unfortunately, the building has not survived to this day, but the descriptions are so abundant that almost the entire city can be reconstructed from them. The main gate of the palace, the so-called golden gate, opened with an ornate iwan. Al-Mansur also planned the city of Al Raqa, along the Euphrates. Also the caliph Al-Mutásim (r. 833-842), decided to found in the year 835 a new capital along the Tigris, Samarra, abandoning the old capital Baghdad. It was a political response to the conflicts created by the implantation of its mercenary troops, made up of Mamluks, in response to the weight of the Arab elites in the Abbasid government. This city saw 60 years of work, with racecourses and hunting grounds.[1] Its main building was the gigantic Dar-al-Amma palace or Jawsaq al-Jaqani, whose remains extend over about 170 hectares north of the current town.
Due to the dry and remote nature of the environment, some of the palaces built at that time were isolated paradises. The fortress palace of Ujaidir, in the middle of the desert, is a good example of this type of building, which has stables, living quarters and a mosque, all around surrounding inner courtyards.[1].
The Abbasids built countless great mosques. They practically returned to the type of the first mosques with enormous spaces, such as the famous Great Mosque of Samarra, built by the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861) between 849 and 852, which was the largest place of worship in Islam, with a floor plan of 156 x 240 m, a brick wall and 21 entrances. The multi-nave prayer hall was covered with a wood-framed roof. Today only the fence walls and some of the hundreds of pillars remain. The rich interior decoration of the great mosque is related to Christian, Byzantine and partisan motifs. The minaret is truly special: a spiral ramp rises more than 50 m around a tapering cylindrical tower, which is related to Assyrian and Babylonian ziggurats.
Other mosques from this period, such as the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo and the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia, although ultimately built during the Umayyad dynasty, were substantially renovated in the 19th century. These renovations, so extensive that they were apparently reconstructions, were carried out on the edge of the Muslim world, in an area controlled by the Aghlabids; However, the styles used were mainly Abbasid.[2] The Cairo mosque of Ibn Tulun is the best example of the Iranian type of hall mosques. It was built by Ahmad ibn Tulun, governor of Egypt (r. 868-884) and founder of the almost independent Tuluni dynasty, in the northern part of the then capital Fustat (today part of Cairo) where he had a new neighborhood built.[3].
Mesopotamia has only one surviving mausoleum from this era, at Samarra, topped with an octagonal dome that is the final resting place of al-Muntasir. There were few innovations and new styles, such as the four-centred arch and the dome erected on squinches "Trumpet (architecture)"). Unfortunately, much was lost due to the ephemeral nature of stucco and glazed tiles.[4].
Historical background
In 750, the Abbasids seized power from the Umayyad rulers of the Arab Empire, who lost all their possessions except Spain.[5] The Abbasid caliphs, based in modern-day Iraq, ruled Iran, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and the lands of the eastern and southern Mediterranean. The period between 750 and 900 has been described as the Golden Age of Islam.[6] While the Umayyads often reused pre-Islamic buildings in the cities they had conquered, in the Abbasid era many of these structures had to be replaced. The spread of Muslim beliefs also brought about changes in needs. The Abbasids had to build masjids and palaces, as well as fortifications, houses, commercial buildings and even facilities for races and polo matches.[7] They improved the pilgrimage route from Baghdad and Kufa to Mecca, leveling the surface and building walls and ditches in some areas, as well as stations for pilgrims with rooms and a mosque in which to pray.[7].
In 762, Caliph Al-Mansur founded a new capital, Baghdad, on the banks of the Tigris, which soon became one of the largest cities in the world. In 836 the caliph Al-Mustá'sim moved the capital to Samarra. The Abbasids began to lose control over the peripheral areas of the empire, and local dynasties gained effective independence in Khorasan (Samanids), eastern Iran, Egypt (Tulunids) and Ifriqiya (Aghlabids). The Caliph al-Mu'tamid "Al-Mu'tamid (caliph)"), who now only ruled in Iraq, moved his capital to Baghdad in 889. In 945, the Buyis, followers of Shiism, became effective rulers as emirs, while the Abbasid caliphs retained their nominal title. Under Caliph An-Násir (1179-1225), the Abbasids once again controlled Iraq, but the sack of Baghdad "Battle of Baghdad (1258)") by the Mongols in 1258 put an end to the Abbasid caliphate.[5].
