Various types of interlacingrhombus-like motifs are heavily featured on the surfaces ofminarets and other architectural elements inMorocco andal-Andalus during theAlmohad period (12th–13th centuries). They continued to spread to other decorative mediums such as carvedstucco over the walls of various buildings inMarinid andNasrid architecture, eventually becoming a standard feature in the western Islamic ornamental repertoire, often in combination witharabesque elements.[3][4]
George Marçais, a 20th-century scholar on the architecture of the region, said that this motif originated with the complexinterlacing arches in the 10th-century extension of theGreat Mosque of Cordoba byCaliph al-Hakam II.[4]: 257–258 It was then miniaturized and widened into a repeating net-like pattern that can cover surfaces. This motif, in turn, had many detailed variations. One common version, calleddarj wa ktaf ("step and shoulder") by Moroccan craftsmen, makes use of alternating straight and curved lines which cross each other on their symmetrical axes, forming a motif that repeats shapes resembling roughly akhamsa,fleur-de-lis, orpalmette.[4]: 232 [3]: 32 Another version, also commonly found on minarets in alternation with thedarj wa ktaf, consists of interlacingmultifoil/polylobed arches to form a more rounded lobed shape.[3]: 32, 34
^Dodds, Jerrilynn D., ed. (1992).Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.ISBN0870996371.
^M. Bloom, Jonathan; S. Blair, Sheila, eds. (2009). "Granada".The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195309911.
^abcParker, Richard (1981).A practical guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco. Charlottesville, VA: The Baraka Press.
^abcMarçais, Georges (1954).L'architecture musulmane d'Occident. Paris: Arts et métiers graphiques.
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