history
New insights are provided into the architecture of Islamic bath-
houses of North Africa and the Middle East based on comparative
typological analyses of their space and proportion from five cities.
The architecture of Islamic public baths
of North Africa and the Middle East: an
analysis of their internal spatial configurations
Magda Sibley and Iain Jackson
The hammams (or Islamic bath-houses), commonly
known as ‘Turkish baths’, are one of the key urban
facilities in Islamic cities. They evolved from the
Roman and Byzantine public baths, as these were
assimilated when the Umayyad dynasty conquered
Byzantine territories in the Middle East between ad
661 and 750. Early hammams were built in the eighth
century by the Umayyad rulers who established their
capital in Damascus. The most famous ones are
Qusayr Amra, in today’s north-eastern desert of
1
Jordan and Khirbat al Mafjar. The period following
the rise of Islam witnessed a rapid development in the
architecture of baths and the change from Roman to
Islamic bathing habits. Public Roman baths consisted
of very large establishments, the thermae, which
comprised not only bathing facilities but also
recreational ones such as libraries, gymnasiums,
exercise grounds and gardens, tanning rooms, ball
courts and concert halls. The balnea were the smaller
privately or publicly owned Roman baths, located in
2
greater number within the city.
Origins, rituals and traditions
The hammams have evolved from the balnea tradition,
and consist of a large undressing hall and a sequence
of three bathing rooms with increasing temperature
and steam intensity. The cold plunge pool – an
important feature of the Roman bath – disappeared
in the Islamic hammam, where washing by pouring
water over the body rather than immersing it in a
bath or a shared pool was an important religious
3
requirement.
In Islam, minor ablutions, Wudu, are required
before the act of praying and consist of washing parts
of the body (the face, the mouth, the nose, the ears,
the arms and the feet). These are usually carried out
either at home or at the mosque. Major ablutions,
however, known as Ghusl, involve the purification of
the whole body, particularly after sexual intercourse
and menstruation. Prior to the act of praying, which
takes place five times a day, the entire body is washed
with running water before minor ablutions can be
performed. The ritual of body purification in Islam
therefore contributed to the proliferation of public
baths in the cities of the Islamic world at a time when
most houses did not have private bathrooms. Their
location within the city’s urban fabric is associated
with not only the location of urban water
distribution networks, existing wells and springs but
also the proximity of both small and large mosques
within reasonable walking distance. Their size and
importance vary according to location, from small
structures in the heart of residential neighbourhoods
to large buildings near major Friday mosques,
theology teaching centres (madrassas), commercial
and crafts centres as well as caravanserais.
The Mediterranean hammam culture has played an
important role in supporting and transmitting a
rich, intangible heritage of culinary art, songs, poems
as well as rituals of cleaning and beautifying the body.
The hammam has been particularly important for
women as for centuries it was their only gathering
space in the city outside the home. The undressing
room has social significance as a meeting place for the
arrangement of marriages and as a venue for the
celebration of key life events such as pre-wedding
ceremonies, the birth of a child and the circumcision
of a son. The undressing room is also where the latest
neighbourhood news is exchanged and provides a
relaxing space for men where both business and
political events are frequently discussed; as such,
hammams have been the locus of social interaction
for centuries, supporting a rich heritage and
anchoring collective memories for many generations.
The bathing ritual in the hammams of the
Mediterranean region follows almost the same
sequence with slight variations. The body is never
entirely exposed to the gaze of other bathers and is
traditionally wrapped in a fouta, a cotton towel. After
sweating in the hot room and then having their body
scrubbed by a hammam attendant, the bathers wash
their body facing the individual stone or marble
washing basin, scooping water with a brass bowl
commonly known as tassa and pouring water over the
whole body. The bathers sit directly on the warm
stone or marble floor or on wooden stools. However,
in the hammams of Morocco, hot and cold water are
collected from hot and cold water fountain pools,
using wooden buckets, and these are then arranged
on the floor, defining a private bathing area. The
history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 155
156 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history
washing of private parts of the body takes place in
semi-dark niches for a higher degree of privacy. The
bathers move around spaces of different heat and
steam intensity, but also of different levels of natural
light and privacy, in order to perform different body
treatments. The scrubbing of the body takes place
either on the floor or on the large heated marble
table under the pierced dome or vault of the hot
room. The bathers might rest for a short while
between the different stages of washing by sitting in
the transition room, separating the undressing hall
from the bathing spaces.
Studies into the architecture of hammam
buildings in North Africa and the Middle East have
remained few and far between. In the 1930s and ’40s,
French architects carried out important research.
For example Michel Écochard and Claude Le Coeur
undertook extensive surveys of the hammams of
4
Damascus, and Edmond Pauty recorded the
5
hammams of Cairo. Henri Terrasse investigated
6
some hammams in Fez, and Edmond Secret (a
French doctor in Fez) revealed the traditions linked
to the hammam as well as some of the health
7
benefits and risks of bathing in public hammams.
A more recent study by Martin Dow was conducted
8
on the hammams of Palestine. However,
comparative studies of hammams across the
southern Mediterranean countries are almost non-
existent, and no investigations have been carried out
so far in revealing the silent rules embedded in their
design, spatial composition and proportions.
The spatial configuration of hammams not only
depends on the historical era when they were built
but also on their geographical location around the
Mediterranean. Whereas the spatial organisation of
the hammams of Morocco (reminiscent of the small
9
Roman baths evident in Volubilis) has remained
mostly unchanged throughout history, the spatial
organisation of those in Syria has undergone an
evolution over a period of many centuries. Such an
evolution is clearly illustrated in the large sample of
hammams of Damascus investigated by Écochard and
10
Le Coeur in the 1940s.
Insights and approaches
This paper provides a new insight into the
architecture of the Islamic bath-house in cities across
North Africa and the Middle East area. Based on a
sample of twenty-seven historic structures located in
five different cities, this paper sheds new light on the
building typology, highlighting its constant features
as well as regional variations. The proportions and
geometric composition of the internal spaces are
investigated in order to reveal underlying principles
that have informed their layout and volumetric
composition. The results presented in this paper
stem from fieldwork conducted by the main author
as part of a large research project into the hammams
of the Mediterranean region, funded by the
European Commission Sixth Framework Programme
under the title hammam: Hammam, Aspects and
Multidisciplinary Methods of Analysis for the
Mediterranean Region (see www.hammams.org and
www.hammams.info). Fieldwork was carried out
Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East
between 2007 and 2009 in the cities of Ankara
(Turkey), Damascus (Syria), Cairo (Egypt), Constantine
(Algeria) and Fez (Morocco), focusing on five selected
historic structures in each city.
The first part of the paper presents the architecture
of hammams in five southern Mediterranean cities,
highlighting the underlying logic in their spatial
organisation and providing a new understanding of
variations found across a wide but continuous
geographic area. The second part of the paper focuses
on analysing the way the total floor area of the twenty-
seven hammam buildings investigated is distributed
between the different functional zones, with the aim
of highlighting any patterns and overriding principles
in their layout. Furthermore, investigations are
carried out into the geometric composition of the
spaces. The aim here is not to force particular
geometric shapes onto the plan (especially as the
hammams were often built into tight urban plots,
therefore restricting the design to a small floor area),
but to look for broad guiding principles that may have
been sought by the designers and builders at the time
these structures were erected. The third part analyses
the sections of the hammams and examines the
proportions of the different spaces. The aim here is to
compare internal room proportions with particular
emphasis on height:width ratios. The objective is not
only to compare the scales of each hammam, but to
consider whether certain proportions were
specifically pursued for certain rooms.
Five hammams were selected as primary focus case
studies. All are historic structures still operating at
the neighbourhood scale of the city: Hammam
Ammouneh, twelfth century (Damascus); Hammam
Sengul, sixteenth century (Ankara); Hammam Bab al
Bahr, eighteenth century (Cairo); Hammam Seffarine,
fourteenth century (Fez) and Hammam Suq al-Ghazal,
eighteenth century (Constantine). Each of the twenty-
seven buildings (located in the five cities listed above)
has been visited, surveyed and extensively
photographed, generating a substantial
documentary record. In some hammams it was
possible to observe, as well as to participate in, the
bathing process. In other cases, the hammam was no
longer operational, or it was considered culturally
insensitive to measure the space while in operation,
so the hammam was studied outside opening hours.
Where possible, the hammam owners/managers have
been interviewed and areas ‘out of bounds’ to the
public, such as the furnace, have also been
documented and observed in action. In each case, a
plan view and sectional drawing of the hammam have
been drawn to scale and each distinct room within
the building photographed.
The architecture of hammams in the five case
study cities
The vast majority of the hammams in the cities of
Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Egypt and across the whole
of North Africa from Libya to Morocco, consist of
single structures operating for men and women in
separate time slots. Their presence in the city tends to
be rather discreet as they are usually well embedded
in the urban fabric, sharing their walls with other
 history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 157

