Palaces
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Palaces are the least common type of architectural survival among the major categories of Islamic architecture. Palaces were not often built to last, and the few exceptional buildings that have survived are either very recent or were abandoned long ago and have been excavated. Yet the desert palaces of Mshatta, in Jordan, and Ukhaidir, in Iraq, have not only survived, but also provide valuable information about the history of early Islamic architecture. The two structures, which were built under different dynasties, were probably constructed within a short time of each other and have a number of important similarities. But the Mshatta palace shows the end of one early era in Islamic architecture and the Ukhaidir palace shows the emergence of the next phase. Taken together they demonstrate the cultural shift from early western architectural influence to the primarily eastern influence that was to be responsible for the principal trends in Islamic architecture for many centuries. Although secular architecture concerned with trade and some private residences survive in archaeological sites throughout the Near East, the "absolute rarity of Islamic palaces [is] a great pity in view of their importance as the acme of secular architecture" (Hillenbrand Islamic 377). The principal reason for the scarcity of such buildings is that they "were designed more for display than for durability" (Blair and Bloom 141). Ideas about architecture, like every aspect of Islamic material c
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than other palaces of either the Umayyad or Abbasid dynasties and this has led to speculation that it may have been the retreat of someone involved in important political power struggles.
The importance of these two buildings lies in the stylistic connections between them and in the relationship they bear to the broader culture of the regions so recently conquered by the followers of Muhammad. By the time the Prophet died in 632 Muslims controlled Mecca and Medina and most of western Arabia. But the caliphs "from khalifa, meaning 'successor' or 'deputy,'" who succeeded Muhammad had defeated the two major powers in western Asia within four years of his death (Irwin 40). These powers were the Byzantine Empire, which extended from the Balkans to northern Syria, and the Sasanian Empire, which took in Palestine, Syria, Iraq and most of Iran.
The Arab peoples among whom Islam developed had links with the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires but "played only a marginal part in [their] highly urbanised and sophisticated culture" (Irwin 17). And, though the rapid and extensive spread of Islam was one of the most amazing phenomena in history, Arab culture did not replace the material culture the Muslim warriors found in the new lands the
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Hillenbrand Islamic, Northedge Mshatta, Mshatta Ukhaidir, Northedge Islamic, Abbasids Baghdad, Near East, Du Ry, Ukhaidir Iraq, Blair Bloom, Muhammad Grabar, islamic architecture, hillenbrand islamic, islamic art, turner 26 vols, vols york grove-mcmillan, art ed, dictionary art, mshatta 250, jane turner, ed jane, grove-mcmillan 1996, jane turner 26, york grove-mcmillan 1996, york grove-mcmillan, 26 vols york,
Approximate Word count = 3162
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)
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