Thin-sheet fountain for evaporatively cooling buildings or water
A salasabil (currently dry) in theRed Fort inDelhi, India.
Asalsabil (orsalasabil[1]), also known as ashadirwan,[2] is a type of fountain which maximizes the surface area of the water. It is used forevaporative cooling of buildings, cooling andaeration of drinking water, and ornament[3][4] (it has also been used to preventeavesdropping[5]). The water may flow in a thin sheet or thin streams, often over a wavy surface with many little waterfalls.[4][3] Its use extends from southernSpain throughnorth Africa and theMiddle East to northernIndia.[3]
The water flows in a manner designed to maximize the surface area, and thus evaporation. A salsabil may be a near-vertical marble waterfall mounted on a wall,[4] or the sheet of water may flow down a slanted chute.[3]
Evaporative cooling causes the water and the surrounding air to cool as some of the water evaporates.Passive ventilation may be used to maximize the flow ofunsaturated air over the water surface and carry the cooled air to where it is needed in the building. Salasabils are often used withwindcatchers.[10]
A salsabil may also be used toaerate water for drinking in asabil (or sebil;Arabic:سبيل,Turkish:sebil).[11]: 63, 262 Salsabils, in the form of inclined marble slabs over which drinking water flowed before being dispensed, were often included inside the sabils of Mamluk architecture.[7][11]: 63, 262
Salasabils were used inMughal architecture from the 1200s to the 1600s. They were also used in recent centuries inIran.[3] They were sometimes used as decorative features inOttoman domestic architecture.[12][9]: 441
Near-vertical salasabil in the mostly-1500sAgra Fort (dry)
^abBehrens-Abouseif, Doris (2007).Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture. The American University in Cairo Press.ISBN9789774160776.
^Sumner-Boyd, Hilary; Freely, John (2010).Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City (Revised ed.). Tauris Parke Paperbacks.
^abGoodwin, Godfrey (1971).A History of Ottoman Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson.ISBN0500274290.
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