الفنون المعمارية في العهد المملوكي ١_a .. كتاب العمارة العربية الاسلامية

the fourth chapter

Architectural arts in the Mamluk era

A) General characteristics

The Mamluk rule of Syria lasted for several centuries (between the years 1259/5658 and 1516/5922), and at that time the Mamluk state ruled large areas of the Arab countries, including Egypt, the Levant, the Peninsula, Yemen, the Hijaz, and Libya.

This helped exchange influences in cultural aspects between the regions under Mamluk rule, especially between Egypt and the Levant.

The urban movement and the arts flourished. This prosperity is witnessed by the many buildings that are still seen in important cities such as Cairo, Damascus, and Aleppo. The reason for this is that the external threat diminished, the Crusades ended (1), and economic conditions improved.

The bad, corruption, and chaos of governance that characterize the Mamluk era do not apply to the rest of the era. In the first period that preceded the disaster of Tamerlane (in 1401 AD), the country was ruled by great sultans who blessed the country in their days with power, security, and stability. The renaissance that had laid its seeds during the era of the Nuri (Nur al-Din Mahmoud ibn Zengi) and Ayyubid states flourished, and the arts and industries advanced and sciences and literature advanced. . Mosques, schools, turrets, baths, markets, palaces, palaces, and other urban works were built.

In what remains of these buildings, we see a remarkable development in the arts of architecture and diversity and richness in architectural and decorative elements. This is due, as we indicated, to the length of the Mamluk era on the one hand, and to the change in life conditions in relation to previous eras. In this era, people began to move away from austerity and seriousness and turn to showiness and extravagance in decoration, and this was evident in the construction movement. The buildings seemed to be flooded with decorations, inside and outside, of every kind. The love of appearances prevailed over what was prevalent. Architectural ideals and traditions such as keenness on strength and massiveness, taking into account proportions and simplicity.

We can summarize what distinguished architecture in the Mamluk era in the following aspects:

1 - In terms of engineering and planning: We note that no large buildings were constructed during the Mamluk era, despite the large number of facilities, and if we exclude two or three mosques that were built according to the traditional planning derived from the Umayyad Mosque, such as the Tanjaz and Yalbugha mosques in Damascus, then most of the buildings were mosques, schools, and soil. It is considered small in size.

We also note that the heavenly plate has been removed from some mosques and schools or covered with a roof in others.

We find examples of this in the Al-Tawrizi Mosque, the Shabakli School, and the Al-Jaqmaqiya School in Damascus.

The design of the buildings in general consists of an open door within an iwan, followed by a vestibule that leads to a small courtyard, often surrounded by iwans. On rare occasions, we find colonnaded porticoes, as is the case in the great mosques of Damascus mentioned above, and as is the case in the Arghunian Bimaristan in Aleppo. We may miss both the corridors and the halls in some buildings.

Buildings and mosques also appeared, called “Al-Mu’allaqa” because they rise above ground level and can be reached by stairs. The purpose of this design was most likely to create shops in the lower part of the facades. Examples of these buildings include the Al-Mu'allaq Mosque, the Siba'i Madrasa, and the Turbat Balban in Damascus. And the mosques of Al-Saruwi and Al-Sakakini in Aleppo.

If we look closely at the descriptions of Mamluk buildings, we find great similarity and resemblance between their architectural elements, especially in the buildings of one city, while we find the difference clearer if we move from one city to another, the details of which will come shortly.

2- In terms of architectural elements:

The doors of important buildings are generally characterized as being open in a high iwan, reaching the end of the facade and sometimes beyond it, especially in Damascene buildings. This iwan is roofed with a semi-dome made of muqarnas, at the top of which resembles a shell. (Images: 61, 60, 48).

As for the facades of buildings, they have become full of decorations and decorations in shapes and colors. It is built of well-carved stone, but the courses have become lower than before, and alternating between white and black, and sometimes yellow, prevails. This coloring may include the entire facade, as is the case in most buildings in Damascus, or in specific parts of it, as in the buildings of Aleppo. The facades became more open to the street with the many windows in the lower section and small windows in the upper section. The windows are rectangular in shape, but in most buildings of this era we see them open within a high, shallow niche or iwan, ending at the top with a muqarnas arch flanked on both sides, in Aleppo buildings in particular, by swivels decorated with small capitals, carved with spirals and braids. We find examples of these windows in the facades of the Throne Hall, the Al-Utroush Mosque, Khan Al-Saboun, and others. (Photos 58, 59, 63).

We note that the upper windows are round in most Damascus buildings, open within a circular ornament composed of alternating colored mashrabiyas (Photo No. 50), while in Aleppo buildings they are vertical with an opening resembling the goals of castles. We see an example of them in the Throne Hall and in the mosques of al-Atroush and al-Tawashi (Photo No. 59). .

The facades end at the top with a cornice composed of a series of small niches, or of molded stones.