Triumphant Towers and Sites of Spolia in Almohad Spain And
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TRIUMHANT TOWERS AND SITES OF SPOLIA IN ALMOHAD SPAIN AND MOROCCO: THE CASE OF THE SEVILLIAN MINARET by Nausheen Hoosein APPROVED BY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: ___________________________________________ Sarah Kozlowski, Chair ___________________________________________ Ali Asgar Alibhai ___________________________________________ Maximilian Schich ___________________________________________ Rebecca Quinn Teresi Copyright 2019 Nausheen Hoosein All Rights Reserved To Kabeer & Albus. TRIUMHANT TOWERS AND SITES OF SPOLIA IN ALMOHAD SPAIN AND MOROCCO: THE CASE OF THE SEVILLIAN MINARET by NAUSHEEN HOOSEIN, BA, MA, MTEACH THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The University of Texas at Dallas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ART HISTORY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS December 2019 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this project. This research endeavor would not have been possible without the Teaching Assistantship from the School of Arts and Humanities. I would like to also extend my special gratitude to the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History for their generous support in funding my research travel. I am most grateful to my academic committee. Dr. Sarah Kozlowski, for your constructive advice and your profound belief in my work. Dr. Ali Alibhai, for your expertise in the field and in the Arabic language. Dr. Maximilian Schich, for allowing me to begin my work on minarets in your spring seminar. Rebecca Quinn Teresi, for your insightful feedback and recommendations for travel in Spain. Lastly, my acknowledgments would be incomplete if not for the mention of my loving family. Mom and Dad, for believing in me. Kabeer, for supporting me. Serena, for the best study breaks. Albus, for the long walks. November 2019 v TRIUMHANT TOWERS AND SITES OF SPOLIA IN ALMOHAD SPAIN AND MOROCCO: THE CASE OF THE SEVILLIAN MINARET Nausheen Hoosein, MA The University of Texas at Dallas, 2019 ABSTRACT Supervising Professor: Sarah Kozlowski Traditionally, art historians have viewed spolia and reuse as material taken from one site to be used in another for reasons of pragmatism, aesthetics, or triumph. Moreover, the art and architecture of the Berber Almohad Empire is viewed through the lens of Iberia, which is regarded as the culturally superior model for the far western Islamic lands. However, more recent studies are beginning to show other reasons for spoliation. These studies suggest that Almoravid and Almohad reuse of Umayyad spolia was a deliberate attempt to architecturally manifest the political power of the Berber regimes. This paper focuses on the reuse of tenth-century Umayyad marble capitals in the twelfth-century Sevillian minaret, popularly known as La Giralda. The thesis considers three means of interpretation: contemporary sources like those of Ibn Idhari, secondary scholarship, and a visual analysis placing the capitals in the distinctive, dynastic style of Madinat al-Zahra. Through this analysis, it is clear that the Sevillian minaret was a site of spolia, a place where elements were taken from one specific site for use in another to establish a visual and symbolic relation. Particularly, the deliberate reuse of Madinat al-Zahra marble in the vi most potent symbol of Almohad victory on the peninsula displays the Almohad quest to proclaim power, seek legitimacy, and associate their rule with that of the splendors of the Córdoban court. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………………...v ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...vi LIST OF FIGURES………..……………………………………………………………………..ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………............1 CHAPTER 2 THE SEVILLIAN TOWER IN THE SERIES OF ALMOHAD MINARETS…..15 CHAPTER 3 CONTEXT FOR PRACTICES AND IDEAS OF REUSE IN THE MAGHRIB..33 CHAPTER 4 THE SEVILLIAN MINARET AS A SITE OF SPOLIA………………………...51 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION…………………………….………………………...…………...66 APPENDIX FIGURES…………………………………………………...