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Muqarnas (Arabic: مقرنص; Persian: مقرنس, or Persian: آهوپای, romanized: ahoopāy), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from Arabic: مقربص, romanized: muqarbaṣ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below.^[1] It is an archetypal form of Islamic architecture, integral to the vernacular of Islamic buildings,^[2]^[3] and typically featured in domes and vaults, as well as iwans, entrance portals, or other niches.^[3] It is sometimes referred to as "honeycomb vaulting"^[4] or "stalactite vaulting".^[1]

The muqarnas structure originated from the squinch. Its purpose is to create a smooth, decorative zone of transition in an otherwise bare, structural space. This structure gives the ability to distinguish between the main parts of a building and serves as a transition from the walls of a square or rectangular room to a round dome or vault above it.^[5]^[3] Muqarnas could also form entire vaults and domes.^[6] From below, these compositions can create an elaborate visual effect based on the interplay of light and shadow across the surfaces sculpted into three-dimensional patterns.^[1]

Muqarnas most likely first developed in eleventh-century Iraq, though the earliest preserved examples are also found outside this region.^[7]^[1] As the technique became widespread in the 12th century, regional styles and variations developed across the Islamic world.^[1]

Etymology

The etymology of the word muqarnas is somewhat vague.^[8] Its earliest use in Arabic dates to the 12th century.^[1] It is thought to have originated from the Greek word korōnis, meaning "cornice"^[1] or "ornamental molding".^[8] There is also speculation of the origin to stem from the Arabic word qarnasi meaning "intricate work".^[9] Nişanyan claims that it is related to the Aramaic קרנסא, meaning "hammering".^[10]

The Spanish term mocárabe is derived from the Arabic term muqarbaṣ, which was also used to denote muqarnas in the western regions of the Islamic world.^[11]^[12] Its origin may be Koinē Greek: κρηπίѕ, romanized: krēpís, lit. 'base, plinth'.^[11] It may also be related to the Arabic word mukrab meaning "solid, firm, bound".^[8]

Structure

Muqarnas consists of a series of niche-like elements or cells which are combined in a geometrical framework with a few axes of symmetry.^[13]^[1] The individual cells consist of a limited set of simple prismatic elements which are combined according to precise rules.^[8] Cells are organized in multiple levels overlapping and projecting over those below like corbels, thus creating a three-dimensional composition.^[8]^[1] Although following strict rules and using only a limited set of individual forms, the technique allows for the creation of highly complex and diverse compositions.^[8]^[14] The interplay of light and shadow across individual cells in a vast, geometric arrangement is what gives muqarnas its aesthetic visual effect.^[1] Western writers have often compared the resulting compositions to "stalactites" or "honeycombs" and these terms are often used in European languages to describe the technique.^[1]^[13]

Muqarnas is typically applied to the undersides of domes, pendentives, cornices, squinches, arches and vaults and is often seen in the mihrab of a mosque.^[15] It can also be applied across a flat surface as a decorative band or frieze.^[3] Its main function is ornamental and it is typically used to obscure or fill the structural transitions within a building. One of its main uses is to bridge the transition between the base of a circular dome and a square chamber below it, effectively serving as an evolution of the more traditional squinch.^[13]

The form and medium vary depending on the region they are found, as does the size of individual cells.^[8] In Syria, Egypt, and Turkey, muqarnas are usually constructed out of stone. In North Africa, they are typically constructed from plaster or wood. In Iran and Iraq, muqarnas are built with bricks which are sometimes covered in plaster or ceramic.^[8] Some plaster muqarnas compositions are attached to a hidden supporting framework or upper vault above, either glued or suspended by ropes.^[13]

History

Origins

The earliest monuments to make use of this feature date from the 11th century and are found in Iraq, North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and Upper Egypt.^[1] This apparently near-simultaneous appearance in distant regions of the Islamic world has led to different scholarly theories about their origin and diffusion.^[1]^[7] Some early scholars of Islamic art, such as K. A. C. Creswell and Georges Marçais, believed that the evidence points to a simultaneous parallel development in these different regions. Others propose that they originated in one region at least a century earlier and then spread from there.^[1]

