2 damascus - lecture 4

Jordan University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Architecture and Design Department of ArchitectureIslamic Architecture

Islamic Architecture

Dr. Raed Al Tal

Jordan University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Architecture and Design Department of ArchitectureIslamic Architecture

Dr. Raed Al Tal

Umayyad Dynasty : Architecture and Decoration

The Great Mosque of Damascus (709-15)

The former church of Saint John , itself built on the site of a Roman temple (Jupiter)

The sacred enclosure was taken over by the Caliph al Walid who erected a great triple arcaded prayer hall

They imported luxuries materials such as mosaics, gold and silver

The cost of the construction absorbed seven years’ land tax (kharaj)

The Great Mosque of Damascus (709-15)

The central nave perpendicular to the qibla wall

• Double tiered arcades in the haram

The central nave perpendicular to the kiblah wall and dividing the haram into two parts

Rectangular plan of the prayer hall differ from all previous mosques, perhaps was dictated by the site

The haram is covered by three parallel gabled roofs resting on double tiered arcades

Decoration program:

Marble revetment for the lower part of columns

Mosaic revetment for the upper part of walls

There are no zoomorphic forms, human or animal, either in the pictorial or ornamental spaces.

This is evidence, even at the very beginning of Islamic Art, of the restriction in traditional Islam against the representation of figures of any kind in sacred places.

The world shown in the mosaic, which is a mirage-like in a field of gold, and is devoid of any figures, may be an image of paradise.

Places of Paradise, such as gardens, flowing streams, groves of trees, and "lofty chambers," are described in the Qu'ran. 

Mosaic detail depicting Barada River and Umayyad palaces with karma vines

Window screen, west vestibule

The octagonal domed building on columns in the courtyard is Bait al Mal (public treasury)

The Dome of the RockCaliph Abd al Malik (685)

The Dome of the Rock was built 687-692

An architect with Byzantine training Octagonal rotunda on the Temple Mountain (al Haram Al

Sharif)

Gilded dome

The dome was made with two wooden frames so that it provided

-a very light structure- The span relatively vast

Inside Double ambulatory The outer is octagonal with two columns between the corner pillars ( eight pillars and 16 columns in total

The inner portico is circular with four pillars and three columns between of each two pillars ; 16 arches surrounding the sacred rock , above this the high cylindrical drum

Central octagonal plan is 54 m. in diameter

Its cupola rises to height of 36 m. meters

Geometry

Circle and square

2 squares set at 45 degree angles to each other , the intersecting points of these squares describe the interior circle with a radius of 20.56 m)

4 doors with porches facing the cardinal points; the largest porch facing the south

-It stands within a temenos that measured 430* 300 meters

Examples similar to the Dome of the Rock

- St. Vitale in Ravenna (AD 540)

The church of the Ascension in Jerusalem (AD 378) rests on an octagon

Qalat Siman in the north of Syria (AD 476)

The Cathedral of Busra

- St. Vitale in Ravenna (AD 540)

-Qalat Siman in the north of Syria (AD 476)

-The church of the Ascension in Jerusalem (AD 378) rests on an octagon

General characteristics of the Dome of the Rock

-spatial harmony

-balance and perfection

-its plan reflects ancient mathematical esotericism

-through out its long history it has been a strong political icon

Al-Aqsa Mosque (707- 709)

built by Caliph al Walid

-Hypostyle with seven naves-11 bays -The roof must have been entirely wooden with a flat ceiling -It stands within a temenos that measured 430* 300 meters