الفنون المعمارية في العهد المملوكي ٢_a .. كتاب العمارة العربية الاسلامية

It is sometimes topped with a row of merlons, most of which resemble mashrabiyas. We find examples of it in the Al-Sabuniyya and Al-Qaqmaqiyya schools in Damascus, and in the Turbah Misr Bay and Qastal Harami Mosque in Aleppo.

The arches or arches used in the arcades of the porticoes and in the doors are of the common type in Islamic architecture, such as the pointed arch composed of two arches meeting at the top, and it is of a wide opening of the type called the penthouse, which rarely exceeds half of the circle. It reappeared in the buildings of Aleppo, and this may be due to the influence of the buildings of Anatolia and Konya (see photo 59).

There is a new, innovative arch (1) that was common in this Mamluk era. We find it above the niches of the doors, windows, or avenues. It is articulated in such a way that it resembles a group of book volumes stacked together. We can consider it an advanced form of the many-lobed arch. We find examples of this arch in Damascus, particularly in Al-Turba Al-Akhnaiya, Al-Tawrizi Mosque, and Sabil Al-Khazneh (Photo No. 62). There is one of them at Bab Khan al-Sabil, located on the road between Aleppo and Maarat, and in Hama (Muthathana Al-Absi Mosque and the Great Mosque). The tri-lobed arch also continued to be used for the purpose of diversification and decoration, and we find it on the facades of buildings and minarets. As for the obstructing arches, which we called so because they relieve or reduce the load on the lintels of doors and windows, they have become low in height, and are a crack or a small void, but they are often doubled, one on top of the other, so that their effect is certain. The architect resorted to this because of what he witnessed of the breaking of the palm of the buildings. (Photo No. 48).

As for the column capitals, they were dominated by the Muqarnas type, which began to appear in the Ayyubid era, and the Korani or sophisticated capital is no longer used except rarely.

We find an example of this type of capital in the portico of the Al-Omariya School in Damascus and in the portico of Al-Bimaristan Al-Arjuni in Aleppo (Photo No. 70):

Domes, as a form of covering, are almost devoid of any building, whether it is a mosque, a school, a turba, a bathhouse, or a palace. Sometimes we find two symmetrical domes of equal size on either side of the doors of buildings, and this is a characteristic that is unique to most of the buildings of Damascus (Al-Rashidiyya, Al-Adiliyah Al-Baraniyyah, Al-Tinbiyyah, and others). ), (Photo No. 50). The dome is mostly made of brick and plastered inside and out. However, in the city of Aleppo there are domes built with carved stones, shaped like a slightly elongated hemisphere, with a cross-section in the shape of a pointed, pointed Arabic arch.

This bowl is carried on a neck, and by neck we mean the ribbed body, equipped with windows. It is in the middle between the dome bowl and the lower, square building, built of stone. We note that the necks of the domes in the buildings of Aleppo are less high than those in Damascus, and some of the domes of Damascus are composed of two floors, at the top. Weakness of the lower ribs, which increases the height of the domes and the number of windows. We find examples of these domes in the Dhahiriyya and Shabkiliyya madrasas, and in the Al-Tawrizi Mosque and the Yunusiya Khanaqa.

The method of transition in the domes did not change, and the corners continued to be filled with muqarnas at times, and the corner slits that resemble small niches at other times, or with spherical triangles at other times, and the latter is more common than others in Aleppo domes.

In addition to the domes, covering was done in the public parts of the building by means of vaults, which are vaulted ceilings arched with coarse stones and covered with limestone or arched with beautifully carved stones. They are crossed or longitudinal arches with the cross-section of pointed arches. Damascene buildings were also known for flat roofs covered from the inside with decorated wood. We find in most Aleppo mosques that the roofs of the sanctuary are composed of a dome in the middle and two longitudinal arches on its sides.

Minarets were built on a large scale, and some schools were also provided with them (the Sabouni and Sibaiyya schools in Damascus, for example).

After the dominant shape was the square-faced tower, the minarets in the Mamluk era became of multiple shapes, including squares and polygons (Photo 53).