1a

2a

1b

2b

1c

buildings and presenting an almost blank facade to

the street, but sometimes displaying a decorated
entrance. However, the hammams of Turkey present
an exception to this rule as almost all historic
hammams here consist of twin structures operating 2c
independently for men and women. The male
section has the strongest presence in the urban
fabric, usually displaying a more public entrance 1 Hammam roof b Sultan Inal, Cairo,
2 Central fountains in
architecture: a fifth 2006 hammam undressing
facade, whereas the female section is accessed from a facade of pierced c Sengul, roof of the
rooms
less public space and displays a more discreet domes and vaults twin structure, a Ammouneh,
a Ammouneh, Ankara, 2007 Damascus
entrance facade. In all countries of North Africa and Damascus, 2007 b Karacebey, Ankara
the Middle East, the hammam’s presence in the c al-Tanbali, Cairo

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158 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history

urban fabric is most evident at roof level through the

unique architectural composition of pierced domes
and vaults, presenting the most interesting fifth
facade of all building types in the historic fabric of
cities in the Islamic world [1].
In all countries, without exception, a typical
hammam consists of three distinct sections: the first
section comprises the entrance and the undressing
hall, the second section consists of a series of bathing
spaces and the third section is defined by the furnace
area, usually located at the back of the hot room but
not accessible from it. The furnace area is not only
where the water is heated; it also acts as the heating
system for the bathing spaces. The smoke and heat
from the fireplace travels under the raised floor of the
bathing spaces before being extracted by chimneys
integrated into the walls of the building. This system
of underfloor heating is reminiscent of the Roman
hypocaust, and is found in the hammams of all
countries around the Mediterranean, though with
some variations. The hammams of Egypt present the
only exception to this rule, as the hypocaust system
seems to have been abandoned during the Fatimid
era in favour of a system of hot water pools releasing
11
heat and steam into the bathing spaces.
The act of washing in the hammam is marked by a
sequence of rituals that take place in a succession of
bathing spaces varying in their intensity of heat, 3a
humidity and natural light. The journey starts
outside the hammam, from a discreet street entrance
leading to the changing room via an intermediate
space that acts as a buffer zone between the public
street and the semi-public reception/undressing hall.
The changing room is usually the largest and most
decorated space with a central area, sometimes
demarcated by the presence of a central fountain as
is usually the case in Damascus, Cairo and Ankara [2].
The changing areas are traditionally open spaces
defined by raised platforms along the peripheral
walls of the reception hall and may include wooden
lockers used for storing belongings. The roof of the
undressing room consists, in most cases, of a large
3b
masonry dome. This is the case in the hammams of
Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, sometimes the
3 Undressing rooms typical undressing remains of an
case in the hammams of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and
(locally called room wooden roof atypical large
Morocco and almost never the case in the hammams maslakh) in with clerestory locally masonry dome
of Cairo which are characterised by a wooden roof hammams of Cairo called Shukhsheikha covering the
a Bab al Bahr: the b al Muayyad: the
undressing room
structure with clerestory openings [3a]. There is
however one exception, and that is Hammam al
Muayyad, a Mameluke structure in ruins, which still There is no doubt that the Ottoman influence has
displays today the remains of an unusually large played an important role in modifying, as well as
12
masonry dome over its changing room [3b]. unifying, the tradition of hammam buildings in the
When examining the organisation of the bathing many Mediterranean countries that fell under the
spaces in hammam buildings, two typical Ottoman rule – Morocco being an interesting
configurations can be found. The first one is a linear exception. As clearly illustrated in the work of
14
and sequential organisation (reminiscent of the early Écochard and Le Coeur, which traces the evolution
Umayyad hammams) where the bathing spaces are of the architecture of bathing spaces in the
organised along an axis. The second one is a central hammams of Damascus between the twelfth and the
organisation, reminiscent of Byzantine architecture, twentieth centuries, the internal configuration and
where the spaces are organised around a main the size of the bathing spaces of the hammams of
octagonal room with diagonal extensions leading to Damascus witnessed a slow evolution and a shift
15
a cruciform configuration. Both forms existed during the Ottoman period. Their work shows that
simultaneously in Damascus between the twelfth during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the
13
and fourteenth centuries. warm room is the predominant bathing space. In the

Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East
 history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 159

4a

5a

4b

5b

4c

5c

4d

4 The hammams 5 The hammams

of Fez of Damascus
a Makhfia a al Malik al Zaher
b Boussouifa b al Jose
c Moulay Idriss c al Bzouriye
d Abbad d Fethi 5d

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160 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history

fifteenth century the hot room is expanded with

alcoves, and with the sixteenth-century Ottoman
domination of the Levant territories, the hammam
acquires much simpler forms with the hot room
becoming the dominant bathing space in both layout
and volume.
The case study hammams can be divided according
to the organisation of the bathing spaces. The
hammams of Fez (Morocco) [4], Damascus (Syria) [5],
and Constantine (Algeria) [6], all adopt a linear
organisation, whereas those of Cairo (Egypt) [7], and
Ankara (Turkey) [8], adopt an octagonal distribution
with a central hub. The hammams of Egypt [7] present
a unique and constant spatial configuration based on
a cruciform hot room with diagonal extensions
containing plunge pools. This organisation seems to
have remained the same since the Fatimid era (when 6a

the hypocaust system was abandoned) and is likely to

be linked to the type of heating system specific to the
Cairo hammams, which relies on the heat and steam
released from hot water plunge pools.
The linear organisation of the hammams of Fez is
apparent in all the layouts of the hammams
investigated, with the warm room (wasti) being the
largest bathing space with separate bays and
interesting architectural features, including in some
cases a central dome as is the case in Hammam
Makhfia [4a]. The linear organisation of the bathing
spaces is also evident in the way the three zones of
6b
cold, warm and hot spaces succeed each other and
bear similar Arabic names to those of the hammams
of Damascus. However, it is clear that the hammams
of Damascus are architecturally more sophisticated
than those in Fez, in terms of their spatial
composition, volumes and decorations [5].
Furthermore, whereas the hypocaust system stops in
the hot room in the hammams of Fez, the hammams
of Damascus have developed underfloor heating
based on a duct system, channelling the smoke and
heat from the furnace to both hot and warm rooms
and branching out to bathing bays in both rooms.
They also have a more sophisticated water
distribution system allowing bathers to mix cold and
hot water in individual stone or marble basins located
along the walls of both the warm and hot rooms.
Historical links between Damascus and Fez must
certainly have occurred via Andalusia during the
Umayyad dynasty which initially ruled from
Damascus and later on from Andalusia.
The central organisation of bathing spaces is
evident in the hammams of Cairo [7] and Ankara [8].
Those of both cities share a similar principle of
distribution of bathing spaces from a central hub.
6c
However, they have completely different heating
systems which seem to inform their proportions and
configuration. Whereas the hammams of Ankara rely
on an underfloor heating system, those in Cairo rely
on the heat released from the hot water plunge pools.
As mentioned earlier, all the hammams of Cairo (with 6 The hammams of 7 The hammams
one exception) are characterised by a wooden roof Constantine of Cairo
a Deggoudj a Bashtak
structure over their changing room, a feature that is b Belabjaoui b Inal
also found in some of the small Ottoman baths in c Suq al-Ghazal c al Malatili

Turkey but nowhere else in the southern

16
Mediterranean countries.

Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East
 history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 161

7c

The Cairo hammams present a unique spatial

configuration of bathing spaces when compared
with hammams in the other four cities. The hot
room (locally known as beit al-harara, meaning ‘the
room of heat’) presents a central hub covered by a
pierced dome and marked by a central marble table
7a
with a hot water fountain. The cruciform hot room is
characterised by its three to four vaulted recesses or
iwans and raised plunge pool rooms, located as
diagonal extensions. Within each annexe of the hot
room, specific bathing functions take place, such as
scrubbing, massage and – uniquely to Cairo –
immersion in plunge pools. As noted, the hot room
and annexe spaces of Cairo differ from other
countries in their layout; whereas in the previous
examples we have seen how the hot room is
rectilinear, in Cairo the hot room acts as a ‘central
hub’ surrounded by the smaller annexe rooms and
plunge pools in a cruciform arrangement. Such
major difference in the spatial configuration of the
hammams of Cairo could be explained by the fact
that they rely on a different heating system. The
furnace and the hot water tanks are located on the
roof and not alongside the hot room as is the case in
all other Mediterranean countries. Using gravity, the
hot water is channelled in clay pipes from the hot
water tank (on the roof) and falls into the plunge
pools, releasing heat and steam. In some cases the
plunge pools also have their own annexes, creating a
complex arrangement of small interlinked zones.
The hammams of Constantine [6] seem to have a
hybrid configuration type combining both Ottoman
and Andalusian influences as is the case in the
17
hammams of Algiers. Like the hammams of Fez, the
hot water is collected by the bathers from the hot
water pool, named burma in both Fez and
7b
Constantine. The warm room is absent in the
hammams of Constantine, and the hot room is the
most important space, as is the case in the hammams
of Ankara in Turkey. Furthermore, the hammams of
Constantine display a large changing room with a

