Transkulturelle Perspektiven 3/2014 - 1 - و Richard Piran McClary Brick Muqarnas on R ūūūm Saljuq buildings - The introduction of an Iranian decorative technique into the architecture of Anatolia The aim of this paper is to examine the form, function decorative brick bonds found in the Islamic architec- and decoration of the small and poorly understood ture of Iran. This indicates that it was non-indigenous corpus of brick muqarnas that survive from the early craftsmen, probably from Iran, 4 that were responsible stage of R ūm Saljuq architecture in Anatolia. These for the construction of the few surviving examples of date from the period between the last quarter of the the art of brick decoration in Anatolia. The brief pro- sixth/ twelfth century to the first quarter of the sev- cess of efflorescence that starts in the late sixth/ enth/ thirteenth centuries. The original source of the twelfth century is followed by almost complete abey- muqarnas form has been much debated by scholars, ance after the mid-seventh/ thirteenth century. with opinions as to its origin ranging from North Africa to Baghdad and Eastern Iran. 1 It is clear that The basic building blocks of brick muqarnas composi- muqarnas cells came to be integrated into the archi- tions consist of cells used singly, or in combination tectural aesthetic of Islamic Anatolia from the mid to with one or two others. They have the appearance of late sixth/ twelfth century onwards. 2 By the middle of a rectangular panel with a triangle above that has had the seventh/ thirteenth century almost all but the the tip bent forward 90° giving the cell a triangular western coast and part of the northern coast of plan (fig. 1). When two cells with equilateral triangle Anatolia was part of the R ūm Saljuq Empire, but there plans are employed next to each other a rhombus were a number of other smaller Turko-Muslim states plan is created (fig. 1.B). When isosceles triangles are in the region during the early period. 3 used the resulting plan is an irregular polygon (fig. 1.C). In each case the basic unit has a wide base and Although the majority of the muqarnas in Anatolia narrow pointed top. In addition there is the open were built in stone, there is a small corpus of brick rhombus, where a single spine rises from one corner muqarnas. The lack of a stone building tradition in Iran of the rhombus plan and spreads outward and up- indicates that the stone muqarnas were the work of ward in the manner of an unsupported fan vault (figs. Anatolian or Syrian craftsmen. This paper aims to 1.A & 2). demonstrate that the much less common brick ex- amples were most likely the work of craftsmen from Iran. The surviving examples are clustered in the cent- ral Anatolian heartland of the R ūm Saljuqs, between Konya to the west and Sivas to the east. Given the prolific, almost ubiquitous nature of the stone muqarnas hoods on the portals of tombs, madrasas, caravanserais and mosques, it is puzzling why no brick muqarnas portals appear to have been built in Anatolia in the Saljuq period. There does not appear to have been a pre-existing tradition of decorative brick construction in the Byzantine and Armenian buildings of central Anatolia. In western Anatolia the Figure 1: Basic cell forms (black) and plans (grey) © R. Mc- Clary 2013 opus mixtum technique of brick and stone construc- tion was widespread but it did not tend to feature the Richard Piran McClary Brick Muqarnas on Rū m Saljuq buildings kunsttexte.de 3/2014 - 2 The corpus can be divided into three functional types of the surviving examples have a similar overall form of brick muqarnas . There are brackets, of which the but are made up of different combinations of cells only surviving examples are the tall projecting (figs. 2 & 3). The north, east and west facets of the muqarnas brackets on the exterior of the palace kiosk tower featured three brackets each, one at each end of Qilij Arsl ān II in Konya (c.569 AH/ c.1174 CE). and one in the middle. A photograph by Gertrude Bell, Muqarnas are also used as a cornice, on the cylindric- taken in 1905 7 shows the structure in a far better state al shaft below the balcony at the minaret of the Great of preservation than it is now. The building originally Mosque in Sivas (609 AH/ 1212-13 CE) and the Eǧ ri had a further two brackets in a similar manner on the Minaret in Aksaray (616-34 AH/ 1219-37 CE). Another ends of the north face of the second floor to support example is the cornice at the top of the octagonal the overhanging eaves of the