The earliest evidence of muqarnas-like elements, although only conjectural, comes from fragments of stucco found in Nishapur, Iran, dated to the 9th or 10th century. These fragments have concave triangular shapes and were reconstructed by excavators as a tripartite squinch.^[1]^[7] The earliest surviving examples preserved in situ are tripartite squinches used as transitional elements for domes and semi-domes. These examples include the Arab-Ata Mausoleum (977–978) in Tim (near Samarkand) in Uzbekistan, the Gunbad-i Qabus (1006–1007) in northeastern Iran, and the Duvazdah Imam Mausoleum (1037–1038) in Yazd, Iran.^[1] The oldest muqarnas dome, completed in 1090, is found in the Imam Dur Mausoleum, at Samarra.^[7]^[16] (This shrine was reported destroyed by ISIS in October 2014.^[17])

Some scholars have theorized that muqarnas originated in northeastern Iran, based on the evidence from Nishapur and Tim, and that it was further developed in subsequent Great Seljuk architecture, as seen in the Seljuk domes of the Great Mosque of Isfahan (1088).^[7] Other scholars believe the most likely point of origin is instead Abbasid Iraq in the early 11th century, at a time when the Abbasids in Baghdad were undergoing a renaissance.^[7]^[3]^[1] Alicia Carrillo Calderero has proposed that the first muqarnas originated in the palaces of the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.^[16]^[18]

In the case of Egypt, the earliest known and securely dated examples of muqarnas are from the Fatimid period and are found on the minaret of Badr al-Jamali's mashhad in Cairo, dated by inscription to 1085, and a cornice in Cairo's north wall (1085).^[5] The first fully realized, sophisticated use of muqarnas is found on the street façade of the Aqmar Mosque (1125) in Cairo.^[1] The advanced technical mastery of constructing muqarnas suggests that the technique and its associated architectural elements were imported from elsewhere. Jonathan Bloom speculates that the outside influence could originate from Syria, but notes that there are few Syrian monuments still standing that can support this claim.^[5] A cemetery in Aswan, containing many domed tombs from the 11th and 12th centuries,^[19] is a crucial example for the advancement in the development of the stalactite pendentive. In the mid-11th century, prosperous pilgrimage routes along the Red Sea and flourishing trade routes began in Cairo and dispersed throughout the Islamic empire. This allowed for a great exchange of ideas as well as a lucrative economy, capable of funding various architectural projects.^[5]

At Qal'at Bani Hammad in central Algeria, a royal city founded in the early 11th century by the Hammadid dynasty, archeologists discovered fragments of plaster which have been identified by some as the earliest appearance of muqarnas in the western Islamic world,^[20]^[21]^: 133 but their dating and their identification as true muqarnas have been rejected or disputed by some scholars, including Yasser Tabbaa^[7] and Jonathan Bloom.^[22]^: 93

Later development

By the 12th century muqarnas had spread far and wide and from this point onward it would develop into different styles in different regions.^[1] A broad distinction in style and technique is sometimes made between muqarnas in the Maghreb and al-Andalus (the far western regions of the Islamic world) and muqarnas in the rest of the Islamic world.^[23]

Syria, Iraq and Iran up to the 13th century

The largest examples of muqarnas domes can be found in Iraq and the Jazira region of eastern Syria, with a diverse variety of applications in domes, vaults, mihrabs, and niches.^[7] These domes date from a period of great architectural activity between the mid-12th century and the Mongol invasion in the mid-13th century.^[7] They follow the same model as the dome of the Imam Dur Mausoleum and have a pine cone-like appearance from the outside, as exemplified by the dome of the Mausoleum of Zumurrud Khatun,^[1] completed before 1202 in the late Abbasid period.^[24] This type of dome was also popular in Zengid Syria around the same time, as in the example of the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din in Damascus (1154), which also features a shallow muqarnas vault hood over its entrance portal.^[1]

In northern Mesopotamia, muqarnas domes were often made of stucco inside a conical or pyramidal brick roof, as seen in Mausoleum of Imam Awn Al-Din in Mosul (built in 1245, destroyed by ISIL in 2014^[25]).^[1] A closely related type is also seen in the Shrine of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad in Natanz, Iran, which is dated to 1307 and demonstrates the sophistication muqarnas had reached in the Ilkhanid period.^[1] The oldest examples of entrance portals decorated with muqarnas vaulting in Iran also date to the Ilkhanid period.^[1]