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162 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history

9a

8a

9b

9c

8b

8 The hammams of 9 Organisational

Ankara diagrams illustrating
a Sengul the various hammam
b Karacebey plan configurations
in the five cities
9d
a Seffarine, Fez
b Suq al-Ghazal,
Constantine
c al-Tanbali, Cairo
d Bab al Bahr, Cairo
e Ammouneh,
Damascus
f Sengul, Ankara

9e

9f

mezzanine level, similar to those found in the
changing rooms of the hammams of Ankara.
The diagrams in Figure 9 show a simplification of
the spatial arrangement of the hammams
investigated in this paper. (These diagrams are based
on the spatial representation used by Martin Dow in
18
his analyses of the Islamic baths of Palestine.) The
diagrams do not show floor areas or volumes, but
illustrate the variations in the spatial sequence of the
various hammam spaces in the five different cities.
Interpretation of floor area distribution
Each room/space within the hammam has been
measured and the areas calculated, as shown in Tables
1 to 5. The hammams have been arranged according to
their geographic location, which enables the
hammams from each city to be compared. The
analysis of the total floor areas of all the twenty-seven
hammams reveals some interesting results. The
hammams of Ankara are the largest with a total floor
area for men and women sections ranging between

Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East
 history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 163

Hammam Entrance Changing room Cold room Warm room Hot room Furnace Total

Belabjaoui 8.07 58.73 8.18 -- 46.75 10.89 132.62

Bougouffa 3.31 30.48 -- 11.33 22.56 5.83 73.51

Deggoudj 5.1 43 -- 10.18 22.3 11.25 91.83

Suq-al-Ghazal 1.72 84.57 26.85 -- 79.49 78.76 271.39

Table 1 Floor areas of the different spaces in the hammams of Constantine, Algeria (m2)

Hammam Entrance Changing room Cold room Warm room Hot room Furnace Total

Seffarine (male) 23.37 14.26 15.84 21.68 12.1 25.5 112.75

Seffarine (female) 12 18.15 23.8 42.2 38.9 25.5 160.55

Seffarine (total) 35.37 32.41 39.64 63.88 51 51 273.3

Abbad 6.4 37.28 36.85 32.7 23.61 17.96 154.8

Boussouifa 8.1 15.46 12.47 23.63 27.14 19.17 105.97

Makhfia 12.65 55.28 30 68.46 48.84 22.33 237.56

Moulay Idriss 7.99 48.16 21.16 31.2 30 25.8 164.31

Table 2 Floor areas of the different spaces in the hammams of Fez, Morocco (m2)

Hammam Entrance Changing room Cold room Warm room Hot room Furnace Total

al Jose 20.61 102.53 23.66 27.43 20.54 18.91 213.68

al Malik al Zaher 0.79 106.5 19.84 28.93 46.01 52.37 254.44

al Bzouriye 10.73 122.82 12.19 39.39 73.77 22.95 281.85

Fethi n/a 144.49 48.24 48.68 101.01 n/a 342.42

Omari 1.4 54.4 9.54 24.14 29.04 60 178.52

Silsleh 0.29 77.36 9.79 19.76 40.26 22.56 170.02

Ammouneh 1.74 58.25 n/a 16.8 35.82 10.82 123.43

Table 3 Floor areas of the different spaces in the hammams of Damascus, Syria (m2)

Hammam Entrance Changing room Warm room Hot room Furnace Total

Inal 8.87 136.27 9.66 118.1 n/a 272.9

al Nahhasin Qalawun 9.38 80 15.37 105 n/a 209.75

Sukkariya 11.3 107.86 15.04 81.14 n/a 215.34

Muayyad Shaykh 4.52 244.02 16.07 81.42 n/a 346.06

Darb al-Ahmar 5.88 125.3 20.66 75.37 n/a 227.21

Bashtak 27.6 215.95 29.32 113.89 n/a 386.76

al-Dud 22.45 174.1 49 252.39 n/a 497.94

al-Tanbali 8.2 104.67 14.7 130.65 n/a 258.22

Bab al Bahr 5.01 81.33 23.32 72.44 n/a 182.1

Table 4 Floor areas of the different spaces in the hammams of Cairo, Egypt (m2)

Hammam Entrance Changing room Warm room Hot room Furnace Total

Sengul (male) 16.86 108 34 99.52 30 288.38

Sengul (female) 8.7 119.1 27 76.76 30 261.56

Sengul (total) 25.56 227.1 61 176.28 60 549.94

Enebay 1.26 162.74 72 80.87 33.58 350.45

Karacebey (a) 6.3 244 15.18 126.95 37.5 429.93

Karacebey (b) 8.58 184.4 19.4 169 37.5 418.88

Karacebey (total) 14.88 428.4 34.58 295.95 77 850.81

2
Table 5 Floor areas of the different spaces in the hammams of Ankara, Turkey (m )

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164 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history

100% 100%
90% 90%
80% 80%

70% 70%

60% 60%

50% 50%

40% 40%
30%
30%
20%
20%
10%
10%
0%
0% Inal al Sukkariya Muayyad Darb Bashtak al-Dud al-Tanbali Bab al
Belabjaoui Bougouffa Deggoudj Suq-al-Ghazal Nahhasin Shaykh al-Ahmar Bahr
Qalawun
10a 10d

100% 100%

90%
80% 80%

70%
60%
60%

50%
40%
40%

20% 30%

20%
0%
10%
Seffarine Seffarine Seffarine Abbad Boussouifa Makhfia Moulay
(total) (m) (f) Idriss 0%
Sengul Sengul Sengul Enebay Karacebey Karacebey Karacebey
(total) (m) (f) (a) (b) (total)
10b 10e

