I s l a m c Arch t e c t u r e

( Abbas an p e r od )
 Islamic
a r c h it ec t u r e

PREPERED BY:
Sima Diyar Kakarash
Balen Farhan
Bala Ibrahim
Darband Zikri
Arya Shorish
Ibrahim Muhammed

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Abbasid a r c h i t e c t u r e
The Abbasids:
- Abu Jaffar al Saffah put and end to Umayyad in 750.
- They took there name from prophet Mohammad's uncle abbas

The second Islamic dynasty ( flourished 750-950)

- Abu Jaffar al-Mansur: (second caliph and founder of Baghdad)

- Haroun al-Rashid: established many large settlements along the
Tigris and the Euphrates. His name become inexorably linked to
the tales of Arabian night.

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 Abbasid a r c h i t e c t u r e
The Abbasids:

- Abbasid took the method of revolution until they took the role from Umayyad.
- They expanded from Persia to south Egypt .
- Then those small wilayat started to be divided because of internal conflicts.

Why it was divided ?

1. They mainly relied on the slave army brought from turkey then those
later managed to take role in many areas and become an influential
power and took admirative roles.
2. It expanded widely so internal conflicts resulted.

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 Contents:
Great Masjid Of Al-Mutawakkil

- IBN-TULUN MOSQUE.

- GREAT MOSQUE OF KAIROUAN IN TUNISIA.

- QASR AL-’ASHIQ.

-AL UKHAIDIR PALACE.

- AL AQSA MOSQUE
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 Great Masjid Of Al-Mutawakkil

✣ Classified as the largest mosque in Islamic

world, Construction is commissioned by
caliph Al-Mutawakkil in 848Bc and completed
in 851Bc.
✣ The outer walls of it’s massive prayer hall still
stands, As well as it’s spiral shaped minaret ,
Known as Malawiya.

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 Great Masjid Of Al-Mutawakkil

✣ The masjid is set on an outer enclosure

measuring (374m*443m) In this enclosure
there are covered porticoes to
accommodate additional faithfulness at
Friday prayer , And the building behind
niche which seems to have been intended
to receive the caliph , And even
accommodate the imam of the masjid

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 Great Masjid Of Al-Mutawakkil

✣ The masjid itself measures (239 x 156m),

With 17 aisles in the prayer hall and a
triple portico around the courtyard
✣ The sizeable rectangular structure
measures approximately (38,000sqm ) and
was made out of a brick wall supported by
forty-four semi-circular towers including
ones at the corner , one could enter the
masjid through the six gates

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 Great Masjid Of Al-Mutawakkil

• The roof of the Masjid was supported by

twenty-four rows of nine piers in the
prayer hall, three rows of nine piers again
in the riwaq to the north, and each side
having twenty-two rows of four piers.

• The prayer hall featured a monumental

mihrab. The mihrab[ niche] took the form
of a pointed arch supported by two sets of
engaged columns on either side.

Mihrab - Niche

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 Great Masjid Of Al-Mutawakkil
✣ The masjid is set on an outer
enclosure measuring
(374m*443m) In this enclosure
there are covered porticoes to
accommodate additional The courtyard’s fountain was domed was elaborately decorated
faithfulness at Friday prayer , with mosaics and marble paneling.
And the building behind niche Wall showing brickwork:
which seems to have mam
been
intended to receive the caliph ,
And even accommodate the
imam of the masjid

View of windows at clerestory view on Detailed view of south-east wall

Qibla wall of prayer-hall showing brickwork

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 Great Masjid Of Al-Mutawakkil
✣ Directly (27.25m) from the center of the ✣ The minaret is influenced by a
masjid’s north face stands the minaret of specific type of Mesopotamian
Al-Malawiya , Approximately (55m) high , ziggurat.
The base of minaret measures (33sqm) and
rises to height of almost three meters.

