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
large arches are composed of two concentric rings of voussoirs, both
laid vertically, the inner ring being of large tiles used in their full
size, the outer ring of half of the same tiles. The capitals are better
preserved than any in the palace, and from one of the capitals of No. 33
in particular, an excellent idea of the form of the impost-capital
commonly used at Ukhaiḍir can be obtained. (It is the capital seen in
Plate 32, Fig. 1.) The cube of the capital is adapted to the circle of
the column by placing an angle of brick under each corner. The capital
is composed of a shallow ovolo in moulded plaster surmounted by an
abacus which consists of a single course of bricks and carries an impost
formed of three courses of brick. Within the arches the impost slightly
oversails the abacus.
On the south side of corridor 36 the vault has fallen, together with the
columns between the engaged piers which must have supported the arcade
(Plate 31, Fig. 3). The spring of the arches can be seen against the
piers. From the fragments that exist, the barrel vaults do not seem to
have intersected one another but to have met diagonally at the angles.
At the east and west ends of No. 36 a door opens into rooms 39 and 34.
No. 34 communicates with a parallel chamber, No. 35, which opens
independently upon the narrow open court, F, between 36 and the corridor
28. The eastern side of this court was much ruined. In the south-east
corner was a stair which led up to the roof. To the north, and partly
under the stair, lies a small room, 38, communicating with another
narrow room, 37, which was not entirely vaulted over. That it was
intended to contain a fire is clear from the fact that the vault is
pierced by two terra-cotta pipes, the one 29 centimetres in diameter,
the other 12 centimetres, which must have served as chimneys. Similar
pipes occur elsewhere and will be mentioned later.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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