……………………...69 BIBLIOGRAGHY……………………………………………………………………………...142 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH…………………………………………………………………...148 CURRICULUM VITAE……………………………………………………………..................150 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Madinat al-Zahra, archaeological site today, begun c. 936 CE………………………..69 Figure 2. Madinat al-Zahra, c. 936 CE, plan…………………………………………………….70 Figure 3. Map depicting the three Islamic Caliphates, circa 10th century……………………….71 Figure 4. Re-use of material from Madinat al-Zahra in various buildings………………………72 Figure 5. Seville, minaret of the congregational mosque (“La Giralda”), completed 1198, upper parts restored 1568……………………………………………………………………………….73 Figure 6. Seville, Giralda, Giraldillo (weathervane), sixteenth century………………………...74 Figure 7. Seville, Cathedral of Seville, Courtyard from the Almohad period, completed 1198...75 Figure 8. Seville, Puerta del Perdon (Gate of Pardon), Almohad period, twelfth century……...76 Figure 9. Three stages in the life of the Giralda............................................................................77 Figure 10. Caliphal capitals in the distinctive Madinat al-Zahra type, Seville Minaret, Marble, circa tenth century from Madinat al-Zahra………………………………………………………78 Figure 11. Composite Caliphal Capital, 953-957 CE, Salon de Abd al-Rahman III, Madinat al- Zahra, White marble carved with trepan. (Museo Arqueologico Nacional, Madrid)……………79 Figure 12. Composite capital from the caliphal era, 964-965, Marble (Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Córdoba)…………………………………………………………………………..80 Figure 13. Series of twelfth-century Almohad Towers: Marrakesh, Seville, and Rabat………...81 Figure 14. Samarra, Mosque of al-Mutawakkil, Malwiya (“Spiral”) minaret, 847-61………….82 Figure 15. Cairo, Mosque of Ibn Tulun, minaret, begun 876 and restored in the thirteenth century……………………………………………………………………………………………83 Figure 16. Barsiyan, Iran, minaret, 1097-8………………………………………………………84 Figure 17. Istanbul, Mosque of Sultan Ahmet, minarets, 1609-16………………………………85 Figure 18.Tinmal, Morocco, Mosque and Minaret, c. 1150……………………………………..86 ix Figure 19. Marrakesh, Kutubiyya Mosque, Minaret, 1158, (H: 67 meters, W: 12.5 meters)……87 Figure 20. Kairouan, Great Mosque, 836, minaret………………………………………………88 Figure 21. Córdoba, La Mezquita-Catedral, Cathedral bell tower, minaret of Abd al-Rahman III, 951-958…………………………………………………………………………………………..89 Figure 22. Marrakesh, Kutubiyya tower, 1158, Detail showing arches and sebka………………90 Figure 23. Marrakesh, Kutubiyya tower, 1158, Detail showing ceramic tiles and copper globes.............................................................................................................................................91 Figure 24. Marrakesh, Kutubiyya Mosque, Mihrab displaying Andalusi spolia………………...92 Figure 25. Marrakesh, Kutubiyya tower as seen from the medina, old city……………………..93 Figure 26. Seville, Cathedral of Seville, La Giralda, originally the minaret of the Almohad mosque in Seville, completed 1198 (H: Originally 80 meters,W: 15 meters)………………...…94 Figure 27. Seville, minaret, detail showing the middle section………………………………….95 Figure 28. Seville, minaret, detail, showing lower section………………………………………96 Figure 29. Seville, minaret, detail showing sebka………………………………………………..97 Figure 30. Seville, Real Alcazar, Patio de Yeso, Sebka………………………………………….98 Figure 31. Seville, Real Alcazar, Marble capitals and columns in the Madinat al-Zahra type.....99 Figure 32. Seville, minaret, detail showing use of ceramic…………………………………….100 Figure 33. Seville, minaret, North Façade……………………………………………………...101 Figure 34. Seville, minaret, North Façade, detail showing biforas……………………………..102 Figure 35. Seville, minaret, detail showing top section………………………………………...103 Figure 36. Rabat, Mosque of Hassan, tower (“Tour Hasan”), begun 1195…………………….104 Figure 37. Rabat, Mosque of Hassan, tower, North Façade…………………………………....105 Figure 38. Rabat, Mosque of Hassan, tower……………………………………………………106 Figure 39. Rabat, Mosque of Hassan, tower east and south facades……………………...……107 x Figure 40. Rabat, Mosque of Hassan, begun 1195……………………………………………..108 Figure 41. Andalusi capital in the south façade of the Hassan Mosque Tower, Rabat (after Rosser-Owen, “Andalusi Spolia in Medieval Morocco”)………………………………………109 Figure 42. Seville, minaret, east façade under scaffolding……………………………………..110 Figure 43. Andalusi capital in the Madinat al-Zahra style in the Giralda tower, Seville………111 Figure 44. Capital from Madinat al-Zahra', c. 965, Marble, (Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas. Museum Purchase, Meadows Museum Acquisition Fund, MM.96.01)………………………..112 Figure 45. Kairouan, minaret, detail……………………………………………………………113 Figure 46. Kairouan, minaret, detail showing Latin inscription on the base of the minaret……114 Figure 47. Arabic text of Ibn Idhari, al-Bayan al-Mughrib fi Akhbar al-Andalus wa’l- Maghrib………………………………………………………………………………………....115 Figure 48. Córdoba, La Mezquita-Catedral, Emirate and Caliphal Period, 784/6 CE. with later expansions/additions……………………………………………………………………………116 Figure 49. Córdoba, La Mezquita-Catedral as seen from the river, Emirate and Caliphal Period, 784/6 CE, with later expansions/additions……………………………………………………...117 Figure 50. Map of al-Andalus in 756…………………………………………………………...118 Figure 51. Mezquita de Córdoba, Architectural Floor Plans showing four phases of development (ARCHNET, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT)……………………………..119 Figure 52. Córdoba, Mezquita de Córdoba, mihrab, qibla of al-Hakam II, mosaics…………..120 Figure 53. Damascus,