Origins
The early Abbasid architecture was very similar to that of the Sassanid empire, as demonstrated by the palace of Ujaidir. He used the same techniques, the same materials of mud bricks, fired bricks and rough stone blocks laid with mortar, and followed Sassanid designs. Stone is scarce in the central and southern alluvial plains that formed the heart of the Abbasid territory, so many of the buildings were made of mud bricks, covered with plaster and frequently repaired or rebuilt. Sometimes baked brick was used.[7].
When Caliph Al-Mansur built the round city of Baghdad, called Madinat al-Salam, which contained the caliphal palace, mosque and administrative buildings, he may have followed earlier traditions, such as the round city of Gur built by Ardacher I (r. 224-241) at Firuzabad.[7].
With the Muslim Conquest of Transoxiana, the influence of Sogdian architecture increased. In Samarra, the stuccoes and wall paintings are similar to those in the palaces of Panjakent, in modern-day Tajikistan. Later, in the 2nd centuries, the architecture of the lands ruled by the Abbasids became dominated by Seljuk architecture.[5].
Innovations
The Abbasid cities were located in enormous places. The palaces and mosques of Samarra stretched along the banks of the Tigris for 40 kilometers. To match the scale of the sites, monumental buildings were erected, such as the enormous spiral minarets of the Abu Dulaf Mosque and the Great Mosque of Samarra, which had no equivalent anywhere else.[5] The double-centred pointed arch and vault had appeared before the Abbasids took power, but became the norm in Abbasid architecture, with the point becoming more prominent.[7] The first fully developed example of the arch The design of four centers was in the Qasr al-'Ashiq, built between 878 and 882.[8].
Three new types of stucco decoration were developed in Samarra and quickly became popular elsewhere.[5] The first two styles can be considered derived from the decorative styles of Late Antiquity or the Umayyads, but the third is entirely new. The C style used molds to create repeating patterns of curved lines, notches, indentations, and other elements. The fluid designs did not make use of traditional vegetal, geometric or animal themes.[9] Stucco work was sometimes colored red or blue, and sometimes incorporated a glass mosaic.[10] This is the earliest and purest example of the arabesque.[9] It may represent a deliberate attempt to realize an abstract form of decoration that avoids the representation of living beings, and this may explain its rapid adoption throughout the Muslim world.[11].
Characteristics
Contenido
Entre los rasgos típicos de los edificios más importantes se encontraban los enormes pilares redondos y las pequeñas columnas adosadas.[12] La arquitectura abasí del siglo contaba con decoraciones foliadas en los arcos, bóvedas pinjantes, bóvedas de mocárabes y enjutas policromadas entrelazadas que se identificaron como típicas de la arquitectura islámica, aunque estas formas pueden tener su origen en la arquitectura sasánida. Así, el arco frontal del Arco de Ctesifonte estuvo decorado con una moldura lobulada, forma copiada en el palacio de Ujaidir.[13].
Palaces
The oldest surviving Abbasid palace, built around the year 775, is the Ujaidir palace. It has a floor plan derived from the previous Sassanid and Umayyad palaces.[14] It is located in the desert, about 180 km south of Baghdad.[15] It is rectangular in shape, 175 by 169 meters, with four doors. Three of them are located in semicircular towers that protrude from the wall and one in a rectangular hole in it. Inside there is a vaulted entrance hall, a central courtyard, an iwan open to the courtyard opposite the hall, and residential quarters.[14] Sassanid techniques persist in the construction of vaults with pointed curves using rubble and mortar covered with brick and stucco, blind arches as decoration of large wall surfaces, and long vaulted halls with niches behind the arches supported by heavy "Pillar (architecture)" pillars. Verbal descriptions indicate that the palaces of Baghdad had a similar layout, although on a larger scale.[16].
