Architecture of Palestine
The architecture of
History
Ancient architecture
Excavations in
Among the foundations discovered in the Beidha excavations were those of a six-sided, one room house dated to 6800 BCE. Circular house foundations in Beidha dating to about 6000 BCE resembled those found at
Classical Antiquity
Five types of housing are seen in the Roman-Byzantine period.[3] Two of these, the simple house and the courtyard house, typify the domestic architecture of Palestine for some three millennia into the modern age (see section on Building materials and techniques).[3] The other three, seen as characteristic of the Roman-Byzantine period, are the big mansion (domus), the farmhouse and the shop-house.[3] The relatively high number of domus structures dated to the late Hellenistic and Roman periods reveal the extent of Greco-Roman influence on domestic architecture in Palestine at that time.[4] The oldest known examples of this kind of structure in the Galilee were situated in Philoteria/Bet Yerah and date to the late Hellenistic period.[4] Examples of the farmhouse type found thus far date exclusively to the Herodian period.[4]
Architectural remains from the early Christian period are scant in Palestine. Scholars like Walter E. Rast attribute this to the relative powerlessness of the early Christian communities prior to the institutionalization of the Christian church. The earliest known building from this period, a church built in octagonal form, dates to the 2nd or 3rd centuries CE. While there is evidence that Christians venerated a number of sites associated with Jesus at this early time, very few structures have been found that were constructed at this time. One notable exception is evidence of a pre-4th century CE structure that was found under the mosaics of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.[5]
Arab caliphate period (640–1099)
Major changes to the monumental architecture of Palestine followed the
While these buildings and the construction of the Royal Palace established Jerusalem as a religious and cultural centre of Islam, the administrative capital of the
Archaeological finds indicate that the major cities of the Byzantine period (
Monumental construction was rarer during the later
Crusader period (1099–1291)
The most well-known architectural legacy left by the
Another major focus of the Crusader building effort were churches. Hundreds of churches were constructed during the Crusader period in Palestine, with 60 built in Jerusalem alone. Some of these were built on the ruins of earlier Byzantine churches; in other cases, mosques were transformed into churches.[clarification needed] The Dome of the Rock was converted into a church given in the care of the Augustinians, while Al-Aqsa mosque was transformed into a palace by Baldwin I. Fine carved capitals and sculpture were a feature of the Crusader churches. After Jerusalem was reconquered by the Ayyubids in 1187, the Crusader presence in Palestine shrank to be centered around Acre where some of the finest Crusader architecture was built until their final defeat by the Mamluks there in 1291.[14]
The influence of Crusader architecture on the Islamic architecture of Palestine that followed was both direct and indirect. The direct influence can be seen in the cushion-shaped voussoirs and folded cross-vaults that were adapted for use in the Mamluk buildings of Jerusalem. Additionally, Arab castles constructed following the Crusades, like the later phases of the
Mamluk period (1250–1517)
The Mamluks focused on revitalizing the road network, which was essential to their
Also under Mamluk rule, the construction of religious buildings such as
In Ramla, the Crusader church was converted into a mosque and the Great Mosque there was rebuilt. One of the most beautiful Mamluk era structures is the tomb of
Ottoman period (1516–1918)
New architectural techniques introduced by the Ottoman rulers were gradually adopted, though not universally. Jerusalem was redeveloped under Ottoman rule, its walls rebuilt, the Dome of the Rock retiled and the water system renovated.
Housing varied by region, with mud-brick houses common along the coast, of which there are few surviving examples today. Predominant features of stone houses were the domed roofs which in the 18th century were often decorated with swirls, rosettes and semi-circles formed of carved plaster. Roofs in the Galilee region were differed in their use of transverse stone arches that supported short beams over which the roof was laid.[15]
Ottoman fortresses that served as garrisons for the
British Mandate period (1918–1948)
The British sent a succession of six town planners to
Building materials and techniques
Two types of house predominated in Palestine from the second millennium BCE through to the modern era: the simple house found commonly in
The most characteristic type of domestic building in Palestine, according to Halvor Moxnes, was the courtyard house, consisting of several houses enclosed by a surrounding wall that shared a common courtyard to which there was one entrance. Members of the same or related families who are assumed to have enjoyed a good economic situation lived in such structures which generally spanned an area of 200 to 300 metres. Each would have had access to two or more rooms and used the courtyard for domestic tasks, such as the preparation of food, the making and washing of clothes, along with other agrarian and occupational tasks.[3]
Petersen identified the main building materials used in Palestine in modern times as stone and unbaked brick, noting that wood and baked brick are hardly ever used. He describes some of the main types of stone used in the architecture of Palestine, which varied by region. For example,
Unique to the architecture of Palestine was the use of masonry cross-vaulting that was covered in mud over a centre supported wood formwork to create domical square spaces. The use of vaulting in construction was often due to a shortage in wood, but it was also preferred because of its permanence. Whereas in other places in the Arab world, vaulting was reserved for monumental structures, such as palaces, mosques and tombs or for below-ground storage areas, in Palestine, it was also used in the construction of homes. Another type of vaulting, groin vaults made of stone that are slightly parabolic in section, are said by Frederich Ragette to be a standard unit of construction in Palestine.[18]
Vernacular architecture
The writings of
Palestinian village house
The Palestinian village house is the best known house type to Western scholars. It is described and documented in travelogues, essays and photographs from the 17th century onward. The house was divided into two areas: a lower level known as qa' al-bayt near or at the entrance of the home and an elevated area known as the mastaba used for living and eating.[21]
The size and uses of the lower level varies from house to house. In some cases it was a small area near the door, only 10–15 centimeters lower than the rest of the floor where visitors would take off their shoes before entering the house. In other cases, it would be a large area housing animals with an elevated gallery that allowed for use of the space below with the space above used for storage.[21]
They had a farm on their roof because vegetables were cheap and easy and they cooked outside to let the heat out.
