Umayyad secular architecture
According to Stierlin, palaces discovered in the Syrian desert, belonging to the caliph or to Arab chieftains, were centers of vast farming operations with large systems of irrigation, also related to garrison towns, or frontier fortresses. They were not simply luxury buildings created to accommodate a wandering caliph, or groups of Arab aristocrats nostalgic of nomadic life, as initially considered.
And yet, their roles were indeed more than administrative or trading centers, forts or auxiliary sites to military centers. They served also as sites of courtly life and the related ceremonies and trappings accompanying royalty.
Umayyad secular architecture reflected in fact the established imperial ideology of Islam, under the impact of imperial mores and models, from functional to artistic models, from Persia and Byzantium.
Desert palaces present great variations of forms and of dimensions, most are reminiscent of Roman or Byzantine frontier forts (Stierlin) with a general orthogonal plan, buildings with square plans, central courtyard, defensive walls and corner towers with sizes varying from a small fort (side: 40 meters), to large palaces (side: 130 meters), to a small city size (Anjar: 400x300 meters). Some were irregularly or intermittently occupied, others show evidence of a relatively short period of effective use, others still present evidence of unfinished or abandoned construction.
MGL
Palace of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (724-43)
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi (East), Syria (728-29):
Two enclosures at the head of a valley walled to serve as game park (hayr)
Large enclosure with mosque, probably barracks
Small enclosure identified as caravanserai, probably royal residence
(N. Rabbat)
Desert Palaces or Castles in Jordan
Map of Desert Castles in Jordan
Qasr Kharana (Jordan)
Qasr Kharana, in the desert east of Amman, Jordan
South elevation and east profilePhoto by Daniel Case, 2009, Wikipedia
South elevation and east profile
- Resembles a Roman castrum (fort, military camp, castle)
- Square plan, high walls, towers, high and fortified gates, stable, vaulted guard houses
- Halls with barrel vaults and embedded columns recalling Sassanian roofing styles
- Adjacent to cultivated land, no signs of permanent habitation, not used for a very long period
(Stierlin)
- Square plan, high walls, towers, high and fortified gates, stable, vaulted guard houses
- Halls with barrel vaults and embedded columns recalling Sassanian roofing styles
- Adjacent to cultivated land, no signs of permanent habitation, not used for a very long period
(Stierlin)
Interior of Qasr Kharana, showing Sassanid influence
photo by David Bjorge Wikipedia
Reconstituted plan of the upper floor,
drawings by Saeed Arida, 2003
Copyright: Nasser Rabbat / Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT
hand drawing and AutoCAD 2000 format
Qasr Amra (Jordan)
South (rear) view, from highway, Wikipedia
- Public bath type of building
- Vaults and cupolas are reminiscent of Roman baths
- Asymmetric plan and shape
- Sumptuous throne room with fresco decorations in late Hellenistic style and "unusual" subjects:
figurative, courtly art
- Caldarium room (Roman hot bath) with cupola covered with frescoes of astrological subjects
(Stierlin)
East (front) elevation and portion of south profile, 2009, Wikipedia
Floor plan line drawing by Saeed Arida, 2003Copyright: Nasser Rabbat / Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT
Floor plan line drawing by Saeed Arida, 2003
Fresco paintings
The apodyterium, or changing room, is decorated with scenes of
animals engaging in human activities, particularly performing music
source: Cyborg
Zodiac painting on caldarium dome
Fresco with figure of a woman
Qasr Mshatta
(Arabic: قصر المشتى, "Winter Palace")
(Arabic: قصر المشتى, "Winter Palace")
Mshatta, Jordan:
A large square enclosure which was never completed
Divided into three longitudinal zones
Central section contains the gateway block and the throne hall block
Throne hall is triple apsed
South façade decorated with geometric, tracery-like carved band of triangles and rosettes
(N. Rabbat)
plan from Creswell ArchNet
Aerial view
Audience hall
© Raimond Spekking / CC-BY-SA-3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Anjar, Lebanon
- Built by al- Walid around 714 on a fertile agricultural plane
- Quadrangular outer wall with forty round towers
- Quadrangular outer wall with forty round towers
- Based on Roman models, enclosure divide by a cardo and a decumanus (large central crossing roads,
decumanus: east-west-oriented road, cardo: north-south oriented)
- Avenues flanked by colonnades and porticoes built with actual, reused, Roman and also Byzantine
pillars and decorative elements
pillars and decorative elements
- Contemporary with the Great Mosque of Damascus
- Byzantine methods of construction alternating layers if dressed (cut, prepared) stone with layers of
brick
brick
- Palace with courtyards located in the south-east corner with adjacent mosque
- Wealth of the city was based on intensive agricultural production with abundant water resources and
irrigation systems
(from Stierlin)
(12/09/2006) © UNESCO / Véronique Dauge / Véronique Dauge
Ruins of Umayyad palace, Wikipedia
Anjar - ArchNet
Anjar - World Heritage Centre
Kasr Amman
source: ArchNet
- Remains of a throne room from the Umayyad era
- Example of urban Arab palace architecture
- Cruciform structure
- Square hall bordered by four iwans ( vaulted, rectangular rooms with one open side) shows the
influence of Sassanid Persia (less common in the Umayyad period)
- Built entirely of dressed stone
- Possibly covered with a wooden dome in the Syrian-Byzantine manner
(from Stierlin)
- Example of urban Arab palace architecture
- Cruciform structure
- Square hall bordered by four iwans ( vaulted, rectangular rooms with one open side) shows the
influence of Sassanid Persia (less common in the Umayyad period)
- Built entirely of dressed stone
- Possibly covered with a wooden dome in the Syrian-Byzantine manner
(from Stierlin)
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