Mamluk Architecture

The Mamluk inscription on the Facade of the Main Entrance to the St. James Monastery of Jerusalem is one of the most significant ones given by the Sultan the nicknamed Chaqmaq in 1450 C.E. The inscription is one of the rare inscriptions given to the Armenians that the monastery and the Armenian monks are tax exempted and cursed be the one who renews or inflicts injustice upon the same.

For most of the fourteenth century much of the Muslim world was controlled by four dynasties, the Marinids in the west (1217–1465), the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria (1250–1517), the Ilkhanids in Iran (1256–1335), and the Tughluqs in India (1320–1401). By the end of the century the Timurids (1370–1507) had emerged as dominant in most of the area formerly ruled by the Ilkhanids. This chapter focuses on these dynasties, and in particular on the wealthiest and most active patrons, the Mamluks and Mongols, including their rivalry for prestige.

In the second quarter of the fifteenth century, a new phenomenon appears nearly in Ottoman architecture: tiles with blue-and-white decoration, associated with tile-makers from Tabriz. These tiles appear most prominently the Muradiye in Edirne, completed in 839/1435-36. They mark the beginning of an aesthetic shift, away from black-line (or cuerda seca) tiles inspired by Timurid and Aqquyunlu models, toward the blue-and-white tiles and vessels of the so-called Baba Naqqaş style of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. The mihrab of the Muradiye features both kinds of tiles, thus illustrating this shift at its early stages. Within the parameters of an international Timurid style, the artistic production of this period, and tile-work in particular, has been considered an offshoot of Timurid court patronage in eastern Iran and Central Asia. In the larger context of the fifteenth-century Islamic world, however, related tiles and vessels were also produced in Damascus and Cairo. This article examines the tiles of the Muradiye Mosque within the framework of artistic centers, the movements of motifs, objects, and makers, and their impact on architecture in the fifteenth-century Ottoman Empire.

Antonio Lasciac was one of the most active of European architects working in Egypt in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His output was as eclectic as it was prolific, ­comprising buildings and decoration in neo‑Renaissance, neo‑Gothic and neo‑Mamluk styles. This paper focuses on of the origins of the motifs on his buildings decorated in Mamluk revival style, and particularly on his villa at Rafut, in Slovenia, beside the modern border of Gorizia in Italy.
The paper first gives a background to the rise of the neo‑Mamluk style in Egypt before analyzing Lasciac’s contributions to it. In one of his early buildings, the neo‑Renaissance palace of Yūsuf Kamāl at Matariyya, a newly‑discovered neo‑Mamluk room is discussed. The detailed analysis of his villa at Rafut and later buildings show the unusual extent to which the decorative motifs he used were accurately based on earlier Mamluk designs, reflecting his long‑standing involvement as a board member of the Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art arabe.

Published in
Art, Trade and Culture in the Islamic World and Beyond From the Fatimids to the Mughals  - Studies Presented to Doris Behrens-Abouseif 
Edited by Alison Ohta, Michael Rogers and Rosalind Wade Haddon Series Edited by Melanie Gibson and George Manginis, Gingko Library, London, 2016

An octagonal Kufic inscription with the names of the Prophet, the four righteous caliphs and six of the ṣahāba (Companions of the Prophet) is found on the left side of the mihrab of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. Its patron, Sultan Ahmed I, belonged to the Khalwati Sufi order and the octagonal form of the inscription closely resembles the octagonal Khalwati rose, a symbol of the order. An identical Kufic octagon is also found in the Mamluk Qartawiyya Madrasa, built by the governor of Tripoli, Amir Qaratay, between 1316 and 1326. There is no apparent evidence linking Amir Qaratay to the Khalwati order but it is well-known that Khalwati shaikhs had close relationships with the Mamluk ruling classes in the fourteenth century. This paper compares these two octagonal Kufic inscriptions found in Tripoli and Istanbul and discusses their significance.

Sultan al-Mansūr Qalawūn was a prolific builder who ordered the construction or restoration of at least two dozen buildings throughout the Mamluk realm. However, most of these buildings are no longer extant, which is why his funerary complex in Cairo (683/1284-1285) is so important: it consisted of a hospital, a madrasa and mausoleum, and is the first Cairene monument combining pious, charitable, and civic functions within a single edifice from its inception.

Construction of the complex was supervised by Amir ʿAlam al-Dīn Sanjar al-Shujāʿī (d. 693/1294), Qalawūn's supervisor of construction (shadd al-ʿamaʾir) whose oeuvre is known for incorporating unprecedented architectural and decorative features. According to al-Qalqashandī, the shadd al-ʿamaʾir was responsible for all new constructions and renovations, including repairs of the sultan's palaces, dwellings and walls; he also oversaw financial matters and, therefore, dealt with the feasibility of projects under his supervision.

