| Umayyad architecture | |
|---|---|
   Top:Dome of the Rock (688–692); Middle:Great Mosque of Damascus (705–715); Bottom:Hisham’s Palace (Khirbat al-Mafjar) (8th century) | |
| Years active | 661–750 CE |
Umayyad architecture developed in theUmayyad Caliphate between 661 and 750, primarily in its heartlands inhistorical Syria.[a] It drew extensively on the architecture of older Middle Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations including theSassanian Empire and especially theByzantine Empire, but introduced innovations in decoration and form.[1][2] Under Umayyad patronage, Islamic architecture began to mature and acquire traditions of its own, such as the introduction ofmihrabs to mosques, a trend towardsaniconism in decoration, and a greater sense of scale and monumentality compared to previous Islamic buildings.[1][3][4] The most important examples of Umayyad architecture are concentrated in the capital ofDamascus and theGreater Syria region, including theDome of the Rock, theGreat Mosque of Damascus, and secular buildings such as theAl-Mushatta Palace,Qusayr 'Amra and the ruins ofAnjar.[1][2]
The Umayyad Caliphate was established in 661 afterAli, the son-in-law ofMuhammad, was murdered inKufa.Muawiyah I, governor of Syria, became the first Umayyadcaliph.[5] The Umayyads madeDamascus their capital.[6] Under the Umayyads the Arab empire continued to expand, eventually extending toCentral Asia and the borders ofIndia in the east,Yemen in the south, the Atlantic coast of what is nowMorocco and theIberian Peninsula in the west.[7] The Umayyads built new cities, often unfortified military camps that provided bases for further conquests.Wasit in present-dayIraq was the most important of these, and included a squareFriday mosque with ahypostyle roof.[7]
The empire was tolerant of existing customs in the conquered lands, creating resentment among those looking for a moretheocratic state. In 747, a revolution began inKhorasan, in the east.[7] By 750 the Umayyads had been overthrown by theAbbasids, who moved the capital toMesopotamia. A branch of the Umayyad dynasty continued to rule in Iberia until 1051.[7]
During the 10 years ofAl-Walid I rule (r. 705–715), a great number of institutions have been built or expanded, including the expansions ofProphet's Mosque inMedina, which saw the introduction of the firstmihrab,[8] and the building of the Great Mosque of Damascus (the oldest mosque still in use in its original form).[9] These mosques became large enough to serve ascongregational mosques for Friday prayers.[10] He also renovated theGreat Mosque of Sanaa,[10] most likely built the settlement ofAnjar,[11][12] and completed the construction ofAl-Aqsa Mosque (Qibli Mosque) that had been started by his predecessor and fatherAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705) who also built the Dome of Rock (both part ofAl-Aqsa compound),[13] The two caliphs are also credited with renovating theMasjid al-Haram in Mecca.[14] The originalGreat Mosque of Aleppo was completed by his successor and brotherSulayman (r. 715–717).[15]
The Umayyads adopted the construction techniques ofByzantine architecture andSasanian architecture.[16] The reuse of elements fromclassical Roman and Byzantine art was particularly evident because political power and patronage was centered in Syria, formerly part of theByzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire.[1] Almost all monuments from the Umayyad period that have survived are in Syria and Palestine.[7] They also often re-used existing buildings. There was some innovation in decoration and in types of building.[7] A significant amount of experimentation occurred as Umayyad patrons recruited craftsmen from across the empire and architects were allowed, or even encouraged, to mix elements from different artistic traditions and to disregard traditional conventions and restraints.[1]
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Most buildings in Syria were of high quality ashlar masonry, using large tightly-joined blocks, sometimes with carving on the facade. Stone barrel vaults were only used to roof small spans. Wooden roofs were used for larger spans, with the wood in Syria brought from the forests ofLebanon. These roofs usually had shallow pitches and rested on wooden trusses. Wooden domes were constructed forAl-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, both inJerusalem.[17] Baked brick and mud brick were used in Mesopotamia, due to lack of stone. Where brick was used in Syria, the work was in the finer Mesopotamian style rather than the more crude Byzantine style.[17]
Umayyad architecture is distinguished by the extent and variety of decoration, including mosaics, wall painting, sculpture and carved reliefs with Islamic motifs.[17] The Umayyads used local workers and architects. Some of their buildings cannot be distinguished from those of the previous regime. However, in many cases eastern and western elements were combined to give a distinctive new Islamic style. For example, the walls atQasr Al-Mushatta are built from cut stone in the Syrian manner, the vaults are Mesopotamian in design andCoptic and Byzantine elements appear in the decorative carving.[17] While figural scenes were notably present in monuments likeQusayr 'Amra, non-figural decoration and more abstract scenes became highly favoured, especially in religious architecture.[21][1] Thehorseshoe arch appears for the first time in Umayyad architecture, later to evolve to its most advanced form inal-Andalus.[22]
