Aminaret[a] is a type oftower typically built into or adjacent tomosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslimcall to prayer (adhan) from amuezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence.[2][3] They can have a variety of forms, from thick, squat towers to soaring, pencil-thin spires.[2][4]
Two Arabic words are used to denote the minaret tower:منارةmanāra andمنارmanār. The English word "minaret" originates from the former, via theTurkish version (minare).[5]: 46 [6]: 132 The Arabic wordmanāra (plural:manārāt) originally meant a "lamp stand", acognate ofHebrewmenorah. It is assumed to be a derivation of an olderreconstructed form,manwara. The other word,manār (plural:manā'ir ormanāyir), means "a place of light". Both words derive from the Arabic rootn-w-r, which has a meaning related to "light".[5]: 46 Both words also had other meanings attested during the early Islamic period:manār could also mean a "sign" or "mark" (to show one where to go) and bothmanār andmanāra could mean "lighthouse".[5]: 46–47
Anorientalist depiction of themuezzin's call to prayer from the balcony of a minaret, 1878. Usually only one muezzin chants the azan from the balcony, back straight and not leaning on the railing.
The formal function of a minaret is to provide a vantage point from which themuezzin can issue the call to prayer, oradhan.[3] The call to prayer is issued five times each day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night.[7] In most modern mosques, theadhān is called from themusallah (prayer hall) viamicrophone to aspeaker system on the minaret.[7]
Additionally, minarets historically served a visualsymbolic purpose.[8] In the early 9th century, the first minarets were placed opposite theqibla wall.[b][5] Oftentimes, this placement was not beneficial in reaching the community for the call to prayer.[5] They served as a reminder that the region was Islamic and helped to distinguish mosques from the surrounding architecture.[9] They also acted as symbols of the political and religious authority of the Muslim rulers who built them.[8][10]
The region's socio-cultural context has influenced the shape, size, and form of minarets.[11] Different regions and periods developed different styles of minarets. Typically, the tower's shaft has a cylindrical, cuboid (square), or octagonal shape.[3][5] Stairs or ramps inside the tower climb to the top in a counterclockwise fashion. Some minarets have two or three narrow staircases fitted inside one another in order to allow multiple individuals to safely descend and ascend simultaneously.[12][3] At the top of the stairs, a balcony encircles the upper sections of the tower and from here the muezzin may give the call to prayer.[13] Some minaret traditions featured multiple balconies along the tower's shaft.[3] The summit often finishes in alantern-like structure and/or a small dome, conical roof, or curving stone cap, which is in turn topped by a decorative metalfinial.[14][5] Different architectural traditions also placed minarets at different positions relative to the mosque. The number of minarets by mosques was also not fixed: originally only one minaret accompanied a mosque, but some later traditions constructed more, especially for larger or more prestigious mosques.[3][15]
Minarets are built out of any material that is readily available, and often changes from region to region.[5] In the construction of the tall and slender Ottoman minarets, molten iron was poured into pre-cut cavities inside the stones, which then solidified and helped to bind the stones together. This made the structures more resistant to earthquakes and powerful winds.[12]
The earliestmosques lacked minarets, and the call to prayer was often performed from smaller tower structures.[5][16][17] The early Muslim community ofMedina gave the call to prayer from the doorway or roof of the house ofMuhammad, which doubled as a place for prayer, and this continued to be the practice in mosques during the period of the fourRashidun Caliphs (632–661).[5]: 23, 28 [3]
The origin of the minaret is unclear.[18] Many 19th-century and early 20th-century scholars traced the origin of minarets to theUmayyad Caliphate period (661–750) and believed that they imitated the churchsteeples found in Syria in those times.[5]: 8 Others suggested that these towers were inspired by theziggurats ofBabylonian andAssyrian shrines inMesopotamia.[5]: 8 Some scholars, such as A. J. Butler and Hermann Thiersch, agreed that the Syrian minarets were derived from church towers but also argued that the minarets of Egypt were inspired by the form of thePharos Lighthouse inAlexandria (which survived up until medieval times).