In his biography on Qalawūn, Kitāb al-Faḍl al-maʾthūr min sīrat al-Sulṭān al-Malik al-Manṣūr Qalawūn, Shafiʿ ibn Ali (649-730/1252-1330) mentioned that the madrasa was an addition made by al-Shujāʿī; and that upon visiting the complex for the first time, Qalawūn threatened not to enter the madrasa in fierce opposition to it. One conclusion that can be drawn is that Qalawūn was not involved in the construction process, even though he is known to have personally supervised other projects. Primary sources are used by historians today to describe a social reality that often focuses on patronage as being the product of the ruler; however, in this specific instance the narrative suggests that the sultan's amir was the major decision-maker. The goal of this paper is to profile the career of al-Shujāʿī in order to shed new light on his involvement in building one of the finest examples of medieval Islamic architecture, a building that left a lasting mark on the cityscape.

IV. FORUM KUNST DES MITTELALTERS

BERLIN UND BRANDENBURG

360° – VERORTUNG, ENTGRENZUNG, GLOBALISIERUNG
20.–23. SEPTEMBER 2017

veranstaltet vom
Deutschen Verein für Kunstwissenschaft e.V.
mit der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, der Freien Universität Berlin und dem Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa

PANEL TOPIC
Spätbyzantinische Ornamente (13.–15. Jahrhundert) – Überschreitung von Genregrenzen, Kulturgrenzen und Forschungsdisziplinen
Organisation: Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, Brookline (MA)
Leitung: Antje Bosselmann-Ruickbie, Mainz


PAPER ABSTRACT

Middle and Late Byzantine era architecture developed a specific idiom in wall masonry with the implementation of a variety of stone and brick or all-brick patterns and decorative designs. Ceramoplastic ornamented façades of churches became a canvas on which a variety of ornaments were applied. One of the early and most striking examples were the Pseudo-Kufic freezes of churches of Southern Greece such as the Panagia Church of Osios Lucas dated ca. 962-963. This Kufesque ornament, which lasted up until 13th century, is an apparent example of cultural transfer among Islamic world and Byzantium.
This paper focuses though on a few other brick ornaments such as ‘ivy leaf,’ ‘sun,’ and ogee blind arches that have attracted comparatively less the interest of scholars. Those ornaments either in single occurrence or in combination are met on façades of mosques, churches, fortification walls, dervish convents in a wide geography all around Eastern Mediterranean under the Byzantine and the Islamic cultures of the Fatimids, Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans. In this context Venice should also be taken into consideration. Cultural transfer through this example of mobility of ornaments apparently is beyond religious limitations. It becomes clear that there is a flexibility in what enters an architect’s or mason’s design portfolio compared to what enters a priest’s bag.

The Mamluk sultans were new to embrace Islam, and so their main reason for strengthening their rule over the Islamic region was to obtain legitimacy, through taking over the status as the defenders of Islam and its sacred places. To achieve this aim they applied several methods, some of which had a significant impact on the architecture and urban planning for the cities. The methods they used were as follows: Firstly: They launched their first mission to fight and expel the Crusaders from Jerusalem. Secondly: They protected the pilgrimage route to Mecca in all of the countries under their control , which led to the re-emergence of the pilgrimage route from Damascus to the south. Thirdly: The Mamluk policy to consolidate their rule also involved getting closer to the Islamic nations through other social and intellectual aspects, such as spreading fads that were related to religion and exaggerating the celebrations of religious ceremonies. The most important of these was the pilgrimage howdah, which was invented by El-Zaher Baybars in Damascus at the beginning of his reign in order to prove his sovereignty over the region. The pilgrimage howdah involved travelling through the pilgrimage route, and was launched from one of Damascus' mosques with grand celebrations. The previous two factors had a great impact on the urban planning of the city, as we will see, since the concept of pilgrimage rituals was connected to the need to establish grand spacious mosques that were located in places that were suitable for accommodating a large crowd to practice the rituals. They also led to the necessity to place these mosques on the route of the pilgrimage, starting from the gate of the citadel to the south that was in alignment to the western city wall. Fourthly: Trying to obtain blessing by getting closer to the buildings of their predecessors, who owned the real legitimacy to rule the Islamic State. Since the Mamluks took great care in choosing their buildings sites, the location of the building was seen to be as important as the architectural significance, and possibly more. In his book, Rabbat mentioned that the historians of the Mamluk era did not care about the aesthetic values of the buildings mentioned in their books, but that the Waqf documents were describing the distribution of the internal spaces without describing the ornaments or decorative elements in detail. Besides that, they paid great attention to announcing the location of the building and they mentioned all of the important buildings in the neighbourhood, which clarifies the importance of choosing the buildings' locations. Damascus was considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities; the archaeological studies on the old city of Damascus, carried out by Zack D. showed that it had been ABSTRACT: During the Mamluk era, Damascus was again the capital of the Levant area and the main passage for the Hajj convoys that travelled from all of the countries in the east to Mec-ca. This research establishes a study of the relationship between Mamluk political and religious concepts concerning the distribution of the main Islamic buildings in Damascus, the impact of this distribution on the urban planning of the city and, finally, the impact of all these factors on its interior design.