roof, but they are now shaft of the Bekar Sultan Tomb in Gülaǧ aç, outside lost. The lower portion of the tower, up to the start of Aksaray (c. early seventh/ thirteenth century). The the arching brickwork and around the brackets, was third type of brick muqarnas consists of hoods at the plastered and painted with red geometric patterns top of niches. There are shallow muqarnas hoods at matching the decorative brickwork above. Fragments the top of the flanking shallow niches on the four fa- of this survive and can be seen in fig. 2. cets of the Melik Gazi Tomb in Pinarba şı, 70km east The structural support of the muqarnas brackets is of Kayseri (c. late sixth/ twelfth century). There is also provided by large cantilevered (projecting) beams that a pair of muqarnas topped niches in the east and are braced by smaller beams sitting in a V notch on west walls of the north īwān of the ʿIzz al-D īn Kay the bottom of the cantilever beam. This acted as an Kā’ūs I Hospital in Sivas, founded in 614 AH/ 1217 internal support and a matrix for the brick muqarnas CE. 5 to be built around. Due to losses to the structure it can be seen that within each bracket there are two It is a diverse, if small, corpus that consists of deep cantilever beams side-by-side but slightly apart. and shallow cells of both angular and curvilinear These retain their original round form in the north forms in single tier and multi-tier compositions. Al- bracket (fig. 2), but are squared off at the top and bot- though the primary material under discussion is brick, tom in the south bracket. 8 A number of the rising there are a number of other materials involved in the joints of the bricks of the muqarnas cells, as well as construction process. These include lime or gypsum the decorative brickwork above the brackets, have based mortar used to bond the bricks together and had the mortar excavated to enliven the appearance. affix the glazed elements, while the muqarnas brack- This decorative technique is employed across struc- ets at the Qilij Arsl ān II Palace in Konya are reinforced tural types and can be found on the muqarnas of the with large timber beams. With the exception of the Melik Gazi Tomb in Pinarba şı and the Bekar Sultan Melik Gazi Tomb in Pinarba şı and the Konya palace Tomb in Gülaǧ aç. brackets, the surviving examples of brick muqarnas feature glazed tile intarsia, either flat turquoise tiles of The Konya palace brackets demonstrate the presence varying shapes or green and turquoise glazed bowls of craftsmen with the technical ability to create brick set into the mortar bed. muqarnas with significant horizontal projection and load bearing capacity, as well as providing evidence Qilij Arsl āāān II Palace Kiosk, Konya of their use on a royal building. The sixth/ twelfth-cen- The currently freestanding tower in Konya formed part tury use of muqarnas in the context of royal structures of the palace of the R ūm Saljuq Sultan Qilij Arsl ān II (r. is not a phenomenon reserved for Saljuq, or even Is- 551-588 AH/1156-1192 CE). It was built into the lamic architecture. The ceilings of both the Norman northern section of the pre-existing Byzantine citadel Capella Palatina in Palermo (c. 1140) 9 and the (lost) wall in the second half of the sixth/ twelfth century. 6 Mouchroutas audience hall in the Byzantine Palace in The brackets that supported the first floor balcony of Constantinople (c. 1161) 10 also made use of muqarnas the palace consist of six projecting rows of cells. Two in a royal context. All three structures speak to the Richard Piran McClary Brick Muqarnas on Rū m Saljuq buildings kunsttexte.de 3/2014 - 3 prestige associated with the complex and innovative The form and function of the muqarnas can be related form of muqarnas in sixth-/ twelfth-century courtly to those of the ones used on the minarets in Sivas circles that transcended cultural and religious bound- and Aksaray that are discussed below. In each case aries. the muqarnas cornice increases the surface area above a shaft in order to provide a larger platform for the upper section of the building. The functional role of the Bekar Sultan Tomb cornice is to increase the size of the roof in order to shed water runoff away from the walls of the tomb and thus reduce erosion of the brick Kufic band of epigraphy below. This struc- ture, like the ‘Izz al-D īn Kay K ā’ūs I Hospital in Sivas, is constructed from a variety of media, including stone and glazed tiles as well as brick, with the muqarnas being just one part of the decorative schema.