Key
100%
Furnace 10 Distribution of floor a Constantine,

90% areas by type of Algeria
Hot Room
80% space within the b Fez, Morocco

Warm Room hammams of the c Damascus, Syria

70%
case study cities d Cairo, Egypt

Cold Room
60% e Ankara, Turkey

Changing
50%
Entrance
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
al Jose al Malik al Bzourive Fethi Omari Silsleh Ammouneh
al Zaher
10c

260 and over 400 square metres (see Table 5). The
hammams of Cairo and Damascus seem to be closer in
their range of total floor areas to those in Ankara (see
Tables 3 and 4). The hammams of Constantine and Fez
tend to be smaller (Tables 1 and 2). Figure [10]
illustrates how the total floor area of each hammam is
distributed between the different spaces and is
expressed as a percentage of the gross floor area. This
enables a comparison of floor area distribution
between the large hammams in prime city locations
and the smaller local neighbourhood ones. In the city
of Constantine in Algeria, the hammams adopt broad
similarities between each room area, with
approximately 50% of the hammam devoted to
entrance and changing areas, with the exception of
Suq al-Ghazal, which has only 30% of its gross floor
area dedicated to these functions [10a]. However, if the
large furnace area of Suq al-Ghazal (which also houses
a wood workshop) is discounted from this calculation,
the hammam has a similar proportion of the floor
area devoted to the changing space (around 45%). The
floor area of the changing room seems to always
exceed that of the hot room, which constitutes the
main bathing space in all the hammams of
Constantine. The importance of the hot room, and
the disappearance of the warm room, is reminiscent
of the Ottoman hammams and is a feature also found
only in the Ottoman hammams of Damascus.
Compared with the hammams of Constantine, the
hammams of Fez present much smaller entrance
spaces and changing rooms. Furthermore, the warm
room (and not the hot room) is the largest bathing
space and occupies a central position between the
cold and the hot rooms. Despite slight variations, the
warm room (in all the investigated hammams of Fez),
always occupies a similar proportion of the total
floor area in each hammam [10b]. Their overall floor
area as single structures varies between 100 and 160
square metres with the Makhfia hammam being an
exception to the rule, having a total floor area
exceeding 200 square metres.
The pre-Ottoman hammams of Damascus present a
different condition to those of both Fez and
Constantine. Like the hammams of Fez, the three

Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East

Hammam Hot room Gross floor
2
(central ‘hub’) area (m )
2
area (m ) of gross area
al-Tanbali 19.8 258.22
Bab al Bahr 23.4 182.1
Inal 26.7 272.9
al Nahhasin Qalawun 23.2 209.75
Sukkariya 18.9 215.34
Muayyad Shaykh 31.2 346.06
Darb al-Ahmar 22 227.21
Bashtak 28.4 386.76
al-Dud 42.5 497.94
Table 6 Floor area of the hot room ‘hub’ area of the Cairo hammams
space sequence of cold, warm and hot rooms is
maintained, but the division of these spaces is more
akin to those found in Constantine with a large
changing area and then a series of smaller bathing
rooms beyond. As a percentage of the whole, the
warm rooms are generally consistent across all the
hammams. The entrance spaces, apart from in Al
Joze hammam in Damascus, are comparatively small,
with the plans showing an almost direct entry into
the changing space. It is common in other cities such
as Cairo, Constantine and Fez for the entrance space
to be designed in an ‘L’ formation to ensure privacy
in the changing area; however, in Damascus and
Ankara, this transition space between the street and
the changing room is not always adopted.
As shown in figure [10d], the Cairo hammams have
a considerable proportion of room area devoted to
the changing room and hot room, with only a small
transition room between them in the form of a
warm room used as a winter undressing room as
well. The central hub area of the Cairo hot rooms has
also been measured, revealing a significant result.
Table 6 shows that regardless of the gross area of the
hammam, the floor area of the hub area remains
almost consistent throughout all the hammams of
Cairo with slight variations. The larger hammams
will have additional annexes and plunge pools to
accommodate larger visitor numbers; however,
unlike their changing area, which varies
dramatically from 80 square metres to 240 square
metres (see Table 4), their hot room is not enlarged
proportionally. One reason for this could be the
nature of the heating system adopted in these
hammams, and the necessity to maintain a level of
heat and steam based on the plunge pool heating
system as smaller rooms are easier to heat and keep
warm. It could also be to aid privacy and enable
families to have an entire annexe for themselves.
Table 6 shows that the hot room areas vary between
19.8 square metres and 31.2 square metres (with the
exception of al-Dud), a relatively small area range
when compared with the differing sizes of the
changing rooms for example.
In Ankara the results of the floor areas analyses
show how the furnace areas are remarkably similar.
The changing areas also have similar floor areas, with
most around the 50% level [10e]. The warm rooms act
history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 165
Hot room as a smaller buffer before the hot rooms which
‘hub’ as % occupy the second largest area in these cases. The
plan of hammams Sengul and Karacabey (in Ankara)
7.67
are arranged almost symmetrically, with the furnace
12.85 located at the centre, and the male and female zones
9.78 on either side. In terms of the interior, the two main
11.06 spaces are the changing area and the hot rooms each
occupying approximately 40% and 30% respectively
8.78
of the total floor area of the hammam. The hot
9.01
rooms contain smaller annexes in a similar fashion
9.68 to the Cairo hammams, however here the plan is
7.34 restricted to the square rather than the more
8.53 fragmented arrangements of Cairo.
The floor area calculations and analyses reveal that
the hammams located geographically close to each
other and within the same city, adopt similar floor
area proportions. There are, of course, variations and
exceptions in each city representing the complex
urban sites that these structures occupy as well as
specific needs, such as the population figures and
density of the immediate context. The location of the
hammam alongside other more civic and important
buildings, such as mosques, is also an important
factor determining its size. If each floor area is
adjusted by plus or minus 10% then we see very
similar proportions in each city and broad
similarities across the entire sample range. Despite
each hammam adopting very different plans and
room shapes, the percentage area of each room
relative to the whole is very similar across all
countries. The major exception to that conclusion is
Fez, which has much smaller changing areas (an
average of 18% of the total floor area compared with
46% in the hammams of other countries) [10]. This
could be due to the geographic position of Morocco,
which is the furthest distance from the Ottoman
centres and has strong similarities with the
19
Andalusian hammams in Spain.
Proportions and geometric configurations of spaces
The results in Table 7 show considerable variation in
the height:width ratio of the hot rooms. This is
mainly due to the two variations of the central hub
space with annexes, and the alternative, a linear
singular hot room. At Suq al-Ghazal we also find a
very low ceiling relative to the overall width of the
hot room. It is in the proportions of the changing
room that hammams share some similarities. The
two Cairo hammams have very similar proportions
along with Ammouneh in Damascus, despite the
Damascus hammam having a rectilinear single-space
hot room.
As previously stated, the objective here is not to
impose ‘golden ratios’ or perfect geometries on the
hammam layouts, rather to consider principles and
general notions relating to practical requirements
such as the heating system and spatial hierarchies.
Each plan and section of the main case studies has
been analysed. The drawings shown here represent
only the most overt geometrical matches found in
this study. This type of research into hammam
typology has not been executed before and these
results are tentative approaches at deciphering the
complex arrangement of the hammam type.
  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East   Sibley & Jackson
166 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history