The palaces of Samarra, such as Qasr al-'Ashiq and al-Jiss, built around 870, feature deeply carved multi-lobed moldings on the intrados of the arches, giving the appearance of a foliated arch. (architecture)") of carved or molded stucco that decorated the lower part of the walls, and stucco also decorated the door frames, wall niches and arches, in three different styles.[8] Other palaces that have been excavated usually have a central vaulted chamber surrounded by four iwans facing the outside.[18]
The only remaining Abbasid palace in Baghdad is located in the Al-Maiden neighborhood, overlooking the Tigris.[19] The palace was erected under the rule of Caliph An-Násir (1179-1225). It has two floors and contains a central courtyard and an iwan with a brick roof and facade. Excavations and restoration work show that it most likely functioned as a school and not a palace. Some scholars believe that it is the Sharabiya School, a school of Islamic theology built in the 20th century. The structure and design of the palace bear great similarities to al-Mustansiriya University. Some parts of the palace were rebuilt by the State Establishment of Antiquities and Heritage, including the restoration of the large Iwán and adjacent facades.[21].
Mosques
The Abbasids continued with the rectangular Umayyad hypostyle plan, with a porticoed courtyard and a covered prayer hall. They built mosques on a monumental scale using bricks, stucco ornaments, and architectural forms developed in Mesopotamia and other regions of the East.[23] The oldest mosque was built by Al-Mansur in Baghdad, now destroyed. The Great Mosque of Samarra, built by Al-Mutawákkil, measured 256 by 139 meters. It had a flat wooden roof supported by columns.[14] The prayer hall of the Abu Dulaf mosque in Samarra had arcades on rectangular brick pillars that formed a right angle to the qibla wall. The two mosques at Samarra have spiral minarets, the only examples in Iraq.[14] A mosque in Balkh, in what is now Afghanistan, was about 20 by 20 meters square, with three rows of three square bays supporting nine vaulted domes.[8] Other surviving Abbasid mosques include the turn-of-the-century mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, the Tarikhaneh of Damghan (Iran), among others. 750 and 789, and the Masjid-I-Tarikh, from the 1st century, in Balj (Afghanistan).[24].
Other buildings
Most houses appear to be two stories.[18] The lower level was often sunken into the ground for cooling and had vaulted ceilings. The upper level had a wooden roof and a flat terraced roof that provided living space on summer nights. The houses were built around courtyards and had a featureless exterior, although they were often elaborately decorated inside.[10] Most houses had latrines and cold-water bathing facilities.[18]
The Abbasids also undertook public works that included the construction of canals in Samarra and cisterns in Tunisia and Palestine. The Nilometer of Fustat, near present-day Cairo, built in 861, has elaborate and ornate masonry and discharge arches.[25].
Decoration
The three types (styles A, B and C) of stucco decoration best exemplified, and perhaps developed, in Abbasid Samarra were quickly imitated elsewhere and style C, which in turn remained common in the Islamic world for centuries, was an important precursor to fully developed arabesque decoration. The Tulunis of Egypt built copies of Abbasid buildings in Cairo.[26] The mosque of Ibn Tulun, built at Fustat, near Cairo, in 876-879, combines Umayyad and Abbasid structural and decorative features.[27] It is the only mosque outside Iraq to have a spiral minaret.[14].
The layout of the Fatimid city of Al-Mansuriya, in Ifriqiya, founded in the year 946, was circular, perhaps in imitation of Baghdad. The Fatimid architecture of Ifriqiya and Egypt followed Abbasid styles, as evidenced by the Great Mosque of Mahdia and the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo.[28] Even Umayyad buildings in the Iberian Peninsula show Abbasid influence.[6] Nine-domed mosques have been found in Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, and Central Asia.[29] More recent buildings sometimes follow Abbasid architectural styles, such as the mosque Hamoudi of Djibouti "Djibouti (city)"), 19th century.
References
[1] ↑ a b c Wilber, 1969, p. 5.
[2] ↑ Wilber, 1969, pp. 5–6.
[3] ↑ «Jami' ibn Tulun». Aga Khan Documentation Center. 28 de octubre de 2018. Consultado el 28 de octubre de 2018.: https://archnet.org/sites/1522
[4] ↑ a b Wilber, 1969, p. 6.
[5] ↑ a b c d e f Petersen, 2002, p. 1.
[6] ↑ a b Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 78.
[7] ↑ a b c d e Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 79.
[8] ↑ a b c d Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 82.
[9] ↑ a b Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 58.
[10] ↑ a b Bowen, 1928, p. 22.
