N nahr structure consists of a '2 m square stone-lined pit Canal or river. 13.14 m deep connected to the Nile by three tunnels. In the centre of the square pit is a tall octagonal column divided into cubits each of which namazgah is subdivided into twenty-four smaller units. A Turkish and Persian term for an open-air prayer staircase runs down the four sides so that the place often used by the army. Sometimes these are central column could be read. The floor· at the quite elaborately built with a minbar and a standing bottom was made of cedar beams. Approximately mihrab. halfway up there are four pointed relieving arches, one on each side of the pit. The arches are of a naqqarkhana two-centred type used in Gothic architecture in Mughal term for a drum house or place for an Europe during the fourteenth century. The curves orchestra during ceremonies. of the arches are emphasized by two bands of moulding whilst above there are foliated kufic inscriptions which contain Quranic passages refer­ Natanz, shrine of Abd al-Samad ring to crops and harvests. Sufi funerary complex at Natanz in western Iran. Further reading: Natanz is located on the edge of the Dasht-i Kavir K. A. C. Creswell. A Short Account of Early Muslim desert 60 km south-east of Kashan. This is a large Architecture, revised and enlarged edn. J. W. Allan, funerary complex which has grown up organically Aldershot 1989,383-5. around the tomb of Abd al-Samad, a follower of the famous Sufi saint Abu Said who died in 1049. nine-domed mosque The central feature of the site is the octagonal This is a type of mosque roofed by nine domes of equal tomb around which is built a four-iwan congrega­ size. tional mosque dated to 1309. Internally the tomb is a cruciform chamber which is converted to an Although the distribution of this building type is octagon at roof level. The roof is a blue-tiled very wide (it is found as far apart as East Africa, octagonal pyramid dome outside and internally Bangladesh, Central Asia and North Africa) it comprises a tall muqarnas vault. Another important does not occur in great numbers in anyone area. structure at the site is the khanqa or dervish hostel The earliest extant examples date from the ninth built in 1317 which is located to the south-west of century CE, whilst there are few buildings of this the tomb. Only the portal of this structure survives type later than the sixteenth century. with a large muqarnas semi-dome. Most nine-domed mosques are fairly small (usu­ ally 10-15 m square) though substantially built. It Nilometer is common for these buildings to be open on two, three or even four sides but it is rare for them to Device located on Roda island, Egypt for measuring the have a sahn or minaret. Sometimes the central rise of the Nile during the period of inundation. row of domes is raised to emphasize the mihrab This structure was built in 861-2 CE during the axis. reign of Caliph al-Mutawakil. The purpose of the There are two theories about the origin of this device is to measure the level of the flood to work type of mosque. The older theory originated by out the amount of tax due to the government (a Creswell asserts that the mosque is derived from higher flood level indicates· a higher yield). The the earliest forms of Islamic funerary monuments, 209 nine-domed mosque 4m Nine-domed mosque, Kilwa (after Garlake) such as the Qubbat aI-Suiaybiyya at Samarra, which has been suggested that the type derives from were domed and had open sides. More recently it honorific buildings such as Khirbet al-Mafjar. 210 Nishapur Whilst the origin of the design may be disputed it Islamic city. The remains were found mostly within is clear that many of the mosques were associated three mounds known as T epe Madrasseh, Sabz with tombs or burials so that it is reasonable to Pushan and Qanat T epe. There is no evidence of suggest that they should be regarded as memorial occupation at any of the sites before the eighth mosques. Important examples can be found at century indicating that the Sassanian city may Kilwa, Fustat, and Toledo. have been elsewhere. The main materials of con­ Further reading: struction were mud brick (khist) and trodden earth or pise (chineh) and baked brick. Wood was used as K. A. C. Creswell, Muslim Architecture of Egypt I, Oxford 1952,11-13. a strengthening material in walls as well as for R. Ettinghausen, From Byzantium to Sassanian Iran and the columns. Many of the walls were covered with Islamic World, London 1972, 57-8. stucco and