The cylindrical shape appeared for the first time in some of the minarets of Aleppo (Al-Mahmandar Mosque and Al-Rumi Mosque). We also see it in the minarets built with bricks on the banks of the Euphrates, such as the minaret of Jaabar Castle (Photo No. 57).

3 - Decorative elements: The distinctive character of buildings in the Mamluk era is, as we said, the abundance and diversity of decorations. The buildings were provided with certain decorative elements that we can almost notice in all the buildings of this era. These elements help us easily identify the buildings of this era. Although there is some difference in style and details between the decorations applied to Aleppo buildings and those we see in Damascus buildings, the general appearance is the same in all buildings of this era.

In view of the abundance and diversity of decorative elements, we decided to classify them into the following types:

A) The element of coloring: It is seen on the external facades and on the internal walls, represented by the alternating colors of the courses, as we have seen. We also see the coloring in the decorative bands composed of overlapping lobulated stones, colored in alternating black and white, yellow, or porphyry red, as well as in the merlons paved at the top of the facades. And in bands composed of two- or three-colored mashrabiyas, one with its head facing up, followed by another with its head facing down, alternating, and it is securely placed between the building stones (Photos 49 and 51).

Paintings of floral or geometric decorations made of stone or marble engraved with a deep engraving, inlaid with a contrasting colour, made of stones, marble, porcelain or colored paste. The latter appeared in the late Mamluk era and in Damascus in particular.

Coloring also appears in mosaics made of colored cultured marble, which consist of wonderful geometric or floral shapes. This marble may be interspersed with threads of shiny mother-of-pearl. This marble mosaic is usually found in interior wall cladding or in niches (Photo No. 75).

B) Stone decorations: It depends on carving, engraving, and engraving stone. One of its types is muqarnas, which we find in many places, such as the corners of domes from the inside, in the capitals of columns, in the arches of door arches, some windows, and in the balconies of prominent minarets.

We find stone decorations in the Suwayriyyat described above, decorated with woven braids and spiral shapes, and in bands engraved with embossed or overlapping geometric lines, which permeate the facades or which form frames around doors or windows, or which form arches for blind niches, and in bands composed of a series of niches. Small ones, which often come at the top of the external or internal facades. There are frames surrounding the door arches engraved with floral leaves that almost adorn most of the buildings in (see photo 63).

These types of stone decoration include decorative writings engraved on stone, in Kufic or Naskh scripts, or fonts engraved on the facades or on the doors as a logo for the owner of the building, if he is a king or prince.

C) Plaster inscriptions: They were rarely used during the Mamluk era, although we find very wonderful examples of them in the buildings of Damascus (Yalbugha Mosque, Al-Takritiyah.

D) Ceramics: The use of porcelain or porcelain panels to cover walls did not suddenly appear in the Ottoman era, because we find them used in the form of hexagon-shaped panels in covering the walls of the Al-Tawrizi Mosque in Damascus, built in the year 1419 (Photo No. (74). The existence of an industry for this is supported. The tablets in Damascus are what Ibn Abd al-Hadi, who died in the late Mamluk era, mentioned about the existence of a neighborhood called the Qayshani Quarter outside Bab Sharqi, as well as what Ibn Tulun mentioned about the use of two thousand plates in the banquet of the viceroy of the Sultanate in Damascus, which were taken from the Qayshanites.

E) Wooden decorations: Care continued in using wood and decorating it using the method of engraving, engraving, and inserting inlays. The woodcarving industry developed and precious pieces became inlaid with ivory. We find examples of it in the niches of the Great Mosque of Aleppo and the Great Mosque of Hama (Photo 71).

He used wood painted with dyes and drawings. We find it in the interior of roofs and their bridges.

Finally, if we wanted to investigate all the types and shapes of decorations that adorned the buildings of the Mamluk era, the explanation would be long, and all we have to do is stand in front of a number of important buildings or their pictures published in this book and carefully contemplate their facades, the covering of their interior walls, and their various elements inside and outside, to make sure of their authenticity. The effort and art that goes into decorating and beautifying it.