[11] ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 59.
[12] ↑ Petersen, 2002, p. 32.
[13] ↑ Tabbaa, 2002, p. 138.
[14] ↑ a b c d e Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 80.
[15] ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 53.
[16] ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 54.
[25] ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 55.
[26] ↑ Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 57-59.
[27] ↑ Kuban, 1974, p. 20.
[28] ↑ Ende y Steinbach, 2010, p. 839.
[29] ↑ Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 83.
[30] ↑ Rast, 1992, p. 198.
Due to the dry and remote nature of the environment, some of the palaces built at that time were isolated paradises. The fortress palace of Ujaidir, in the middle of the desert, is a good example of this type of building, which has stables, living quarters and a mosque, all around surrounding inner courtyards.[1].
The Abbasids built countless great mosques. They practically returned to the type of the first mosques with enormous spaces, such as the famous Great Mosque of Samarra, built by the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861) between 849 and 852, which was the largest place of worship in Islam, with a floor plan of 156 x 240 m, a brick wall and 21 entrances. The multi-nave prayer hall was covered with a wood-framed roof. Today only the fence walls and some of the hundreds of pillars remain. The rich interior decoration of the great mosque is related to Christian, Byzantine and partisan motifs. The minaret is truly special: a spiral ramp rises more than 50 m around a tapering cylindrical tower, which is related to Assyrian and Babylonian ziggurats.
Other mosques from this period, such as the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo and the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia, although ultimately built during the Umayyad dynasty, were substantially renovated in the 19th century. These renovations, so extensive that they were apparently reconstructions, were carried out on the edge of the Muslim world, in an area controlled by the Aghlabids; However, the styles used were mainly Abbasid.[2] The Cairo mosque of Ibn Tulun is the best example of the Iranian type of hall mosques. It was built by Ahmad ibn Tulun, governor of Egypt (r. 868-884) and founder of the almost independent Tuluni dynasty, in the northern part of the then capital Fustat (today part of Cairo) where he had a new neighborhood built.[3].
Mesopotamia has only one surviving mausoleum from this era, at Samarra, topped with an octagonal dome that is the final resting place of al-Muntasir. There were few innovations and new styles, such as the four-centred arch and the dome erected on squinches "Trumpet (architecture)"). Unfortunately, much was lost due to the ephemeral nature of stucco and glazed tiles.[4].
Historical background
In 750, the Abbasids seized power from the Umayyad rulers of the Arab Empire, who lost all their possessions except Spain.[5] The Abbasid caliphs, based in modern-day Iraq, ruled Iran, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and the lands of the eastern and southern Mediterranean. The period between 750 and 900 has been described as the Golden Age of Islam.[6] While the Umayyads often reused pre-Islamic buildings in the cities they had conquered, in the Abbasid era many of these structures had to be replaced. The spread of Muslim beliefs also brought about changes in needs. The Abbasids had to build masjids and palaces, as well as fortifications, houses, commercial buildings and even facilities for races and polo matches.[7] They improved the pilgrimage route from Baghdad and Kufa to Mecca, leveling the surface and building walls and ditches in some areas, as well as stations for pilgrims with rooms and a mosque in which to pray.[7].
In 762, Caliph Al-Mansur founded a new capital, Baghdad, on the banks of the Tigris, which soon became one of the largest cities in the world. In 836 the caliph Al-Mustá'sim moved the capital to Samarra. The Abbasids began to lose control over the peripheral areas of the empire, and local dynasties gained effective independence in Khorasan (Samanids), eastern Iran, Egypt (Tulunids) and Ifriqiya (Aghlabids). The Caliph al-Mu'tamid "Al-Mu'tamid (caliph)"), who now only ruled in Iraq, moved his capital to Baghdad in 889. In 945, the Buyis, followers of Shiism, became effective rulers as emirs, while the Abbasid caliphs retained their nominal title. Under Caliph An-Násir (1179-1225), the Abbasids once again controlled Iraq, but the sack of Baghdad "Battle of Baghdad (1258)") by the Mongols in 1258 put an end to the Abbasid caliphate.[5].