Eastern Islamic world after the 14th century

Under the Timurids, ruling from Central Asia in the late 14th and 15th centuries, some extraordinary muqarnas vaults were built.^[1] Muqarnas was used on the exterior of large ribbed domes along the transition between the base of the dome and the cylindrical drum below.^[1] Timurid architecture also developed a new type of geometric ribbed vaulting, also known as "squinch net vaulting",^[26]^[27] where muqarnas was further employed to fill spaces between different segments of the vault.^[1] It is also in this period that the oldest surviving written work about muqarnas was composed, the Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb ('Key to Arithmetic'), written by Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi in 1427.^[1] Muqarnas vaulting nonetheless became somewhat less popular in the region during this period.^[1]

In Safavid Iran of the 16th to early 18th centuries, muqarnas was no longer used to cover the interiors of religious buildings but was still used to fill the vaults of iwans. Like other surfaces in Safavid architecture, they were typically covered in colourful tilework.^[1] In the 18th century, Iranian muqarnas began to be covered with mirror glass mosaics, with one of the earliest examples found at Chehel Sotoun in Isfahan, dating to its restoration in 1706–7. This style was used afterward to decorate the interiors of major Shi'a shrines in Iran and Iraq.^[1]

Muqarnas was also a recurring embellishment of vaults and iwans in Mughal architecture in the Indian subcontinent.^[28] Experimentation with new styles of vaulting was characteristic of the reign of Jahangir (r. 1605–1627).^[29] Muqarnas with small lozenge-shaped cells were combined with a related type of geometrically-patterned (squinch net) vaulting, usually based on a star motif. The latter was probably derived from the influence of Safavid architecture.^[29] In Mughal decoration, muqarnas are often covered with arabesque decoration, crafted with molded plaster and fitted to each of the cells.^[28]

Mamluk Egypt and Syria

Muqarnas in carved stone was characteristic of Ayyubid and Mamluk architecture from the 13th to early 16th centuries in Egypt and the Levant.^[1] The Mamluk sultan Baybars introduced to Egypt the Syrian tradition of entrance portals with a muqarnas hood. These subsequently developed into spectacular designs used in at the entrances of both religious monuments and private palaces,^[1] forming some of the most accomplished stone muqarnas designs in the Islamic world.^[30]^[31]^: 86 Muqarnas was also frequently used to cover the pendentives inside domed chambers.^[31]^: 81–83

Muqarnas vaulting in Mamluk portals usually culminated in a scalloped or shell-shaped semi-dome at the top.^[31]^: 86^[1] Variations of this style became prevalent in the entrance portals of the 14th century, with the most monumental example being that of the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan in Cairo. Among the other examples, several unusual portals have muqarnas covering the underside of a flat vault, most notably at the Mosque of Amir Ulmas (1330).^[31]^: 86 Muqarnas became less prominent in Mamluk portals during the 15th century.^[31]^: 89

Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire

In Anatolia, the monuments of the Anatolian Seljuks and other local dynasties made use of muqarnas inside mihrabs (sometimes covered in tilework), on the capitals of columns, in the transitional zones of minaret balconies, and over masonry entrance portals. It was used less in the pendentives and squinches of domes, where other techniques came to be employed instead.^[1] The muqarnas-vaulted entrance portal was strongly associated with Seljuk royal patronage in the 13th century and spread more widely across Anatolia as the century progressed.^[32]^[12] It typically had a pyramidal or triangular shape, more akin to a corbelled vault than a half-dome.^[33] This kind of muqarnas vault also appears in some Cairene Mamluk portals, particularly in the shape of the pyramidal muqarnas vault of the Madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban, possibly due to Anatolian influence.^[31]^: 219^[34] During the 14th century, Mamluk influence is in turn apparent in the design of muqarnas portals in Anatolia.^[35]