The Umayyad period represents the high point of mosaic art in Islamic architecture. Mosaics, composed of glasstesserae, were used to decorate the mosques of Al-Aqsa, Damascus, Medina, Mecca, Aleppo, and possibly Fustat. Added together, these mosaics would cover around 22,000 square metres (240,000 sq ft).[23] The most important examples are the mosaics in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem, which survive to this day.[24] Those in Damascus feature depictions of trees and palaces in alate antique style, while the mosaics in Medina (no longer extant) were reported to contain similar images.[23]
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The sanctuary of theDome of the Rock, standing in theAl-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, is the oldest surviving major Islamic building.[7][25] It is also an exceptional monument within the context of Umayyad and wider Islamic architecture, in terms of both its form and function.[2] It was not a mosque but rather a shrine or commemorative monument, likely built to honour ancient religious associations with the site such as thecreation of Adam andAbraham's sacrifice. It acquired further layers of meaning over time and became most commonly associated with the "Night Journey" of Muhammad. It was also built as a visual symbol of Islamic dominance and its high dome was likely designed to compete for prominence with the dome of the nearby ChristianChurch of the Holy Sepulchre.[2][25]
The building followed the design of a Byzantinemartyrium.[2][25] It consists of an octagonal structure, inside of which is another octagon formed by piers and columns, and finally an inner circular ring of piers and columns at the center.[25] Although the exterior of the building is now covered in 16th-centuryOttoman tiles, both the exterior and interior were originally decorated with lavish mosaics, with the interior mosaics still mostly preserved today.[2][25] The mosaics are entirelyaniconic, a characteristic that would continue in laterIslamic decoration.[2] The imagery consists of vegetal motifs and other objects such as vases and chalices.[25] The building was also decorated with long inscriptions containingQur'anic inscriptions chosen to emphasize the superiority of Islam over the precedingAbrahamic religions.[25]
The earliest mosques were often makeshift. In Iraq, they evolved from square prayer enclosures.[7] The ruins of two large Umayyad mosques have been found inSamarra, Iraq. One is 240 by 156 feet (73 by 48 m) and the other 213 by 135 metres (699 by 443 ft). Both hadhypostyle designs, with roofs supported by elaborately designed columns.[26]
In Syria, the Umayyads preserved the overall concept of a court surrounded byporticos, with a deeper sanctuary, that had been developed in Medina. Rather than make the sanctuary a hypostyle hall, as was done in Iraq, they divided it into three aisles. This may have been derived from church architecture, although all the aisles were the same width.[3] In Syria, churches were converted to mosques by blocking up the west door and making entrances in the north wall. The direction of prayer was south towards Mecca, so the long axis of the building was at right angles to the direction of prayer.[27]
The Umayyads introduced atransept that divided the prayer room along its shorter axis.[3] They also added themihrab to mosque design.[3] TheProphet's Mosque inMedina built byal-Walid I had the first mihrab, a niche on the qibla wall, which seems to have represented the place where the Prophet stood when leading prayer. This almost immediately became a standard feature of all mosques.[3] Theminbar also began appearing in mosques in cities or administrative centers, a throne-like structure with regal rather than religious connotations.[3]
TheGreat Mosque of Damascus was built by the caliph al-Walid I around 706–715.[6] Some scholars have argued that the first Umayyad version of theal-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, begun byAbd al-Malik (al-Walid's father) and now replaced by later constructions, had a layout very similar to the current Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and that it probably served as a model for the latter.[28][29] The layout remains largely unchanged and some of the decoration has been preserved. The Great Mosque was built within the area of a Romantemenos from the first century.[6] The exterior walls of the earlier building, once a temple of Jupiter and later a church, were retained, although the southern entrances were walled up and new entrances made in the north wall. The interior was completely rebuilt.[30]
The Damascus mosque is rectangular, 157.5 by 100 metres (517 by 328 ft), with a covered area 136 by 37 metres (446 by 121 ft) and a courtyard 122.5 by 50 metres (402 by 164 ft) surrounded by a portico.[6] The prayer hall has three aisles parallel to theqibla wall, a common arrangement in Umayyad mosques in Syria.[6] The court holds a small octagonal building on columns. This was the treasury of the Muslims, perhaps only symbolic, which was traditionally kept in a town's main mosque.[31] The mosque was richly decorated with mosaics andmarble. A rich composition of marble paneling covered the lower walls, though only minor examples of the original marbles have survived today near the east gate.[32] The marble window grilles in the great mosque, which diffuse the light, are worked in patterns of interlocking circles and squares, precursors to thearabesque style that would become characteristic of Islamic decoration.[33]