Origins
The early Abbasid architecture was very similar to that of the Sassanid empire, as demonstrated by the palace of Ujaidir. He used the same techniques, the same materials of mud bricks, fired bricks and rough stone blocks laid with mortar, and followed Sassanid designs. Stone is scarce in the central and southern alluvial plains that formed the heart of the Abbasid territory, so many of the buildings were made of mud bricks, covered with plaster and frequently repaired or rebuilt. Sometimes baked brick was used.[7].
When Caliph Al-Mansur built the round city of Baghdad, called Madinat al-Salam, which contained the caliphal palace, mosque and administrative buildings, he may have followed earlier traditions, such as the round city of Gur built by Ardacher I (r. 224-241) at Firuzabad.[7].
With the Muslim Conquest of Transoxiana, the influence of Sogdian architecture increased. In Samarra, the stuccoes and wall paintings are similar to those in the palaces of Panjakent, in modern-day Tajikistan. Later, in the 2nd centuries, the architecture of the lands ruled by the Abbasids became dominated by Seljuk architecture.[5].
Innovations
The Abbasid cities were located in enormous places. The palaces and mosques of Samarra stretched along the banks of the Tigris for 40 kilometers. To match the scale of the sites, monumental buildings were erected, such as the enormous spiral minarets of the Abu Dulaf Mosque and the Great Mosque of Samarra, which had no equivalent anywhere else.[5] The double-centred pointed arch and vault had appeared before the Abbasids took power, but became the norm in Abbasid architecture, with the point becoming more prominent.[7] The first fully developed example of the arch The design of four centers was in the Qasr al-'Ashiq, built between 878 and 882.[8].
Three new types of stucco decoration were developed in Samarra and quickly became popular elsewhere.[5] The first two styles can be considered derived from the decorative styles of Late Antiquity or the Umayyads, but the third is entirely new. The C style used molds to create repeating patterns of curved lines, notches, indentations, and other elements. The fluid designs did not make use of traditional vegetal, geometric or animal themes.[9] Stucco work was sometimes colored red or blue, and sometimes incorporated a glass mosaic.[10] This is the earliest and purest example of the arabesque.[9] It may represent a deliberate attempt to realize an abstract form of decoration that avoids the representation of living beings, and this may explain its rapid adoption throughout the Muslim world.[11].
Characteristics
Contenido
Entre los rasgos típicos de los edificios más importantes se encontraban los enormes pilares redondos y las pequeñas columnas adosadas.[12] La arquitectura abasí del siglo contaba con decoraciones foliadas en los arcos, bóvedas pinjantes, bóvedas de mocárabes y enjutas policromadas entrelazadas que se identificaron como típicas de la arquitectura islámica, aunque estas formas pueden tener su origen en la arquitectura sasánida. Así, el arco frontal del Arco de Ctesifonte estuvo decorado con una moldura lobulada, forma copiada en el palacio de Ujaidir.[13].
Palaces
The oldest surviving Abbasid palace, built around the year 775, is the Ujaidir palace. It has a floor plan derived from the previous Sassanid and Umayyad palaces.[14] It is located in the desert, about 180 km south of Baghdad.[15] It is rectangular in shape, 175 by 169 meters, with four doors. Three of them are located in semicircular towers that protrude from the wall and one in a rectangular hole in it. Inside there is a vaulted entrance hall, a central courtyard, an iwan open to the courtyard opposite the hall, and residential quarters.[14] Sassanid techniques persist in the construction of vaults with pointed curves using rubble and mortar covered with brick and stucco, blind arches as decoration of large wall surfaces, and long vaulted halls with niches behind the arches supported by heavy "Pillar (architecture)" pillars. Verbal descriptions indicate that the palaces of Baghdad had a similar layout, although on a larger scale.[16].
The palaces of Samarra, such as Qasr al-'Ashiq and al-Jiss, built around 870, feature deeply carved multi-lobed moldings on the intrados of the arches, giving the appearance of a foliated arch. (architecture)") of carved or molded stucco that decorated the lower part of the walls, and stucco also decorated the door frames, wall niches and arches, in three different styles.[8] Other palaces that have been excavated usually have a central vaulted chamber surrounded by four iwans facing the outside.[18]
The only remaining Abbasid palace in Baghdad is located in the Al-Maiden neighborhood, overlooking the Tigris.[19] The palace was erected under the rule of Caliph An-Násir (1179-1225). It has two floors and contains a central courtyard and an iwan with a brick roof and facade. Excavations and restoration work show that it most likely functioned as a school and not a palace. Some scholars believe that it is the Sharabiya School, a school of Islamic theology built in the 20th century. The structure and design of the palace bear great similarities to al-Mustansiriya University. Some parts of the palace were rebuilt by the State Establishment of Antiquities and Heritage, including the restoration of the large Iwán and adjacent facades.[21].