Under the Ottomans, the tradition of Seljuk muqarnas continued into Ottoman architecture, although it diminished in importance during the Classical period in the 16th century, when it was only one element in a wider decorative repertoire.^[1] It was mainly used in entrance portals, niches, and column capitals.^[3] It eventually faded from use in the 18th century, when European-influenced decoration began to predominate in the Ottoman Baroque period.^[1]

Maghreb and al-Andalus

In the western Islamic world, muqarnas decoration was definitively introduced during the reign of the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf.^[1]^[36] The earliest examples, although limited to small details of larger domes, are found in the Almoravid Qubba in Marrakesh, Morocco, built probably in 1117 or 1125,^[36]^[37] and in the stucco openwork dome in front of the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, Algeria, dated to 1136.^[1] The earliest complete muqarnas vaults in the western Islamic world are located in the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez, dating to Ali ibn Yusuf's major expansion of the mosque between 1134 and 1143. These vaults are made of plaster and suspended from hidden wooden struts above them. They are richly decorated, with individual cells painted with vegetal motifs and highlighted in red and blue.^[22]^{: 119–120}

Further north, in al-Andalus (present-day Spain), the oldest surviving muqarnas fragments were found in a palace built by Muhammad Ibn Mardanish (r. 1147–1172), excavated under the present-day Monastery of Santa Clara in Murcia. The fragments are painted with images of musicians and other figures.^[22]^: 98–100 It's possible that an even older instance of muqarnas existed in a palace inside the Alcazaba of Almería, dating to the reign of the Taifa ruler al-Mu'tasim (r. 1051–1091). The evidence for its existence comes from a written account by al-Udhri, though the wording may be open to multiple interpretations.^[18]

Muqarnas in the Maghreb and al-Andalus evolved a different style and execution from that of muqarnas in the regions to the east.^[11]^[14] In this western region, the technique was also traditionally denoted by the term muqarbaṣ in Arabic and it can also be denoted by the present Spanish term mocárabe.^[11]^[8]^[12]^[38] This style of muqarnas reached a new level of standardization and always employed the same repertoire of eight possible shapes, regardless of the complexity of the overall composition.^[14] Whereas muqarnas in other regions is typically organized in horizontal layers projecting over each other, those in the west are organized in vertical layers. Wood and stucco were also the preferred mediums of muqarnas construction.^[14]

Muqarnas eventually reached its highest level of sophistication in the Alhambra of Granada, built by the Nasrids. The most impressive domes are found in the Palace of the Lions, built in the 14th century.^[1] The dome over the chamber known today as the Sala de Dos Hermanas ('Hall of the Two Sisters') is one of the most magnificent muqarnas domes in Islamic art, consisting of at least 5000 cells that unfold from a central summit downward into sixteen miniature domes around the dome's perimeter.^[39]^[40]

Muqarnas was also employed in the constructions sponsored by non-Muslim patrons in the Iberian Peninsula, referred to as Mudéjar art. It continued to be used up to the 17th century in chapels, synagogues, and palaces.^[11] The Asunción chapel in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas (near Burgos in northern Spain) features muqarnas and other Islamic-style decoration compatible with Almohad craftsmanship.^[11]^[41]

Outside the Muslim world

Muqarnas was also used by Christian patrons outside the Muslim world, in regions influenced by Islamic art and culture. It is found in some monuments of Arab-Norman architecture in 12th-century Sicily. The most impressive example is in the Cappella Palatina (c. 1140) in Palermo, which has a central nave covered by the largest rectangular muqarnas vault in the world, made of painted wood.^[22]^{: 102–104}

Armenian architecture in the 13th century also made use of muqarnas, spurred by the influence of contemporary Islamic architecture.^[42] Examples of this can be found in the Geghard Monastery, the Gandzasar Monastery, the church in Astvatsankal (all in present-day Armenia),^[43] and at the Church of the Apostles and the Church of St Gregory of the Illuminator in Ani (in present-day eastern Turkey).^[44]^{: 164, 170–171} In many of these examples, muqarnas vaults are recurring features in the gavits (narthexes) of the churches, which were the locus of much innovation and experimentation in medieval Armenian architecture.^[43] These borrowings of Islamic architectural motifs may have been due to either Ilkhanid or Seljuk influences in the region, although the wide geographic spread of muqarnas usage in this period makes it difficult to pinpoint any specific influence with certainty.^[44]^: 163