[19][5]: 8–10 K. A. C. Creswell, anorientalist and important early-20th-century scholar ofIslamic architecture, contributed a major study on the question in 1926[20] which then became the standard scholarly theory on the origin of minarets for roughly fifty years.[5]: 11 Creswell attributed the origin of minaret towers to the influence of Syrian church towers and regarded the spiral or helicoidal minarets of theAbbasid period as deriving from local ziggurat precedents, but rejected the possible influence of the Pharos Lighthouse. He also established that the earliest mosques had no minarets and he suggested that the first purpose-built minarets were built for theMosque of Amr ibn al-As inFustat in 673.[5]: 12 In 1989Jonathan Bloom published a new study which argued that the first true minaret towers did not appear until the 9th century, under Abbasid rule, and that their initial purpose was not related to the call to prayer.[10][5]
References on Islamic architecture since the late 20th century often agree with Bloom's view that the mosques of the Umayyad Caliphate did not have minarets in the form of towers.[21][22][23][3] Instead of towers, some Umayyad mosques were built with platforms or shelters above their roofs that were accessed by a staircase and from which the muezzins could issue the call to prayer. These structures were referred to as ami'dhana ("place of theadhān") or as aṣawma῾a ("monk's cell",[c] due to its small size).[3][6]: 132–137 An example of these platforms is documented during the reconstruction of the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in 673 byMu'awiya's local governor,Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari, who was given orders by the caliph to add one to each of the mosque's four corners, similar to theGreat Mosque of Damascus which had aṣawma῾a above each of the Roman-era towers at its four corners.[24][25][26][5]: 12 Historical sources also mention such features in mosques in other parts ofNorth Africa. In another example, under theUmayyad Emirate ofal-Andalus, emirHisham I ordered the addition of aṣawma'a to theGreat Mosque of Cordoba in 793.[27]: 21
A possible exception to the absence of tower minarets is documented in Caliphal-Walid's renovation of theProphet's Mosque in Medina in the early 8th century, during which he built a tower, referred to as amanāra, at each of the mosque's four corners. However, it is not clear what function these towers served. They do not appear to have been used for the call to prayer and may have been intended instead as visual symbols of the mosque's status.[28]: 21 [5]: 49–50 Historical sources also reference an earliermanāra, built of stone, being added to the mosque ofBasra in 665 by the Umayyad provincial governor,[24] but it is not entirely clear if it was a tower or what form it had, though it must have had a monumental appearance.[6]: 129, 134
The first known minarets built as towers appeared under Abbasid rule.[5] Four towers were added to theGreat Mosque of Mecca during its Abbasid reconstruction in the late 8th century.[3] In the 9th century single minaret towers were built in or near the middle of the wall opposite the qibla wall of mosques.[5]: 72–79 These towers were built across the empire in a height to width ratio of around 3:1.[5]: 79 One of theoldest minarets still standing is that of theGreat Mosque of Kairouan inTunisia, built in 836 and well-preserved today.[5]: 73–75 [3][8][29] Other minarets that date from the same period, but less precisely dated, include the minaret of the Friday Mosque ofSiraf, now the oldest minaret in Iran, and the minaret opposite the qibla wall at theGreat Mosque of Damascus (known as the "Minaret of the Bride"), now the oldest minaret in the region of Syria (though its upper section was probably rebuilt multiple times).[3][8] InSamarra, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in present-dayIraq, theGreat Mosque of Samarra was built in the years 848–852 and featured a massivehelicoidal minaret behind its northern wall. Its design was repeated in the nearbyAbu Dulaf Mosque (861).[5]: 76 The earlier theory which proposed that these helicoidal minarets were inspired by ancient Mesopotamian ziggurats has been challenged and rejected by some later scholars includingRichard Ettinghausen,Oleg Grabar, and Jonathan Bloom.[28]: 30 [30]
Bloom also argues that the early Abbasid minarets were not built to host the call to prayer, but were instead adopted as symbols of Islam that were suited to importantcongregational mosques. Their association with the muezzin and the call to prayer only developed later.[5]: 64, 107–108 As the first minaret towers were built by the Abbasids and had a symbolic value associated with them, some of the Islamic regimes opposed to the Abbasids, such as theFatimids, generally refrained from building them during these early centuries.[21][5] The earliest evidence of minarets being used for hosting the call to prayer dates to the 10th century and it was only towards the 11th century that minaret towers became a near-universal feature of mosques.[5]: xvii, 64
