SOAS Research Online

Abstract

At the zenith of its power Ayyubid rule stretched from the Tunisian border in the west, the Yemen in the south and al-Jazira north and eastwards, but only three areas out of this large territorial expanse have received any serious architectural study that has been published; these are Cairo, Damascus and, to a lesser extent, Aleppo. The buildings of Hama, Harran, Homs and Mosul are cursorily described and other Ayyubid structures apart from these have had little or no attention. Throughout there is a marked scarcity of drawings, plans and photographs. Under these circumstances only a detailed review with the most tentative of interpretations is possible. The period opened in 1171 with the overthrow of the Fatimid regime in Egypt by Salah al-Din and the shift in political power was given visual expression in stylistic changes in the architectural field. Whereas the Fatimids adapted several North African architectural features, the Ayyubid rulers looked eastwards for their inspiration. Although their rule lasted under a century, many new structural ideas apparent in regions under Ayyubid control were continued, developed and elaborated under the following Mamluk Sultanate. The subject is divided under the accepted three headings of military, religious and secular constructions. The military section includes city walls, citadels and also caravansarai, because of the parallel defence features. The madrasa and maristan are grouped with the masjid and mausoleum forms as religious architecture because of their interrelationship and structural similarity. The third and last category, secular buildings, includes private houses and public baths.