Ablaq
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''Ablaq'' (; particolored; literally 'piebald') is an architectural technique involving alternating or fluctuating rows of light and dark stone. It is an
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
term describing a technique associated with
Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...
in the
Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
. It may have its origins in earlier
Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...
in the region, where alternating layers of white stone and orange brick were used in construction. The technique is used primarily for decorative effect.


Origins

The ''ablaq'' decorative technique is thought to possibly be a derivative from the ancient
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
, whose
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
used alternate sequential runs of light colored
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
stone and darker colored orange brick. The first clearly recorded use of ''ablaq'' masonry is found in repairs to the north wall of the
Great Mosque of Damascus The Umayyad Mosque (; ), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Its religious importance stems from the eschatological reports ...
in 1109. The technique may have originated in Syria, where the local stone supply may have encouraged the use of alternating courses of light and dark stone. In the southern part of Syria there is abundance of black
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
as well as white-colored
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
. The supplies of each are about equal, so it was natural that masonry techniques of balanced proportions were used.


Use in Islamic architecture

The
Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...
in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, originally built in the late 7th century during the Umayyad period, features ''ablaq'' light and dark stone
voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...
s in the arches of its inner colonnade. The origins of the marble ''ablaq'' treatments at the Dome of the Rock are controversial, with some scholars theorizing them to be from the original construction, and some saying they were later additions (and differing then as to the dates and identity of the builders). The alternating red and white masonry in the voussoirs of arches at the
Great Mosque of Córdoba Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...
''–'' built in the late 8th century and expanded up to the 10th century ''–'' is another early example of such a technique, which could be related to earlier examples in Jerusalem and
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
that the Umayyad rulers of Córdoba were familiar with. Andrew Petersen, a scholar of Islamic art and archeology, states that ''ablaq'' (alternating courses of white limestone and black basalt) is "a characteristic of the monumental masonry of Damascus." ''Ablaq'' masonry appears in some 12th and 13th-century buildings in Diyarbakir built under the
Artuqids The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; Old Anatolian Turkish: , , plural, pl. ; ; ) was established in 1102 as a Turkish people, Turkish Anatolian beyliks, Anatolian Beylik (Principality) of the Seljuk Empire. It formed a ...
, as well as in some late
Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...
buildings in Damascus. It also appears in the portals of some 13th-century Seljuk monuments in
Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
, such as the Alaeddin Mosque the Karatay Madrasa, possibly due to the influence of Syrian craftsmen. ''Ablaq'' became a prominent feature of
Mamluk architecture Mamluk architecture was the architectural style that developed under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk su ...
in Syria, Egypt and Palestine in the 14th and 15th centuries. During this period, black and white stone were often used as well as red brick in recurring rows, giving a three colored striped building. ''Ablaq'' masonry supplemented other decorative techniques such as the use of "joggled" voussoirs in arches, where stones of alternating colours were cut into interlocking shapes. In 1266 the Mamluk sultan al-Zahir Baybars al-Bunduqdari built a palace in Damascus known as the ("''Ablaq'' Palace"), which was constructed with alterations of light and dark masonry. This name shows that the term ''ablaq'' was in regular usage for this type of masonry in the 13th century. In
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, the Mamluk fortified khan at
Aqaba Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...
is a medieval fortress modeled after those used by the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
. It contains an arch above the protected entrance. The
horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the ar ...
has ''ablaq'' masonry, harkening to Mamluk architecture in Egypt.Construction with alternating layers of brick and stone was often used in early Ottoman architecture in
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
and the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
, but it fell out of fashion in later Ottoman imperial architecture. The traditional ''ablaq'' technique continued to be used regionally in the architecture of
Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...
(16th century and after). Examples in Damascus include the
Sulaymaniyya Takiyya The Sulaymaniyya Takiyya (; ) is a '' takiyya'' ( Ottoman-era Arabic name for a mosque complex which served as a Sufi convent) in Damascus, Syria, located on the right bank of the Barada River.. Commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Ma ...
(16th century), the
Azm Palace Al-Azm Palace ( ) is a palace in Damascus, Syria, built in 1749. Located north of Al-Buzuriyah Souq in the Ancient City of Damascus, the palace was built in 1749 to be the private residence for As'ad Pasha al-Azm, the governor of Damascus; during ...
(18th century), and the Khan As'ad Pasha (18th century).


Use in Christian Europe

The technique of alternating light and dark stone constructions also appeared in Christian Europe around the mid 12th century, but it is uncertain whether this development occurred independently or was influenced by existing examples in Syria. Notable examples include the 13th-century cathedrals of
Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...
,
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
, and
Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...
, as well as a palace in Genoa.
Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
n
ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor