Art and Architecture - The Mosque

whole: the four images are positioned in the lower half, upper left and upper right. The title is separate and located across the top edge, in black and in red. The text is separate and placed over the majority, in black and in red. All set against a white background. image: the images depict various types of mosque, located in the city of Cairo; including the entrance porch and a plan of Sultan Hassan, the courtyard of El Azhar, and a plan of Ibn Tulun. text: Art and Architecture THE MOSQUE The general facts here given about mosques hold true throughout the Moslem world, but the present sheet deals primarily with the mosques of Cairo, which fall into four categories:- 1. THE COURTYARD 2. THE MADRASSA 3. THE MAUSOLEUM 4. THE TURKISH or OTTOMAN TYPE In the early days of Islam it was customary for the whole Moslem army or all the inhabitants of a town to gather together for Friday prayers in one mosque, which therefore had to be spacious. The mosque of Ibn Tulun is the oldest and finest example of this Courtyard Type. It was Saladin who introduced the Madrassa, or religious college form of mosque, at the end of the twelfth century. Each of the four sides of the building was attributed to one of the orthodox rites and opened on the courtyard by an arch. At prayer time the followers of all four rites joined together in front of the prayer niche, which indicates the direction of Mecca towards which Moslems must turn when praying. The Madrassa mosque shown here is that of Sultan Hassan (mid-fourteenth century) It is also a Mausoleum Type of mosque with the tomb in a domed chamber behind the prayer niche. The best example of a Turkish Mosque is that of Mahomet Ali in the Citadel. Although a mosque is a house of worship, the building itself is not sacred. NORTH The entrance porch in the mosque of Sultan Hassan, which appears in plan at the bottom corner of the drawing opposite. The Courtyard of El Azhar, the University Mosque founded in the tenth century. Its students are drawn from all over the Islamic world. THE MOSQUE OF IBN TULUN WAS built by Ibn Tulun, the viceroy of the Baghdad caliph, in 899, and was a reproduction of the great mosque at Samarra (see Art and Architecture Sheets nos. 9 and 10). Its many unusual features include brick construction, stucco decoration and pointed arches (pointed arches were not common in Europe until three centuries later). It is surrounded by a Ziyada, or outer court to prevent the houses and markets of Cairo encroaching on the mosque itself: the ziyada is not continued on the fourth side because Ibn Tulun's palace stood there. The main courtyard, which could hold a large number of worshippers is surrounded by two arcades of arches on three sides and five on the side of the mihrab or prayer niche. A. MINARET B. MIHRAB, or prayer niche C. MINBAR, or pulpit D. DIKKA, or prayer platform E. DOME OVER TOMB F. ABLUTIONS FOUNTAIN SULTAN HASSAN WAS built in 1350 as a place of study, a tomb and a mosque. It was intended that it should contain the largest arch in the world. It does in fact exceed the arch at Ctesiphon (Art and Architecture, Sheet no. 10.) if the basement is included in the measurements. The series of small rooms which honeycomb the building were intended for students' quarters. The top photograph shows the entrance porch of this mosque. NORTH El Azhar is near the end of the Muski Bazaar. Sultan Hassan, just below the Citadel, and Ibn Tulun half a mile south-west of the Citadel. They are in out of bounds areas, but may be visited in vehicles. Pictorial Review No. 53 FEBRUARY 23, 1946 Crown Copyright reserved A.B.C.A. Middle East SCALE OF FEET for both drawings 0 100 200 200 400 500 Art and Architecture No. 15 PHOTOGRAPHS: 'PARADE'. PREPARED by W.O.I. Michael Rix. DRAWINGS AND LAYOUT by W.O.I. Richard Leacroft.

Pictorial Review No. 53. Art and Architecture Poster No. 15.