A salsabil (or salasabil), also known as a shadirwan, is a type of fountain which maximizes the surface area of the water. It is used for

evaporative cooling An evaporative cooler (also known as evaporative air conditioner, swamp cooler, swamp box, desert cooler and wet air cooler) is a device that cools air through the evaporation of water. Evaporative cooling differs from other air conditioning sy ...

of buildings, cooling and

aeration Aeration (also called aerification or aeriation) is the process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or dissolved in a liquid or other substances that act as a fluid (such as soil). Aeration processes create additional surface area in t ...

of drinking water, and ornament (it has also been used to prevent

eavesdropping Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information. Etymology The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eave ...

). The water may flow in a thin sheet or thin streams, often over a wavy surface with many little waterfalls. Its use extends from southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

through

north Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

to northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Etymology and name

The name ''salsabil'' () likely derives from a Qur'anic reference. The term ''shadirwan'' is also used for devices for aerating drinking water. However, the term ''shadirwan'' or ''shadirvan'' (, , ) has slightly different uses in other cultures, such as designating a central ablutions fountain for a mosque courtyard in Turkish (see '' shadirvan'').

Design and setting

The water flows in a manner designed to maximize the surface area, and thus evaporation. A salsabil may be a near-vertical marble waterfall mounted on a wall, or the sheet of water may flow down a slanted chute.

Evaporative cooling An evaporative cooler (also known as evaporative air conditioner, swamp cooler, swamp box, desert cooler and wet air cooler) is a device that cools air through the evaporation of water. Evaporative cooling differs from other air conditioning sy ...

causes the water and the surrounding air to cool as some of the water evaporates.

Passive ventilation Passive ventilation is the process of supplying air to and removing air from an indoor space without using mechanical systems. It refers to the flow of external air to an indoor space as a result of pressure differences arising from natural forc ...

may be used to maximize the flow of unsaturated air over the water surface and carry the cooled air to where it is needed in the building. Salasabils are often used with

windcatcher A windcatcher, wind tower, or wind scoop () is a traditional architectural element used to create cross ventilation and passive cooling in buildings. Windcatchers come in various designs, depending on whether local prevailing winds are unidi ...

s. A salsabil may also be used to aerate water for drinking in a sabil (or sebil; , ). Salsabils, in the form of inclined marble slabs over which drinking water flowed before being dispensed, were often included inside the sabils of Mamluk architecture. Salasabils were used in

Mughal architecture Mughal architecture is the style of architecture developed in the Mughal Empire in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent. It developed from the architectural styles of ea ...

from the 1200s to the 1600s. They were also used in recent centuries in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. They were sometimes used as decorative features in Ottoman domestic architecture. File:Agra Fort 25 (Friar's Balsam Flickr).jpg, Near-vertical salasabil in the mostly-1500s Agra Fort (dry) File:Front of Bibi Ka Maqbara.jpg, 1660s

Bibi Ka Maqbara The Bibi Ka Maqbara (English: "Tomb of the Lady") is a tomb located in the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was commissioned in 1660 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's son, Prince Azam Shah, in the memory of his mother ...

, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India (dry) File:Atrium of the House of the Centenary at Pompeii, 1901.jpg, Atrium of the House of the Centenary,

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, mid-2nd century BC (dry) File:Villa Getty.JPG, Replica of a Roman fountain in the House of the Large Fountain, Pompeii. File:Indoor fountain with water channel - Alcázar of Seville, Spain - DSC07295 (cropped).JPG, A near-horizontal ridged channel in the Room of Justice, 1360s Alcazar of Seville, Spain (wet) File:Fuente Alhambra.JPG, Water flows out over the corrugated sides of a fountain, 1360s ,

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

, Granada, Spain (wet) File:Fontaine chambre Murad III harem palais Topkapi.jpg, Privy Chamber of Murat III, late 16th century,

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...

, Istanbul, Turkey (dry) File:Al-Ghuri sabil DSCF8913.jpg, Marble salsabil in the

sebil A sabil or sebil (; ) is a small kiosk in the Islamic architectural tradition where water is freely dispensed to members of the public by an attendant behind a grilled window. The term is sometimes also used to refer to simple unmanned fountain ...

chamber of the al-Ghuriya Complex, Cairo, Egypt (dry)

References

{{HVAC Passive cooling Passive ventilation Water and Islam Water treatment

Etymology and name

Design and setting

See also

References