The Buildings Of Early Islam

di;iM§ DINGS OF EARLY ISLAM 15th century miniature). Opposite: Builders at Work. (After a Below: Life in manuscript). a Mediaeval Village. {After an early tit^jfc THE KA'ABA in the courtyard of the MA SJID-A L-HARAM, Library of Congress Cataloguing in Mecca. Publication Data Leacroft, Helen The buildings of early Islam Also by Helen and Richard Leacroft THE THE THE THE THE BUILDINGS BUILDINGS BUILDINGS BUILDINGS BUILDINGS OF OF OF OF OF ANCIENT ANCIENT ANCIENT ANCIENT ANCIENT EGYPT GREECE ROME Includes index. Summary: Describes the characteristics and uses of various buildings found throughout the Moslem world including mosques, palaces, bath houses, and MAN homes. MESOPOTAMIA I. [I. Architecture, Islamic — Juvenile literature. Architecture, Islamic] 1. In preparation joint author. THE BUILDINGS OF BYZANTIUM 720'.917'671 NA380.L42 ISBN 0-201-09446-0 © Copyright 1976 by Helen and Richard Leacroft First published 1976 jointly by Hodder & Stoughton Children's Books and Young Scott Books, Addison- Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Reading, Massachusetts 01867, USA. ISBN 0 340 20226 2 USA ISBN 0 201 09446 0 UK All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed and Morrison & bound in Great Britain by Gibb Ltd, London and Edinburgh MM 2 1 1977 SOUTH BOSTON BRANCH II. Leacroft. Richard, Title. 76-2463 THE BUILDINGS OF EARLY ISLAM Helen and Richard Leacroft HODDER & STOUGHTON LONDON LEICESTER SYDNEY AUCKLAND and ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY MUHAMMAD'S HOUSE, Medina, Saudi Arabia, a.d. 622 ISLAM, one of the great religions of the world, was founded by the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century a.d. Its holy book, the Koran, provided not only a code for living, but also emphasised the importance of the family as a basis for society. two small Muhammad cities in the was born in Mecca and lived and died in Medina, Arabian desert, but the faith which he proclaimed was to be embraced by peoples as varied as the wandering Bedouin, hill tribesmen, merchants and city J.wellers. It captured the great Byzantine and Persian empires, spread east into India and west across north Africa to Spain and France. In this book we shall see that as people from many countries with differing climates and types of building materials became followers - Muslims - each area produced the variations of buildings, mosques, schools, hospitals and houses best suited to its needs. Some were simple, others magnificent some were flatroofed and many were domed; but all had the necessary elemen