Vast portions of the mosque's walls were decorated with mosaics, of which some original fragments have survived, including some that depict the houses, palaces and river valley of Damascus.[30] Byzantine artisans were reportedly employed to create them, and their imagery reflects a late Roman style.[35][36][37] They reflected a wide variety of artistic styles used by mosaicists and painters since the 1st century CE, but the combined use of all these different styles in the same place was innovative at the time.[38] Similar to the Dome of the Rock, built earlier by Abd al-Malik, vegetation and plants were the most common motif, but those of the Damascus mosque are more naturalistic.[38] In addition to the large landscape depictions, a mosaic frieze with an intricatevine motif (referred to as thekarma inArabic historical sources) once ran around the walls of the prayer hall, above the level of themihrab.[39] The only notable omission is the absence of human and animal figures, which was likely a new restriction imposed by the Muslim patron.[38] Scholars have long debated the meaning of the mosaic imagery. Some historical Muslim writers and some modern scholars have interpreted them as a representation of all the cities in the known world (or within the Umayyad Caliphate at the time), while other scholars interpret them as a depiction ofParadise.[38]
The Great Mosque of Damascus served as a model for later mosques.[7] Similar layouts, scaled down, have been found in a mosque excavated inTiberias, on theSea of Galillee, and in a mosque in the palace ofKhirbat al-Minya.[6] The plan of theWhite Mosque atRamla differs in shape, and the prayer hall is divided into only two aisles.[b] This may be explained by construction of underground cisterns in the Abbasid period, causing the original structure to be narrowed.[29]
When the caliphs Abd al-Malik and al-Walid I renovated the Great Mosque of Mecca, a work that likely went on for many years, they built a covered area inside the mosque likely consisting of a portico with a roof. They reportedly added embellishments such as marble, mosaics on thesoffits orspandrels,crenelations on the walls, andgilding on the upper columns or theircapitals.[14]
TheGreat Mosque of Hama was founded in the Umayyad period when a church, originally a Roman temple, was converted into a mosque.[42] The dating of its oldest elements, however, has been a subject of controversy:Jean Sauvaget argued that theriwaqs (arcades) in its courtyard dated from the Umayyad period, whileK. A. C. Creswell cast doubt on this dating. The historic mosque was completelydestroyed in 1982.[42] The original foundation of theGreat Mosque of Aleppo is also attributed to the Umayyad period, but the current building contains no visible traces of this period, except perhaps in its overall floor plan with a hypostyle hall and courtyard.[43][44][1]
Other mosques attributed to the Umayyads, whether extant or non-extant, include theUmayyad Mosque of Baalbek,[45] a mosque inJerash (ruined),[45] a mosque in theCitadel of Amman (ruined),[46] and theUmayyad Mosque of Mosul (demolished).[47][48] Theal-Omari Mosque inBosra, founded by the earlier Rashidun caliphUmar, was also completed by the Umayyad caliphYazid II, though it was later renovated during theAyyubid period (12th-13th centuries).[49][better source needed]
The Umayyads are known for their so-called "desert palaces" or "desert castles": elite residences located around the edges of theSyrian Desert, mostly in present-day Jordan and Syria.[52][53] Most of them were abandoned after the Umayyads fell from power and remain as ruins.[17] 38 examples of these have been discovered so far and have provided modern scholars with important evidence about Umayyad material culture and court life.[53]
Some were new constructions and some were adapted from earlier Roman or Byzantine forts.[17] Some were small and limited in scope while others, likeQasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, were fortified settlements. The palaces were symbolically defended by walls, towers and gates. In some cases the outside walls carried decorative friezes.[17] The palaces would have abathhouse, a mosque, and a main castle. The entrance to the castle would usually be elaborate. Towers along the walls would often hold apartments with three or five rooms.[54] These rooms were simple, indicating they were little more than places to sleep.[17] The palaces often had a second floor holding formal meeting rooms and official apartments.[54]
The fortress-like appearance was misleading. ThusQasr Kharana appears to havearrowslits, but these were purely decorative.[55] The fortress-like plan was derived fromRoman forts built in Syria, and construction mostly followed earlier Syrian methods with some Byzantine and Mesopotamian elements. The baths derive from Roman models, but had smaller heated rooms and larger ornate rooms that would presumably have been used for entertainment.[54] The palaces had floor mosaics and frescoes or paintings on the walls, with designs that show both eastern and western influences. One fresco in the bath ofQusayr 'Amra depicts six kings. Inscriptions below in Arabic and Greek identify the first four as the rulers of Byzantium, Spain (at that time Visigothic), Persia and Abyssinia.[56]Stucco sculptures were sometimes incorporated in the palace buildings.[57]