Hammam City Hot room Hot room Hot room iwan Changing room
(width:height) plan shape (width:height) (width:height)

Bab al Bahr Cairo 1:1.1 ‘central hub’ 1:1.5 1:1.37

al-Tanbali Cairo 1:1.3 ‘central hub’ 1:0.8 1:1.35

Ammouneh Damascus 1:1.8 rectilinear -- 1:1.37

Seffarine Fez 1:1.47 rectilinear -- 1:1.1

Suq al-Ghazal Constantine 1:0.46 rectilinear 1:1.62 1:1.02

Sengul Ankara 1.44 ‘central hub’ 1:2 1:1.13

Table 7 Width:height ratios of the hot room and the undressing room of the six primary hammam case studies in the five cities

Figure [11b] shows a section of Bab al Bahr without
the original dome of the hot room which has
collapsed, the focus being the hot room area and the
adjacent iwan. In the hot room the width:ceiling
height ratio is 1:1.1 at the base of the collapsed dome,
whereas in the iwan the width:height ratio is 1:1.5.
The plans of Bab al Bahr, while initially appearing
not to follow a clear geometry, reveal several
interlocking squares. The hammam can be divided
into two main sections: changing and bathing [12a,
b]. The extremities of each section form a square plan
that is further subdivided into smaller areas and
rooms. The changing room has a height:width ratio
of 1:1, if the clerestory window lantern is discounted.
With the lantern it is a ratio of 1:1.37. The sectional
drawings [11a, b] also reveal the influence of the
square in the volume composition of this hammam.
The square, octagon and eight-pointed star
(created by two superimposed squares, one rotated
45 degrees relative to the other) are frequently
deployed within Islamic art, architecture,
calligraphy and ceramics. The shapes in the hot
room area were created using the 45 degree chamfer
11a
that makes up the octagon of the hot room [12b].
Each new square helped to inform the dimension of
subsequent squares that were added and it seemed
that they ‘lined up’ with the structure of the
hammam. There are, of course, many other factors at
play in the design of any building beyond the
arrangement of shapes; however, it seems that a
loose geometric proportioning system was deployed
in the layout of this particular hammam.
Generally the hot room ceiling-height dimension
is greater than the width of the room. The hot room
adopts narrow proportions while maximising the
area in contact with the furnace. The above ratios
illustrate how the volume is reduced to aid the
heating of the room (entirely reliant here on the heat
and steam released by the water in the plunge pool)
as well as to enable a greater density of steam. At Bab
al Bahr, we see that the main hot room proportions
are 1:1.3 (taking into consideration the height of the
collapsed dome), the height being considerably less
than some of the cases studies in other countries.
The iwans are considerably smaller than all the
spaces found in the hammams of other countries,
again enabling them to be heated more effectively
and to higher temperatures. The steam produced
also acts as a screen to maintain privacy in these
smaller areas.
In Bab al Bahr the changing room width:height
proportions are 1:1.37. This creates an impressive
entrance space illuminated from the clerestory
windows [3a, 11b]. However, if the main ceiling
height is considered below the clerestory, the
width:height proportions are close to 1:1, making
the room a near perfect square. The longitudinal
section and plan reveals how Bab al Bahr is composed

11 Patterns in the
sections of Hammam
Bab al Bahr, Cairo
a Section of the
undressing room
b Section showing
the four squares that
largely dictate the
volumes of all of the
hammam key areas
(note that the
collapsed dome of
the hot room is not
represented in this
11b section)

Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East

of two large volumes (the changing and hot rooms)
which lead to several smaller rooms. The smaller
rooms are less formally arranged and without the
same concern for geometrical proportions. In
Hammam al-Tanbali the planning strategy is less
clear and neat defined geometries are not as evident.
However, the sectional drawing marks a clear divide
between the entrance/changing area and the bathing
spaces. The changing area has a flat roof with
clerestory lanterns, whereas the hot room, unlike
Bab al Bahr, is still domed and at a smaller scale than
the changing room.
In Hammam Ammouneh [13a, b] the plan is
broadly divided into two square areas. The bath is
split into areas for changing and washing, with a
central spine containing the toilets and circulation.
However, unlike the Cairo examples, the changing
area has a domed roof structure rather than a flat
roof with clerestory lanterns. Also, in contrast to the
Cairo hammams, Ammouneh does not have a
centralised hot room with peripheral annexes – it
only has one annexe off the hot room. Rather, the
progression through the hammam terminates with
the hot room that is positioned adjacent to the
furnace, with the small annexe room further
enveloping the furnace room.
Suq al-Ghazal [14] is the exception to these cases,
with a low ceiling height relative to the width of the
hot room. However, within this hot room there are
three niches with ratios of 1:1.62, which is more akin
to the proportions found in the other hammams. In
the changing area the overall height to the point of
the dome and overall width gives a ratio of almost
1:1. In addition there is another square proportion
established by the positioning of the columns and
  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East   Sibley & Jackson
history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 167
12 Organisational
patterns in the plan
of Hammam Bab al
Bahr, Cairo
a Floor plan with
superimposed
squares
b Plan with
superimposed
rotated squares
12a
12b
dome aperture [14]. In the hot room area we see
another variation on the hot room theme; there is a
large hot room with three smaller annexe spaces.
However, rather than operating as separate rooms as
in Cairo, the annexes are more like niches, offering
some degree of privacy while remaining within the
one singular volume.
In Hammam Seffarine [15], the sectional drawing
demonstrates the even distribution of space
throughout the hammam, unlike the other
examples where changing and bathing are split into
two large volumes. The changing room is still the
largest component and grandest space within the
hammam; however, in the bathing spaces there is a
more even distribution of space between the cold,
warm and hot rooms. The changing room is also
more ornately decorated than the other hammams,
perhaps seeking significance through applied
ornament, rather than through a large volume.
Sengul in Ankara [16a-c] also adopts a central hub
hot room arrangement, like the hammams of Cairo,
but relies entirely on the underfloor heating system.
Sengul is also a double hammam, with distinct
bathing structures adjacent to each other and
sharing the same furnace. The hammam is almost
symmetrical in plan with each entrance at opposite
ends of the building. The visitor travels towards the
hot rooms that are located centrally, but share the
same furnace. The dual aspect of this hammam
means that both male and female bathers can use
the facilities at the same time and the division of
space is equal, which would suggest the hammam is
used by both sexes in equal measure. However, the
male section is slightly larger than the female section
in terms of floor areas of all of the spaces. The
168 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history

13 Organisational
patterns in the plan
and section of
Hammam
Ammouneh,
Damascus
a Section showing
the hot room and
undressing room
proportions
b Plan with
superimposed
squares over the
bathing and
changing areas

14 Section through
Hammam Suq
al-Ghazal in
Constantine
showing the hot
13a
room and
undressing room
proportions

15 Section through
Hammam Seffarine
in Fez showing the
hot room and
undressing room
proportions

16 Section through
Hammam Sengul in
Ankara showing the
square proportions
of the undressing
room
a Layout of Sengul’s
twin structure
b Sectional drawing
through the male
undressing room
c Male undressing
room

13b

14

sectional drawing is cut through the male changing Conclusion

room [16b, c]. The shaded square illustrates how this
portion of the hammam is governed by a square
geometry that extends to the roofscape. This
proportion can only be experienced through the
abstract device of the sectional drawing, however the
designers must have felt this was an appropriate
method for establishing the proportions of the
changing area.
The analyses of the architecture of hammam
buildings across a wide geographical area, the spatial
configuration of their internal spaces along with
their floor areas and proportions, have revealed
interesting research results, indicating a common
vernacular know-how across the region.
The results obtained through this research suggest
that within each city of each country, the hammams

Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East
 history arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 169

16a
15a

16b
15b

adopt similar design intentions and internal

arrangements, based on the percentage area each
building devotes to specific functions in the bathing
process. The internal arrangement of spaces is
governed by a ‘vernacular’ or overriding principle
specific to that location, independent of the gross
size of the hammam and its position within the city.
The principle is not a fixed or rigid device, but
intimates a theme upon which variations are made.
In all cities the changing room occupies almost
half of the total floor area of the whole hammam,
reflecting its important role as a gathering space for
social interaction; this importance is reminiscent of
the Roman baths. The hot and the warm room seem
to vary in their importance depending on the era in
which the hammams were constructed and their
geographical location. It is clear that the warm room
is the main bathing space in all the hammams of Fez,
whereas the hot room is the main bathing space in
the Ottoman hammams of Damascus and Ankara.
The succession of the three thermal zones (cold,
warm and hot) is more apparent in the hammams of 16c

Fez in Morocco, which are closer in their typology to

the small Roman baths, whereas this succession
seems to disappear in some of the hammams in the
other countries where the hot room becomes the
dominant bathing space. Variations in the
underfloor heating system (a hypocaust in Fez,
Constantine and Ankara, and an underfloor duct
system in Damascus) have some implications in the
way the bathing spaces are configured.
The hammams of Cairo present a clear exception
to all the hammams investigated in the region. Their
hot room is characterised by a cruciform
organisation with smaller raised hot water plunge
pool rooms, releasing heat and steam to the other
spaces. The size of the hot room seems to vary very
little in relation to the overall size of the hammam.
Larger hammams tend to have larger changing areas
and an increased number of plunge pools.
In terms of proportions, this research has observed
that there appears to be some concern for geometric
shapes and patterns in the plan and cross-sections of
some of the hammams. In certain cases there is no
discernible pattern, yet in other cases, such as Bab al
Bahr, the presence of the squares in plan and section
indicate an overt concern for proportion and
geometrical relationships.
It is clear that the climatic region where the
hammams are located, as well as the type of heating
system adopted, play an important role not only in
the configuration and proportions of the spaces, but
also in the composition and proportions of domes
and vaults covering the bathing spaces. These forms
respond better than any other to the stratification of
heat and steam creating comfortable internal
environments. The research discussed in this paper
will continue with further studies into geometry and
division of spaces within the typology of a much
larger sample with the aim to reveal the silent rules
embedded in these important vernacular buildings.