painted plaster panels (frescoes). The G. R. H. King, The nine bay domed mosque in Islam', remains of several mosques were found on the site Madrider Mitteilungen 30: 1989. all with rectangular recessed mihrabs. At T epe Madrasseh remains of a prayer-hall iwan were Nishapur found together with the base of a minaret. The Famous medieval city located in the Khurassan region minaret had an octagonal shaft and was built of of eastern Iran. yellow fired bricks with decorated with shallow vertical slots. Elsewhere on the site columns built Nishapur was founded in Sassanian times as 'New of baked brick were also decorated with slots. At Shapur' and rose to prominence in early Islamic Qanat T epe remains of a mosque were found close times as capital of the T ahirid dynasty in the ninth to the remains of a bath house. The bath house century. The city was at the height of its prosperity had hypocaust heating, a plunge pool and a nine­ and importance under the Samanid dynasty in the sided octagonal basin in the centre. The "most tenth century. In 1037 the city was captured by remarkable feature of the bath house was the the Seljuks and remained a part of that empire frescoes which included representations of human until 1153 when it was sacked by the Ghuzz. figures. At Sabz Pushan remains of small houses Despite the sacking and several earthquakes the were found which included centrally placed sunken city continued to function until 1221 when it was fireplaces made from earthenware jars set into the sacked by the Mongols. A modem city of the ground. Among the most important finds at the same name has grown up near the site based site wele the remains of eleven muqamas panels around an eighteenth-century shrine. excavated from a cellar. These were prefabricated Although no standing architecture remains at plaster panels which would have been attached to the site, excavation has revealed extensive architec­ the zone of transition in the roof of the cellar and tural remains together with a large number of finds are some of the earliest evidence for the use of making this one of the best examples of a medieval muqamas. 211 o ocak maritime trade based on the monsoons of the Turkish word for a chimney hood, also used to Indian Ocean. In addition, fishing and dates have designate a unit of Ottoman troops of ]anissaries. remained important components of Oman's The typical Ottoman ocak consists of a tall conical economy even after the discovery of oil. hood set against the inside wall of a building. The earliest settled communities in Oman have Some of the best examples can be found in the been dated to 3000 BCE and by 2000 BCE copper kitchens in the T opkapisarai. was being exported to Mesopotamia. In the fourth century BCE Oman was occupied by the Persians who See also: Ottomans remained in control of the country until the advent of Islam in 630 CEo Under Islam Oman's trading Oman network flourished and included East Africa, India and the Far East. During this period various coastal The sultanate of Oman is located in the south-east towns grew up, the most important of which were corner of the Arabian peninsula and borders on the Sohar, Qalhat and Dhofar (al-Balid). In 1503 the Indian Ocean. coastal towns were captured and occupied by the It is the third largest country in Arabia after Saudi Portuguese. As a result the towns of the interior, Arabia and Yemen and comprises five I distinct the most important of which were Nizwa and geographical regions, the Musandam peninsula, Bahia, grew in power and influence. By 1650 the the Batinah coastal strip, the Hajjar mountains, the Portuguese had been expelled by the Ya)ariba Naj desert and Dhofar. The Musandam peninsula leader, Sultan bin Sayf, who rebuilt the fort at is separate from the rest of the country and com­ Nizwa. Internal conflids allowed a Persian invasion prises a rocky headland adjacent to the straits of in 1743 but this was brought to an end by Ahmad Hormuz. The Batinah coastal strip is located be­ ibn Sa)id governor of Sohar who was elected tween the sea and the mountains in the northern imam in 1743. He was the founder of the Al Bu part of the country and varies between 20 and Sa)id dynasty which continues to rule Oman today. 25 km wide, this is the most densely populated In 1730 Oman had acquired the island of Zanzi­ region of Oman. The Hajjar mountains are a very bar and by the 1830S Sultan Sa)id ibn Sultan had built distinctive feature; running in a belt parallel to the a new capital in Zanzibar.