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi is about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast ofPalmyra on the main road fromAleppo to Iraq. A large walled enclosure 7 by 4 kilometres (4.3 by 2.5 mi) was presumably used to contain domestic animals.[58] A walledmadina, or city, contained a mosque, an olive oil press and six large houses. Nearby there was a bath and some simpler houses. According to an inscription dated 728, the caliph provided significant funding for its development.[58] The settlement has a late antique Mediterranean design, but was soon modified. Themadina originally had four gates, one in each wall, but three were soon walled up. The basic layout was formal, but the buildings often failed to comply with the plan.[58]
![Qusayr 'Amra desert castle in Jordan, first half of 8th century[59]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aQasr_Amra_1.jpg)
![Reconstructed Mosque in Qasr al-Hallabat, in Jordan, a former Roman fort[60] converted to an Umayyad residence in the 8th century[61]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aQasr_Al-Hallabat_mosque.jpg)
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![Qasr Kharana in Jordan, dated to c. 710[62]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aQasr_Kharana_in_Jordan.jpg)
![Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi in Syria, dated to 728[58]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aQasr_al-Hayr_al-Sharqi%2c_Walls_and_towers%2c_Syria.jpg)
![Ruins of Khirbat al-Minya in Galilee, 8th century[61]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMinya.jpg)
![Qasr al-Mushatta in Jordan, possibly built by al-Walid II (r. 743–744)[63]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aQasr_al-Mushatta.jpg)
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![Entrance of Hisham's Palace (Khirbat al-Mafjar) near Jericho, Palestine, attributed to al-Walid II (r. 743–744)[64]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aHisham_Palace_in_Jericho2.jpg)
The archeological site of Anjar, located in theBeqaa Valley in present-day Lebanon, is notable for preserving the remains of an Umayyad-era settlement. It was constructed by the caliph al-Walid I, with a graffiti inscription in the quarries ofKamid suggesting a construction date of 714–715 CE (96AH).[11][12][65] It is unclear whether an earlier settlement existed on the site.[66][12][67]
The settlement was built within a rectangular enclosure, measuring 370 by 310 metres (1,210 by 1,020 ft), delineated by a perimeter wall built in stone. The wall was marked by semi-circular buttress towers at regular intervals and pierced by four main gates oriented towards the fourcardinal directions. The four gates were connected by two straightcolonnaded avenues lined with shops, which crossed in the center of the settlement under atetrapylon.[68][69] Today, the enclosure contains the remains of several palaces, a mosque, two bathhouses, and a well. Many of the structures are built of alternating courses of stone and brick, a technique shared with Byzantine architecture.[68][69] Many types of decoration have been found at the site featuring vegetal, geometric, and figural motifs.[68][70] One of the bathhouses features a mosaic floor.[68]
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TheCitadel of Amman, located on a high hill in present-daydowntown Amman, contains the remains of an Umayyad palace complex, builtc. 735 to serve as the local governor's residence.[71] The most significantly preserved element is a reception hall or audience hall at the entrance to the palace, built over the foundations of an earlier Roman/Byzantine building. It has a square floor plan, with a centralcruciform space of fouriwans, with smaller square rooms occupying the four corners.[72] The central space is covered today by a dome, although this is a modern reconstruction[73] and it is possible that the original structure was not domed.[74][75][76][77] The walls are decorated with rows ofblind niches featuring ornamentalrosettes andpalmettes. This decoration, along with the arrangement of four iwans, suggest the influence ofIranian architecture, particularly ofSasanian structures in present-day Iraq and possibly the work of craftsmen from this region.[78][71][77] Behind this reception hall was a square courtyard and a colonnaded street, flanked by apartments on either side, which led to another courtyard, an iwan, and finally another domed cruciform hall that may have been a throne hall.[77][79]
South of the palace, across from the reception hall, are the remains of a mosque. Like other Umayyad mosques, it has a hypostyle prayer hall and centralperistyle courtyard. Its northern façade was marked by a series of buttresses and decorative niches.[80] East of the reception hall are the remains of a bathhouse as well as a large circular water reservoir orcistern, which is 16 metres (52 ft) in diameter and 5 metres (16 ft) deep. The reservoir drew water from other parts of the hill via two drains, one of which has a shaft that may have helped to filter the water.[78]
The Great Mosque, founded by the Umayyad caliph al-Walīd I (r. 86–96/705–15) and probably completed by Sulaymān (r. 96–9/715–7), on the grounds of the Byzantine cathedral, stands at the heart of Aleppo. Unlike the Great Mosque of Damascus, the Great Mosque of Aleppo shows little of its original Umayyad form, which does not seem to have left any visible remains beyond its spacious hypostyle layout, since it burnt down and was totally rebuilt in the sixth/twelfth century and later.
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