Next to theHuaisheng Mosque inGuangzhou is the Tower of Light, also known as the Guangta minaret (1350). The mosque and the minaret merge aspects of Islamic andChinese architecture. Its circular shaft and the double staircase arrangement inside it resembles the minarets of Iranian and Central Asian architecture, such as the Minaret of Jam.[31]
Minaret of theal-Maridani Mosque (1340), the earliest example of a style repeated in laterMamluk minarets
The style of minarets has varied throughout the history ofEgypt. The minaret of the 9th-centuryIbn Tulun Mosque imitated the spiral minarets of contemporary Abbasid Samarra, though the current tower was reconstructed later in 1296.[32]: 9 Under the Fatimids (10th-12th centuries), new mosques generally lacked minarets.[33] One unusual exception is theMosque of al-Hakim, built between 990 and 1010, which has two minarets at its corners. The two towers have slightly different shapes: both have square bases but one has a cylindrical shaft above this and the other an octagonal shaft. This multi-tier design was only found in the minarets of the great mosques at Mecca and Medina at that time, suggesting a possible link to those designs. Shortly after their construction, the lower sections of the minarets were encased in massive square bastions, for reasons that are not clearly known, and the tops were rebuilt in 1303 by aMamluk sultan.[32]: 17–18 [34][35]: 243
Under theAyyubids (late 12th to mid-13th centuries), the details of minarets borrowed from Fatimid designs. Most distinctively, the summits of minarets had a lantern structure topped by a pointed ribbed dome, whose appearance was compared to amabkhara, or incense burner.[35]: 30 This design continued under the earlyBahri Mamluks (13th to early 14th century), but soon began to evolve into the shapes distinctive toMamluk architecture. They became very ornate and usually consisted of three tiers separated by balconies, with each tier having a different design than the others. This configuration was particularly characteristic ofCairo.[36]: 77–80 [35]: 30 [37] The minaret of theal-Maridani Mosque (circa 1340) is the first one to have an entirely octagonal shaft and the first one to end with a narrow lantern structure consisting of eight slender columns topped by a bulbous stonefinial. This style later became the basic standard form of Cairene minarets, while themakhbara-style summit disappeared.[35]: 114 [38]: 17 [36]: 77–80
Later minarets in theBurji Mamluk period (late 14th to early 16th centuries) typically had an octagonal shaft for the first tier, a round shaft on the second, and a lantern structure with finial on the third level.[35]: 31 [38]: 26 The stone-carved decoration of the minaret also became very extensive and varied from minaret to minaret. Minarets with completely square or rectangular shafts reappeared at the very end of the Mamluk period during the reign of Sultanal-Ghuri (r. 1501–1516). During al-Ghuri's reign, the lantern summits were also doubled – as with the minaret of theMosque of Qanibay Qara or al-Ghuri's minaret at the al-Azhar Mosque – or even quadrupled – as with the original minaret ofal-Ghuri's madrasa.[38]: 26 [36]: 77–80
Starting with the Seljuk period (11th and 12th centuries), minarets inIran had cylindrical shafts with square or octagonal bases that taper towards their summit. These minarets became the most common style in the eastern Islamic world (in Iran,Central Asia, andSouth Asia).[24] During the Seljuk period minarets were tall and highly decorated with geometric and calligraphic design. They were built prolifically, even at smaller mosques or mosque complexes.[39]: 333 [24] TheKalyan Minaret inBukhara remains the most well known of the Seljuk minarets for its use of brick patterned decoration. The tallest minaret of this era, theMinaret of Jam, in a remote area of present-dayAfghanistan, was builtc. 1175 by theGhurids and features elaborate brick decoration and inscriptions.[39]: 333 TheQutb Minar inDelhi, the most monumental minaret inIndia, was built in 1199 and was designed on the same model as the Minaret of Jam.[3]
In later periods, however, minarets in this region became generally less monumental in comparison with the mosques for which they were built.[24] The tradition of building pairs of minarets probably began in the 12th century, but it became especially prominent under theIlkhanids (13th-14th centuries), who built twin minarets flanking importantiwans such as the mosque's entrance.[24]