One of the most interesting architectural traditions known form Egypt is the reuse of elements from buildings erected during earlier periods and their incorporation as adornment, apotropaia, and fill in newer structures. Such activity was ubiquitous throughout Egypt’s history, and played a significant role in the formation of its built environment. Depending on the circumstance, a reused element could be a form of appropriation or usurpation. In the case of the former, material was “reused” in order to save time and reduce expenses; another incentive was to demonstrate the superiority of one political regime over another, although there were other motives.

Given the chronological and material diversity of spolia in Egypt, a look at examples in one building would allow for a more nuanced discussion on the topic. The Complex of Qalāwūn (1284-1285) – most known to specialists for its rich decoration and monumentality – is a good case study: it was built on the site of a 10th century Fatimid palace, from which carved woodwork was incorporated and which has been the subject of exhaustive studies because their figural representations are unique in the medieval Egyptian landscape; however, a comprehensive look at the breadth and scope of reuse (including Pharaonic, Roman and Crusader) in this complex has never been carried out. What can be learned from such a focused examination? Close inspection into the specific history of a building provides insight into the logistics behind this phenomenon, as well as a synchronic reading of the building processes during the Mamluk period.

Ph.D. Thesis.  Il lavoro si propone di documentare sotto il profilo archeologico e architettonico alcuni aspetti riferibili alle dinamiche insediative sviluppate dalle dinastie ayyubide e mamelucca in Transgiordania tra XIII e XIV secolo, attraverso l’analisi di quella tipologia di edifici che più di ogni altra simboleggia il potere: il palazzo. Malgrado le varie forme con le quali è stato proposto nel corso dei secoli il palazzo ha sempre rappresentato la precisa volontà dei suoi costruttori di distinguersi, sul piano delle realizzazioni edilizie pubbliche, dalle precedenti dinastie; esso costituisce, specie nel caso della Transgiordania medievale, l’ambiente preposto al controllo degli equilibri amministrativi, politici, militari ed economici interni al sultanato. L’applicazione delle metodologie dell’archeologia leggera (e in particolare dell’archeologia dell’edilizia storica) allo studio degli edifici del sito incastellato di Kerak, su l’esempio delle indagini in corso da parte della missione archeologica fiorentina nella regione giordana, è stato uno degli obiettivi perseguiti. Le ricerche condotte nel castello hanno permesso di ottenere risultati per certi aspetti sorprendenti e di assoluta novità nel panorama degli studi riguardanti il complesso castrense prodotti fino a questo momento.  L’identificazione e il riconoscimento ex novo delle tracce di due (possibili) complessi residenziali localizzati nella porzione meridionale del castello e l’attribuzione di un terzo al primo decennio del XIV secolo ha così consentito di aumentare in Giordania le evidenze di questa tipologia di edifici a sette unità (un palazzo ciascuno a Shawbak, ʾAjlūn e Hesban; ben quattro invece a Kerak) e di apportare rilevanti novità agli studi sul sito. Le letture archeologiche e la metodologia stratigrafica applicata allo studio degli elevati hanno rappresentato a Kerak un’ulteriore conferma delle potenzialità di questo tipo di approccio scientifico, con la sua capacità di fornire non solo un’originale documentazione materiale, ma anche vere e proprie linee interpretative di tipo storiografico.

Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic History at MIT, has long established himself as a pioneering scholar of Islamic architecture and history, in particular of the Syro-Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate (1260–1517). The work under review here offers both an insightful survey of his contributions to the field and intellectual tes- timony to the many reasons for its author’s status. Mamluk History through Architecture is not a new monograph on Rabbat’s favoured subject – architecture’s contribution to current understandings of Mamluk society. Rather, it is a collection of fifteen essays, produced between 1989 and 2005 as articles in various journals and edited books, and brought together here in their original form but in a new organizational framework.

