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 court E the arrangement of the rooms is modified owing to the
exiguous space which remained at the back of the ceremonial chambers.
The elements are, however, the same, a court, a lîwân with side
chambers, and a kitchen. To these are added a stair leading to the roof,
which is absent from the ḥaram courts. It is reasonable to assume that
court E was the private bait of the lord of Ukhaiḍir. These courts or
baits are foreshadowed in the posterior courts of the Achaemenid and the
early Sasanian palaces (again Firûzâbâd offers the closest parallel); in
the palace of Khusrau they reach a development which was to be very
little modified at Ukhaiḍir. The scheme can best be studied in the
courts on the lower level O, Q, and S. Each of these courts is provided
on the west side with a lîwân, flanking chambers, and a ṭarmah, while a
fourth chamber to the north may be a kitchen. To the south a vaulted
passage leads in each case to a posterior court P, R, and T. On the
eastern side of the forecourts there is another lîwân group, much
shallower than the first and without a ṭarmah or any subsidiary rooms.
The flanking chambers of the eastern lîwâns have small doors into the
court and into the vaulted passage behind them. As far as I could judge,
the three forecourts communicated with each other, in which case the
strict isolation of the baits of Ukhaiḍir is a new feature. In courts K
and M the arrangement is a little different. The east end in one court
only is occupied by a shallow lîwân group, the west end in both by a
deep lîwân group with a ṭarmah, but the subsidiary chambers are to the
rear, one small and one larger room, approached by a door through the
lîwân and opening on to a posterior court. The four baits on the upper
level are very similar. The subsidiary chambers are placed behind the
main lîwân; in courts C and G there is a group of rooms to the side, and
court G is without the shallow eastern lîwân group in its forecourt, but
possesses it on the west side of its posterior court. Neither courts E
nor I have the small lîwâns. All the courts communicate with one another
(except perhaps courts I and H) and with the passage. These long vaulted
passages are a feature of Ukhaiḍir also. The building materials at
Qaṣr-i-Shîrîn are those of Ukhaiḍir and Sarvistân, undressed stones,
coursed with a certain amount of care, and burnt brick tiles for the
finer work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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