✣ It supports a spiral ramp that

winds counter-clockwise 5 turns
up to the top , Beginning with
the side closest to the masjid. At
the top of the tower rests a round
vestibule, Which is adorned with
8 pointed-arch niches

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IBN-TULUN MOUSQE

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 IBN-TULUN MOUSQE
- Mosque of Ibn Tulun was built in the 9 th
century by Ahmad ibn Tulun, a Turkic
slave-soldier who became the
semiautonomous ruler of Egypt.

-The building was constructed in the

Abbasid style with a flat roof, resting on
arched piers and a large courtyard. The
plan is T-type and there is a spiral
minaret

-the middle ablution fountain covered with a

domed pavilion was a later Mamluk addition
from the thirteen century.

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IBN-TULUN MOUSQE PLAN

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 IBN-TULUN MOUSQE

- Like Abbasid mosques in Samarra,

the mosque of Ibn Tulun has ziyadas.
The mosque has multiple doors with
semicircular staircases. The ablution
fountain and spiral minaret are on
exact axis with the mihrab.

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 IBN-TULUN MOUSQE
-The Dar al-Imara behind the mihrab (House of
Government) was where Ibn Tulun came with his
entourage.
- Between the mosque and palace was a large
maydan or urban square.
-The palace gate had triple arches like the one in
the caliphal palace in Samarra.

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 IBN-TULUN MOUSQE
DECORATION
-The ornaments of the Ibn Tunun Mosque are in the
“Beveled Style” of Samarra. The mosque is devoid
of naturalistic vegetal ornaments. Its abstract
vegetal and geometric patterns are a regional
interpretation of Abbasid prototypes.

-Unlike the octagonal piers with four colonettes in

the Great Mosque of Samarra, here the piers are
square with four colonettes. The exterior walls
topped by crenellations have an upper row of
windows with grills.

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 IBN-TULUN MOUSQE
-The heavy square piers obscure the visibility of
the central mihrab area, however, many mihrabs
are provided along the qibla wall. The prayer hall
with pointed arches is like a labyrinthine space,
producing complex perspectival effects.

-Above the piers are arched openings that were

meant to bring light and to counter the heaviness
of the walls. Pointed arches became standard in
this period, when round arches associated with
Roman-Byzantine Mediterranean architecture that
were prominent in the Umayyad monuments
became abandoned.

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 IBN-TULUN MOUSQE
-The mosque’s geometric window grills have
elaborate interlaced forms that became
common in the medieval period in conjunction
with stylized vegetal forms. The main mihrab
which exists today within the Ibn Tulun Mosque
is from the Mamluk period. All of these
elements such as woodwork, plaster and brick
that all bear same kinds of patterns are found
in the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.

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IBN-TULUN MOUSQE

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GREAT MOSQUE OF KAIROUAN IN TUNISIA

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 GREAT MOSQUE OF KAIROUAN IN TUNISIA

✣ Loc a t i on : In the Medina, Kairouan, Tunisia.

✣ Area: 9 0 0 0 m 2 .

✣ Also k n o w n as: m o s q u e o f U q b a .

✣ One of the oldest places of worship in the Islamic world, as well

as a model for all later mosques in the Maghreb.

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MOSQUE OF KAIROUAN
PLAN

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Architecture

✣ The great m o s q u e o f K a i ro u a n was s i m p ly m a d e u p o f

sun - d ri e d bricks that h a d stood their since the fo u n d a t i o n
o f the city.
✣ T h e m o s q u e was constructed with Ab b a si d style o f a
c ourt ya rd surroun d e d b y arcades, with a hy p ost yl e prayer
hall ro u g h ly on e - t hi rd the size o f the entire enclosed
c o m p l e x , has o n e outstanding features- its minarets i n the
f o r m o f a lighthouse. T h e use o f M a r b l e l a n d granite was
d o n e i n the prayer hall a n d c o l u m n s .

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 Minaret
✣ T h e world's oldest surviving minaret, 8th-9th
century.

✣ It is 31.5 meters tall a n d is seated o n a square

base of 10.7 meters o n e a ch side.

✣ It is located inside the enclosure a n d does not

have direct access f r o m the outside.

✣ It consists of three tapering levels, the last of

whi ch is topped with a small ribbed d o m e .

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 Prayer h a l l
✣ The p raye r hall is located o n the southern side o f the courtyard;
a n d is accessed by 17c a rve d w o o d e n doors. portico with d ou bl e
row o f arches p re c e d e the spacious p raye r hall, wh i ch takes the
sh a p e o f a rectangle o f 70.6 meters in width a n d 37.5 meters d e p t h .

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QASR AL-ASHIQ

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 QASR AL-ASHIQ
✣ Loc a t i on : It is situated at 16km west of the modern city of Samarra, on the
western bank of the Tigris - Iraq
✣ Area: 12,500 square meters

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 QASR AL-ASHIQ
✣ Al-Ashiq Palace is distinguished by its ingenuity of engineering and the accuracy of
its construction. It is one of the outstanding examples of the Abbasid architectural
style surviving.
✣ Some historians consider this building to be a military fortress, because of its design,
as it is surrounded by sturdy defensive towers as if it were a castle.

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 QASR AL-ASHIQ
✣ History
✣ The palace was commissioned under the 15th Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tamid,
and construction took place during 877–882. Accounts differ regarding the
person who was assigned to construct this palace.Yaqut al-Hamawy mentions
the name of Ali bin Yahi al-Munajam and Moez al-Dawla who initiated the
groundbreaking. Emir 'Amad al-Dawla wrote a poem about this palace. During
the medieval period, it was referred to as "al-Ma'shuq which means
"beloved".The palace was excavated in 1960s and restored during the 1980s.

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 QASR AL-ASHIQ

✣ Architecture
✣ Qasr al-'Ashiq is a prominent surviving example of the Abbasid
architectural style palace. The building is rectangular shaped and
consists of two floors, one of which has been used
as catacombs and vaults. It is surrounded by large yards, which
are surrounded by walls. Outside the walls exist a long moat, in
which water flows from the underground channel which begins
from the western highlands. Surface of the moat is higher than the
nearby river.

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QASR AL-ASHIQ

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QASR AL-ASHIQ

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AL AQSA MASQUE

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 AL AQSA MOSQUE FROM TEMPLE
MOUNT(EAST JERUSALEM)

✣ Loc a t i on : T E M P L E M O U N T ( E A S T J E R U S A L E M )

✣ Area: 144,000m^2

One of the oldest places of worship in the Islamic world, as well as a

model for all later mosques in the Maghreb.

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 PLAN OF AL AQSA MOSQUE

B C
Al-Buraq

A A
(A) Porch
Wall

(B) Steps to underground rooms

(C) Steps to "Christ's Cradle"
11 (1) Prayer hall
(2) Fountain
1 (3) Eastern Gate
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A (4) Mihrab of Zechariah
3 (5) Mosque of the Forty Martyrs
4 (6) Mosque of Omar
(7) Mihrab (prayer niche)
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170 9 (8) Minbar (pulpit)
8 87 6 (9) White Mosque (Women's Mosque)
Outer Wal of the M osque (10) Islamic Museum
City Wal
(11) Dome of Yusuf
50 m Double Gate

(164 ft)
 PLAN OF AL AQSA MOSQUE

(A) Holy Rock (As-Sakhra)

(1) West Gate (Bab Al-Gharb)
(2) Gate of Paradise (Bab Al-Jenneh)
(3) David's Place of Judgment
(Dome of the Chain)
(4) South Gate (Bab Al-Qibla)
(5) Mihrab (prayer niche)
6 A 3
1 (6) What is believed to be the
print of Al-Buraq’s hoof
Cave
(7) What is believed to be Prophet
7 Muhammad’s (PBUH) footprint
8 (8) Steps dow n to the "Holy Rock
Cave"

10 m
4 ( 33 ft )
 AL AQSA MOSQUE

✣ I n abbasid caliphate :

T h e abbasid m o s q u e was destroyed b y earthquake i n 746,

T h e m o s q u e was rebuilt i n 758 b y A l - M a n s u r o f the Ab b a si d
caliphate, it was further e x p a n d e d u p o n i n 780 b y Ab b a si d
caliph A l - M a h d i

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 Al a q s a m o s q u e

Al-Aqsa Mosque has the following three different levels:

• An underground level which is under the Holy Mosque level containing wells
and water canals, and some buildings that are currently filled with earth and
waste.