Mosques
The Abbasids continued with the rectangular Umayyad hypostyle plan, with a porticoed courtyard and a covered prayer hall. They built mosques on a monumental scale using bricks, stucco ornaments, and architectural forms developed in Mesopotamia and other regions of the East.[23] The oldest mosque was built by Al-Mansur in Baghdad, now destroyed. The Great Mosque of Samarra, built by Al-Mutawákkil, measured 256 by 139 meters. It had a flat wooden roof supported by columns.[14] The prayer hall of the Abu Dulaf mosque in Samarra had arcades on rectangular brick pillars that formed a right angle to the qibla wall. The two mosques at Samarra have spiral minarets, the only examples in Iraq.[14] A mosque in Balkh, in what is now Afghanistan, was about 20 by 20 meters square, with three rows of three square bays supporting nine vaulted domes.[8] Other surviving Abbasid mosques include the turn-of-the-century mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, the Tarikhaneh of Damghan (Iran), among others. 750 and 789, and the Masjid-I-Tarikh, from the 1st century, in Balj (Afghanistan).[24].
Other buildings
Most houses appear to be two stories.[18] The lower level was often sunken into the ground for cooling and had vaulted ceilings. The upper level had a wooden roof and a flat terraced roof that provided living space on summer nights. The houses were built around courtyards and had a featureless exterior, although they were often elaborately decorated inside.[10] Most houses had latrines and cold-water bathing facilities.[18]
The Abbasids also undertook public works that included the construction of canals in Samarra and cisterns in Tunisia and Palestine. The Nilometer of Fustat, near present-day Cairo, built in 861, has elaborate and ornate masonry and discharge arches.[25].
Decoration
The three types (styles A, B and C) of stucco decoration best exemplified, and perhaps developed, in Abbasid Samarra were quickly imitated elsewhere and style C, which in turn remained common in the Islamic world for centuries, was an important precursor to fully developed arabesque decoration. The Tulunis of Egypt built copies of Abbasid buildings in Cairo.[26] The mosque of Ibn Tulun, built at Fustat, near Cairo, in 876-879, combines Umayyad and Abbasid structural and decorative features.[27] It is the only mosque outside Iraq to have a spiral minaret.[14].
The layout of the Fatimid city of Al-Mansuriya, in Ifriqiya, founded in the year 946, was circular, perhaps in imitation of Baghdad. The Fatimid architecture of Ifriqiya and Egypt followed Abbasid styles, as evidenced by the Great Mosque of Mahdia and the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo.[28] Even Umayyad buildings in the Iberian Peninsula show Abbasid influence.[6] Nine-domed mosques have been found in Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, and Central Asia.[29] More recent buildings sometimes follow Abbasid architectural styles, such as the mosque Hamoudi of Djibouti "Djibouti (city)"), 19th century.
References
[1] ↑ a b c Wilber, 1969, p. 5.
[2] ↑ Wilber, 1969, pp. 5–6.
[3] ↑ «Jami' ibn Tulun». Aga Khan Documentation Center. 28 de octubre de 2018. Consultado el 28 de octubre de 2018.: https://archnet.org/sites/1522
[4] ↑ a b Wilber, 1969, p. 6.
[5] ↑ a b c d e f Petersen, 2002, p. 1.
[6] ↑ a b Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 78.
[7] ↑ a b c d e Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 79.
[8] ↑ a b c d Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 82.
[9] ↑ a b Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 58.
[10] ↑ a b Bowen, 1928, p. 22.
[11] ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 59.
[12] ↑ Petersen, 2002, p. 32.
[13] ↑ Tabbaa, 2002, p. 138.
[14] ↑ a b c d e Bloom y Blair, 2009, p. 80.
[15] ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 53.
[16] ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar y Jenkins, 2001, p. 54.