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170 arq . vol 16 . no 2 . 2012 history
Notes
1. K. A. C. Creswell, A Short Account of
Early Muslim Architecture, revised
and supplemented by James W.
Allan (Aldershot: Scolar Press,
1989), pp. 105–17, 186–92.
2. Inge Nielsen, Thermae et Balnea: The
Architecture and Cultural History of
Roman Public Baths (France:
Lavoisier, 1995).
3. Islamicstudies.info ‘Taharah:
Purification’, see
<http://www.islamicstudies.info/
prayers/purification/purification.
php?id=4> [accessed 5 April 2012].
4. Michel Écochard and Claude Le
Cœur, Les Bains de Damas, vols 1 and
2 (Beyrouth: Imprimerie
Catholique, 1943).
5. Edmond Pauty, Les Hammams du
Caire (Le Caire: Imprimerie de
L’Institut Français d’Archéologie
Orientale – IFAO, 1933).
6. Henri Terrasse, ‘Trois Bains
Mérinides du Maroc’, in Mélanges
offerts à William Marcais par l’Institut
d’Études Islamiques de l’Université de
Paris (Paris: Éditions G. -P.
Maisonneuve, 1950), pp. 311–20.
7. Edmond Secret, ‘Les Hammams de
Fès’, in Bulletin de l’Institut d’Hygiène
du Maroc, Nouvelle Série, 2 (1942),
61–77, reprinted in Edmond
Secret, Les Sept Printemps de Fès
(Tours: Impression Aps., 1990), pp.
57–67.
8. Martin Dow, The Islamic Baths of
Palestine (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1996).
9. Alaa Habashi, ‘Restoration for Site
Presentation: The Ruins of the
Idrissid Bath in Volubilis,
Morocco’, in The Proceedings of the
Conference on Conservation in
Changing Societies: Heritage and
Development (Leuven: Katholike
Universiteit, Raymond Lemaire
International Centre for
Conservation, 2006), pp. 267–76.
10. Écochard and Le Cœur, Les Bains de
Damas; Magda Sibley, ‘The Pre-
Ottoman Public Baths of
Damascus and their Survival into
the Twenty-first Century: An
Analytical Survey’, in Journal of
Architectural and Planning Research,
24.4 (2007), 271–88; Mounir Keyyal,
al Hammamt al Dimashkiya
(Damascus: Ibn Khaldun, 1986).
11. Abu al-Futuh, Muhammad Sayf
al-Nasr, ‘Les hammams dans les
Quartiers de Khan al-Khalili et
Bayn al-Qaásrayn des Fatimides
à la fin de l’Époque Mamelouke’,
in Le Khan al-Khalili et Ses Environs:
Un Centre Commercial et Artisanal au
Caire du XIIIe au XXe siècle, ed. by
Sibley & Jackson  The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East
Sylvie Denoix, Jean-Charles
Depaule and Michel Tuchscherer
(Cairo: Institut Français
d’Archéologie Orientale – IFAO,
1999), pp. 97–98.
12. Fodil Fadli and Magda Sibley, ‘The
Historic Hammams of Cairo,
Safeguarding a Vanishing
Heritage’, in Journal of Architectural
Conservation, 14.3 (2008), 59–80.
13. Sibley, ‘The Pre-Ottoman Public
Baths’.
14. Écochard and Le Cœur, Les Bains
de Damas.
15. Sibley, ‘The Pre-Ottoman Public
Baths’.
16. Elif Sehitoglu, The Historic
Hammams of Bursa (Istanbul: Tarih
VakfiYurt Publications, 2008).
17. Nabila Seffadj, Les bains d’Alger
durant la période ottomane (XVIe–
XIXe siècles)
(Paris: PU Paris-Sorbonne, 2008).
18. Dow, The Islamic Baths of Palestine.
19. Carlos Vilchez Vilchez, Arab Baths
(Granada: Los Libros de la Estrella,
2004).
Illustration credits
arq gratefully acknowledges:
Magda Sibley, all images
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the
European Commission 6th
Framework Programme Specific
Targeted Research Projects (strep),
fp6-2003-inco-mpc-2 (517704),
Duration: 2005 – 2008. Scientific and
financial co-ordinator: Oikodrom –
The Vienna Institute for Urban
Sustainability.
Many thanks are due to Dr Heidi
Dumreicher at Oikodrom for
coordinating the hammam project.
We are also grateful to the following
research partners: Prof. Dalila El
Kerdany at mimar Consultancy in
Cairo, Kamal Reftani at ader fes in
Morocco, Dr Sarab Atassi at ifead in
Damascus, Dr Samira Debbache at
the Constantine School of
Architecture in Algeria and Prof.
Emine Saltik at the School of
Architecture, the Middle Eastern
Technical University in Ankara.
Thanks are also due to the owners,
managers and staff working in the
case study hammams who have been
so helpful in facilitating the
fieldwork.
The illustrations were produced as
part of the EU funded hammam
project and in the context of an ahrc
funded project titled The Surviving
Islamic Baths of North Africa. We are
grateful to Adham Bakry and Fodil
Fadli for their technical assistance in
the production of photos and plans
of Cairo hammams.
Biographies
Magda Sibley is an architect and
Senior Lecturer in architecture at the
University of Manchester. Her
research examines the
transformations of world heritage
Islamic cities in North Africa and the
Middle East with particular emphasis
on how two vernacular building types
– the courtyard house and the public
bath or hammam –act as urban
catalysts in the twenty-first century.
She has been awarded various
research grants from the Arts and
Humanities Research Council in the
UK (ahrc) to investigate the public
baths in the World Heritage cities of
the mena region. Her work has gained
an international dimension with her
partnership in the European
consortium for the hammam project
and recently with her involvement in
the EU funded project Euro-Med
Heritage 4 Hammamed project. She is
currently completing a book on the
historic public baths of North Africa
and the Middle East and their survival
into the twenty-first century.
Dr Iain Jackson is a lecturer and
architect at the Liverpool School of
Architecture. He is interested in
‘transnational architecture’, and, in
particular, the architecture of British
architects working in tropical
climates. He is currently writing a
monograph on the work of Maxwell
Fry and Jane Drew, with particular
focus on their work in India, Ghana
and Nigeria.
Authors’ addresses
Dr Magda Sibley
Manchester Architecture Research
Centre (marc)
The University of Manchester
School of Environment and
Development
Humanities Bridgeford Street
Oxford Road
Manchester
m13 9pl
uk
magda.sibley@manchester.ac.uk
Dr Iain Jackson
Liverpool School of Architecture
University of Liverpool
Abercromby Square
Liverpool
l69 7zp
uk
iain.jackson@liv.ac.uk