Masterbuilders
In Palestinian villages prior to 1948, there was at least one al-banna (expert
Some masterbuilders were commissioned to work beyond the boundaries of
Photographs
Ernst Benecke photographed the land and architecture of Palestine in June 1852 using a calotype process which is said by Kathleen Howe to have been particularly suited to the subject matter. Of one calotype entitled In View of Herod's Palace, House of David, Howe writes that, "the softened details of the jumbled houses recreate in an almost tactile way the coarse stone masonry and daubed mud construction of the buildings."[24]
See also
- Architecture of Israel, which overlaps in multiple regards with the architecture of Palestine and vice versa
- architectural formfrom the Levant; a type of hall or vaulted portal
- Syro-Palestinian archaeology
References
- ^ Ron Fuchs in Necipoğlu, 1998, p. 173
- ^ S2CID 165797217.
- ^ a b c d e f Moxnes, 1997, pp. 49-51
- ^ a b c Moxnes, 1997, p. 53
- ^ Rast, 1992, p. 179
- ^ a b Rast, 1992, pp. 195 - 196.
- ^ a b c d e Petersen, 2002, p. 230.
- ^ "White Mosque". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- ^ Pringle, 1998, pp. 182-185
- ^ Fletcher, 1996, p. 584
- ^ Whitcomb in Szuchman, 2009, p. 241
- Al-Arabiya. March 16, 2010. Archived from the originalon March 23, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ "Ancient Muslim Ruins Found in Israel ... Again". Fox News. Associated Press. March 17, 2010. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ^ a b c d Petersen, 2002, p. 231.
- ^ a b c d e f g Petersen, 2002, p. 232.
- ISBN 0-415-19619-1. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ a b Moxnes, 1997, p. 60
- ^ Ragette, 2003, pp. 41-42
- ^ a b Slyomovics, 1998, p. 84
- ^ Sufian and Levine, 2007, pp. 226 - 228
- ^ a b Ron Fuchs in Necipoğlu, 1998, p. 158
- ^ Slyomovics, 1998, pp. 91–94.
- ^ Slyomovics, 1998, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Howe, 1997, p. 24
Bibliography
- Fletcher, Sir Banister; Cruickshank, Dan (1996). Dan Cruickshanke (ed.). Sir Banister Fletcher's a history of architecture (20th, illustrated ed.). Architectural Press. ISBN 978-0-7506-2267-7.
- Howe, Kathleen Stewart (1997). Revealing the Holy Land: the photographic exploration of Palestine (Illustrated ed.). St. Louis Art Museum: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-89951-095-8.
- King, Anthony D. (2004). Spaces of global cultures: architecture, urbanism, identity (Illustrated, reprint ed.). Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-415-19620-8.
fuchs vernacular architecture palestinian.
- ISBN 978-0-203-44049-0.
- ISBN 978-90-04-11084-7.
- Petersen, Andrew (2002). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-20387-3.
- ISBN 0-521-39037-0
- Ragette, Friedrich (2003). Traditional domestic architecture of the Arab Region (2nd, illustrated ed.). Edition Axel Menges. ISBN 978-3-932565-30-4.
- Rast, Walter E. (1992). Through the ages in Palestinian archaeology: an introductory handbook (Illustrated ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-56338-055-6.
- Szuchman, Jeffrey (2009). Nomads, Tribes, and the State in the Ancient Near East: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives (PDF). Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. ISBN 978-1885923615.
- Slyomovics, Susan (1998). The Object of Memory: Arab and Jew Narrate the Palestinian Village (Illustrated ed.). University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1525-0.
- Sufian, Sandra Marlene; LeVine, Mark (2007). Reapproaching borders: new perspectives on the study of Israel-Palestine (Illustrated ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-4639-4.
External links
- Contested territories Interview with Eyal Weizman in Canadian Architect
- A jump start for Palestinian architecture, by Esther Zandberg in Haaretz
- Stirring up beauty by Kerry Abbot in Saudi Aramco World