It has been prevalently argued in modern scholarship that Mamluk miʽmār had a low status working for endowed properties as a repairman. However, a comparative approach to endowment deeds and chronical accounts reveals that in ninth/fifteenth-century Cairo he was recognized as professional specialist at the top of the building profession. A chronological order of the historical accounts of al-Maqrīzī, Waliyy al-Dīn al-ʽIrāqī, Ibn Taghrībirdī, Ibn Ṭūlūn, Ibn Fahd, and al-Nahrawālī, where specific references to the figure of miʽmār were made, indicates that the term 'miʽmār' emerged in Mamluk Egypt during the ninth/fifteenth century to designate a group of professional expert builders-closer to architects in our modern understanding to the term-who conducted construction projects for Mamluk sultans. A parallel emergence of the term miʽmār in ninth/fifteenth-century Cairene endowment deeds to designate a professional expert is also visible. Evidence from both chronicles and endowment deeds for specific individuals shows that this newly emerged 'miʽmār' in ninth/fifteenth-century Cairo was interchangeable with the term 'muhandis', who was summoned by Mamluk qādī's (judge) court as an authoritative expert representing the building craft. A new interpretation to these sources suggests that this interchangeable use of terms muhandis and miʽmār for certain individuals of the same qualifications, skills, and responsibilities implies a change in the building profession, which could possibly be viewed as a step towards a professionalized craft, and as a development in the social recognition of its practitioners.

Islamic architecture represents a successful example in extracting the mathematical proportions  and the fractal geometry of the natural organisms. The Mameluke architecture is considered a  transitional stage to a more self-similar detailed geometry presented in a diverse scale range. That  was the motive behind using the fractal geometry as a patterned grid in Mameluke designs.
Therefore, this research objective is to reveal the hidden dimensions within the fractal geometry  in Mameluke architecture with special emphasis on Al-sultan Hassan madrasa as a case study.
Fractal geometry exists within its geometry in four levels; the internal spaces main subdivisions, floor patterns, al-muqarnas and ornaments. Thus, the research establishes an interactive parametric model, which has two reversible functions; First, to analyse by tracing the fractal geometry evolution of Al-sultan Hassan madrasa layout and secondly, to apply the fractal dimension as a design generator to more advanced fractal forms. Al-sultan Hassan madrasa  represents the likelihood of analysing and generating further styles based on its fractal geometry.
The process could be applied supplemented with the parameters and limitations change. Hence, an infinite number of design variations are generated based on the fractal geometry of a specific style.
#design #fractals #dimension #islamicgeomtery #fractalgeometry #MamlukeMadrasas #fractaldimension #designvariations #parametricdesign #rhino3d #grasshopper3d #architecturestyle #architecturehistory

The Mamluk dynasty (1250–1517) succeeded the Ayyubids in Egypt and Syria. From 1260, and for 260 years, construction projects and different types of buildings were sponsored by sultans, emirs, and members of the elite in Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem as well as in smaller towns and regions on the outskirts of the Mamluk sultanate. Although the existing architecture from the Mamluk period is generally well known in Egypt and Syria, this is not always the case in other countries. In present-day Jordan, which was divided administratively into two large mamlakats, there are many sumptuous examples of mamluk buildings that still have yet to be investigated with the necessary attention. The case study analysed here is the castrum/qalʿat Kerak in the late 13th and the first half of 14th century, where an exceptional example of Mamluk palatine architecture is partially preserved. According to written historical sources, this reception hall (or qāʾa) called Qā’at al-Naḥḥās can be attributed to al-Nāṣir Muḥammad ibn Qalāwūn (1310–1341), one of the most distinguished figure of the Mamluk sultanate. This paper will undertake to clarify the construction process of Mamluk royal spaces in Kerak as evidence of the Mamluk dynasty’s power and stability, using the methods of “Light Archaeology” (building stratigraphy, in particular) already used by the Italian archaeological mission (University of Florence) at Petra and Shawbak (Medieval Petra project).

The blurred line between sacred and profane spaces in Islamic architecture is exemplified by building commissioned for relics of the Prophet Muhammad. Produced within specific contexts – geographical, cultural and temporal –  this genre of material artifacts began to surface during the medieval period in settings where they were not present before, with the buildings that housed them turning into holy sites and places of veneration. My recent research examines the history of such relics in three different Mamluk-period monuments in Cairo: Ribāṭ al-Āthār (1307); and the funerary complexes of sultans Qaytbāy (1474) and al-Ghurī (1505). The functions associated with these buildings vary, yet in all cases the main purpose is to commemorate a deceased person and/or to accommodate Prophetic relics. While the Prophet never traveled to Egypt, the presence of relics attributed to him in Cairo raises questions of intent, motivation and how objects such as these transition into other contexts?