• The Southern Al-Qibly Mosque and the expansive middle courtyard that includes
open gates, corridors, platforms, trees, etc.

• The Dome of the Rock and its surroundings, including the decorative domes that
adorn the highest plateau within Al-Aqsa Mosque.

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 Al a q s a m o s q u e
•Interior:

•The Al-Aqsa mosque has seven aisles of hypostyle naves several additional
small halls to the west and east of the southern section of the building

•There are 121 stained glass windows in the mosque from abbasid era.about a fourth of
them were restored in 1924

•material

•Limestone(external walls,façade),lead and concrete(dome),white marble(interior columns)

and mosaic

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41
 AL Ukhaidir palace

✣ The location:The Fortress of Al-Ukhaidir or Abbasid palace of Ukhaidir is

located 50 km south west of Karbala and about 173 km south west of Baghdad
,Iraq .
✣ The word Ukhaidir means "small green place".

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 Plan:

✣ The building is made out of rough limestone blocks and mud plaster with baked
brick used for roofing vaults.
✣ The palace may be divided into two structural phases, a central palace core and
an outer enclosure wall added slightly later.
✣ The exterior wall is composed of heigh niches alternating with solid semi-
circular buttress towers.
✣ The enclosure was pierced, in the center of each side, with gateways flanked by quarter
round towers. On the main gate, in the northern side of the wall, we find the earliest
appearance of the arched portal, set within a rectangular frame rising above the walls
(pishtaq) .
✣ there is a 17 meters high robust rampart made from limestone slabs and mortar
strengthened
✣ by corner and intermediary towers alternating with pairs of blind arches on columns.

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Plan:

✣ The palace complex consists of series of functional units; the great

hall, Masjid, court of honor, audience or throne halls and four
domestic compounds called bayts.

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 AL Ukhaidir palace
✣ Through the entrance hall one progresses into a square chamber covered by a
fluted dome, the first of its type in Iraq.

✣ This is followed by a narrow corridor and a set of internal curtain walls

protecting the palace proper.

✣ Following this corridor, towards the west, one reaches a larger open space
extending the whole length of the palace.

✣ The fluted dome supported on triangular slabs bridging the corner of the
square is an early version of erecting domes on a square bay.

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 AL Ukhaidir palace

✣ West of the great hall and to the right of the

main entrance, there is the palace Masjid, a
hall consisting of a single aisle of five arches
rised on cylindrical piers made of limestone
and mortar.

✣ The vault of the Masjid portico showing the

innovative flattened arches used as both
decorative and support for the vault

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Architecture:

✣ The architects and masons of Ukhaidir

introduced, for the first time, an elaborate
technique based on the construction of
elliptical (pointed) barrel vaults with bricks
in similar technique to building a wall
which therefore made the way vaults were
built considerably easier.

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 AL Ukhaidir palace

✣ The center of the palace is occupied by the court of

honor, a large court decorated with blind arcades,
incorporating in its top sections brick decoration of
geometric patterns.
✣ Court of honor showing the pishtag gate of the
Audience Hall, the well in the center, and the blind
arch decoration on the walls.
✣ The northern side of the court is a 6 m high wall
arcades on round engaged columns, above which a
second storey block with blind pointed arches, and
rising still further above a set-back wall crowned by a
parapet frieze of recessed niches.

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 AL Ukhaidir palace

✣ The south side once incorporated a vaulted iwan

framed by a rectangular elevation in the form of
pishtaq. Behind it, there was a long chamber for
private audience connecting with a square room fitted
with four doors, one in the center of each side; this
must have been the throne room

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 AL Ukhaidir palace
✣ They were distributed in pairs on the east and west sides of
the court of honour, but kept in isolation from its
ceremonial function by a tunnel-vaulted corridor encircling
both the court and the audience hall.

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