The rise of theTimurid Empire, which heavily patronized art and architecture, led to what is now called the "international Timurid" style which spread from Central Asia during and after the 15th century.[40][41]: 69 It is categorized by the use of multiple minarets. Examples of this style include the monuments ofMughal architecture in theIndian subcontinent, such as the minarets on the roof of the south gate inAkbar's Tomb at Sikandra (1613), the minarets on theTomb of Jahangir (1628-1638), and the four minarets surrounding the mausoleum of theTaj Mahal.[40] Elsewhere in India, some cities and towns along the coast have small mosques with simple staircase minarets.[42]
The oldest minarets in Iraq date from the Abbasid period. The Great Mosque of Samarra (848–852) is accompanied by one of the earliest preserved minarets, a 50-metre-high (160 ft) cylindrical brick tower with a spiral staircase wrapped around it, standing outside the walls of the mosque. It is the tallest of the early minarets of the Abbasid period and remains the most massive historic minaret in the world, involving over 6000 cubic meters of brick masonry.[5]: 76 The Abu Dulaf Mosque, built near Samarra and finished in 861, has a smaller minaret of similar shape.[5]: 76 [8]
In the laterAbbasid period (11th to 13th centuries), after theSeljuk period, minarets were typically cylindrical brick towers whose square or polygonal bases were integrated into the structure of the mosque itself. Their main cylindrical shafts were tapered and culminated inmuqarnas cornices supporting a balcony, above which is another small cylindrical turret topped by a dome. Two examples of this style are the Mosque of al-Khaffafin and the Mosque of Qumriyya.[43]: 312
The minaret at theGreat Mosque of Kairouan, built in 836 underAghlabid rule, is the oldest minaret in North Africa and one of the oldest minarets in the world.[3][8] It has the shape of a massive tower with a square base, three levels of decreasing widths, and a total height of 31.5 meters.[29] The first two levels are from the original 9th-century construction but the third level was reconstructed at a later period.[5]: 75 Another important minaret for thearchitectural history of the region is the minaret built byAbd ar-Rahman III for the Great Mosque of Cordoba in 951–952, which became the model for later minarets in the Maghreb and al-Andalus.[27]: 61–63 [5]: 137 Jonathan Bloom has suggested that Abd ar-Rahman III's construction of the minaret – along with his sponsoring of other minarets around the same time inFez – was partly intended as a visual symbol of his self-declared authority ascaliph and may have also been aimed at defying the rival Fatimid Caliphs to the east who did not endorse the construction of minarets at the time.[10]: 106–109 Other important historic minarets in the region are theAlmohad-era minarets of theKutubiyya Mosque and theKasbah Mosque inMarrakesh, theHassan Tower inRabat, and theGiralda inSeville, all from the 12th and early 13th centuries.[27][8][47]
TheSelimiye Mosque inEdirne (1574), which features the four tallest Ottoman minarets
The Seljuks of Rum, a successor state of the Seljuk Empire, built paired portal minarets from brick that had Iranian origins.[24] In general, mosques in Anatolia had only one minaret and received decorative emphasis while most of the mosque remained plain.[24] Seljuk minarets were built of stone or brick, usually resting on a stone base, and typically had a cylindrical or polygonal shaft that is less slender than later Ottoman minarets. They were sometimes embellished with decorative brickwork or glazed ceramic decoration up the level of their balconies.[48]: 372
Ottoman architecture followed earlier Seljuk models and continued the Iranian tradition of cylindrical tapering minaret forms with a square base.[3][24] Classical Ottoman minarets are described as "pencil-shaped" due to their slenderness and sharply-pointed summits, often topped with a crescent moon symbol. The presence of more than one minaret, and of larger minarets, was reserved for mosques commissioned by the Ottoman sultans themselves such as theSüleymaniye Mosque. Taller minarets often also had multiple balconies (known asşerefe in Turkish) along their shafts instead of one.[24][3] TheÜç Şerefeli Mosque inEdirne, finished in 1447, was the first sultanic mosque to have multiple minarets with multiple balconies. Of its four minarets, the northwestern minaret was the tallest Ottoman minaret up to that time, rising to 67 metres.[3][49]: 99–100 Its height was only surpassed by the minarets of theSelimiye Mosque in Edirne (1574), which are 70.89 meters tall and are the tallest minarets in Ottoman architecture.[41]: 226 [50] Later Ottoman minarets also became plainer and more uniform in design. The trend of multiple minarets culminated in the six minarets of theSultan Ahmed Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque) inIstanbul.[3]
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