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
Back to back with Nos. 29, 30, and 31 lie Nos. 32, 33,
and 34, with doorways opening west. The vaults of these six chambers are
well preserved. Plate 68, Fig. 1, shows the interior of No. 31 with an
arched ṭâqchah in the wall. The vault is ovoid and oversails the wall.
The courts in the south wing of the palace correspond neither in size
nor in disposition with those of the north wing. Opposite to the door of
No. 18 a door leads into No. 35, which is an isolated chamber with a
deep niche at the south end. Court I can be approached from court D only
by a circuitous route through passages 17 and 45. Upon the east side of
court I lie the two rooms 36 and 37, 4·40 metres wide and respectively
7·85 and 8 metres long. On the south side there is a group of rooms
preceded by an antechamber, of which nothing is standing but a return at
the east end of the wall or arcade. Three doors lead out of the
antechamber into rooms 39, 40, and 41. In the central chamber (39) there
is an arched niche at either end leaving a space 4·15 metres square
which was covered by a dome set on squinches (Plate 68, Fig. 2). To east
and west, the dome rested upon the arches of the doors leading into Nos.
40 and 41. Beyond 41 there is another room, 42, which was accessible
from 41 only. On the north side of court I are two small rooms, 43 and
44, about 4·15 metres square and much ruined. Further west is the
entrance to corridor 45. Court I is separated from court J by a wall
which is ruined to its foundations. On the south side there is a single
long chamber (47) with an antechamber; the north side is occupied by
corridor 45, which is accessible from court J by a door in the
north-west corner of the court. Corridor 45 communicates with corridor
17, a transverse arch separating the two. I call attention to the fact
that the vault builders were always careful to avoid intersection; when
two barrel vaults meet at right angles, the one is always divided from
the other by a transverse arch. This is very noticeable in corridor 17,
where the vault is standing. In the eastern arm of the corridor, opening
out of court D, the east and west vault terminates against a transverse
arch so as to allow the north and south vault of the western arm to run
straight through to the head wall at the northern end.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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