Palace and Mosque at Ukhaidir: A Study in Early Mohammadan ArchitectureBell, Gertrude Lowthian
History
Palace and Mosque at Ukhaidir: A Study in Early Mohammadan Architecture
Bell, Gertrude Lowthian
Iraq -- Antiquities; Mosques; Ukheidar
In the lîwân group on the west side of the court the rooms are 5·95
metres long with an average width of 4 metres. The vaults here are all
standing, and the rooms are considerably higher than those on the first
floor, measuring 5·25 metres to the top of the vault. (It is difficult
to get exact measurements for the height of the rooms on the ground
floor owing to irregularities in the level of the ground, but I think
that a height of 5 metres to the top of the vault is not far wrong.)
Between the parallel barrel vaults are masonry tubes, which are visible
upon the façade in the form of small openings like windows between the
arches of the central and of the side rooms. To the south of No. 121
there is a small open court, 123, which is approached by a narrow
passage from the main court. A door from it leads into No. 122, which is
completely ruined. On the north side of the court, 123, there was a
stair which gave access to the flat roof of Nos. 121, 120, and 119. On
the north side of 119 a fragment of wall rises above the level of the
roof; it was probably connected with the high vault of the gate-house
chambers. In the lîwân group on the south side of the court, the rooms,
124, 125, and 126, are 7 metres long, but their exact width is difficult
to determine since the party walls have fallen (Plate 24, Fig. 1). It
must, however, have averaged about 4 metres like the width of the rooms
on the west side. On the east side of the court a vaulted passage runs
parallel to 137; the door into the court is standing and its arch
oversails the jambs, whereas the arches of all the other doors are set
back (Plate 24). Above the door there is a narrow window. A lîwân group
follows to the south of the passage (Plate 24, Figs. 1 and 2). The rooms
are 7·45 metres long; their width varies, as far as I could ascertain in
their ruined condition. According to my estimates No. 132 is 2·85 metres
wide, No. 131 is 3·95 metres wide, and No. 130 is 4 metres wide. Still
further south there is a small open court, No. 127, corresponding to No.
123. A door in the south wall opens on to a narrow parapet or balcony
which crowns the façade of the first floor. To the east lies an
irregular chamber, 128, which is totally ruined.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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