Muqarnas is also featured in the Byzantine-built Church of Hagia Sophia in Trabzon (Trebizond), completed in the 13th century.^[45] Antony Eastmond, in analyzing this detail of the church and comparing it with other non-Muslim monuments of the period (including Armenian constructions), suggests that muqarnas could have been adopted into a wider repertoire of architectural motifs and ideas that was shared across Anatolia and the surrounding region at this time.^[45]

Symbolism

As with the origins of the muqarnas form, there are multiple theories about its possible symbolic meaning or function.^[3] Oleg Grabar, in his work on the Alhambra in Granada, suggested that the large muqarnas domes in the Palace of the Lions were representations of the rotating heavens.^[46]^[7]

Yasser Tabbaa has argued that the muqarnas dome was originally intended as an architectural representation of the atomist and occasionalist view of the universe endorsed by Muslim philosophers, particularly the version formulated by al-Baqillani (d. 1013) and endorsed by the Abbasid caliph al-Qadir (r. 991–1031), roughly around the time that muqarnas began to appear.^[7] By subdividing the continuous surface of a dome into a large number of small units organized in a complex pattern, while also de-emphasizing the former squinches and making the dome appear unsupported, architects were representing a universe divided into atoms and held together by God.^[7] Tabbaa goes on to suggest that the symbolism of the muqarnas dome as a representation of the rotating dome of heaven, proposed by Grabar, could have been a secondary interpretation that developed in subsequent centuries.^[7]

The muqarnas domes were often constructed above portals of entry for the purpose of establishing a threshold between two worlds. The celestial connotation of the muqarnas structure represents a passage from "the functions of living, or of awaiting eternal life that is expressed by geometric forms."^[47]

Gallery

Exterior of the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din in Damascus (1154), with a muqarnas hood over the entrance and a muqarnas dome (partly visible) behind it
Muqarnas corbelling around the balcony of the Qutb Minar (1199–1220) in Delhi, India
Muqarnas cupola inside the mihrab of the Tinmal Mosque in Morocco (circa 1148, Almohad period)
Entrance portal of the Alaeddin Mosque in Niğde (1223)
Muqarnas vault with central oculus in the gavit of the Geghard Monastery in Armenia (13th century, before 1225)^[43]
The tiled muqarnas mihrab of the Eşrefoğlu Mosque in Beyşehir (1297)
A flat muqarnas vault in the portal of the Madrasa as-Sallamiya in Jerusalem (1338), Mamluk period
Muqarnas, single cell. Earthenware with molded decoration under opaque turquoise glaze, Timurid art, 1st half of the 15th century. From the Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand.
Medieval architect's plan of two muqarnas vaults, from the Topkapı Scroll
Detail, calotte filled with colored muqarnas. Niche from a Samaritan's house in Damascus, Syria. 15th-16th century CE. Islamic Art Museum (Museum für Islamische Kunst), Berlin
Muqarnas capital inside the courtyard of the Bayezid II Mosque in Istanbul (1500–1505), Ottoman period
Stone-carved muqarnas in the entrance portal of the Khanqah of Sultan al-Ghuri in Cairo (circa 1505), late Mamluk period
Muqarnas cornice inside the Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors) in the Amber Fort in Amer (17th century)
Wooden muqarnas vault in the Kasbah Palace, Tangier, Morocco
Muqarnas vaults over the Amin al-Dawla Caravanserai (19th century) inside the Kashan Bazaar, Iran
Upward- and downward-facing muqarnas on the minaret of the Hatem Mosque in Alexandria

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S., eds. (2009). "Muqarnas". The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. pp. 25–28. ISBN 9780195309911.
^ Stephennie, Mulder (2014). The Shrines of the 'Alids in Medieval Syria : sunnis, shi'is and the architecture of coexistence. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748645794. OCLC 929836186.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Petersen, Andrew (1996). "muqarnas". Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. Routledge. pp. 206–208. ISBN 9781134613663.
^ VirtualAni website. "Armenian architecture glossary". Retrieved 2009-07-17.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bloom, Jonathan M. (1988). "The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt". Muqarnas. 5: 21–28. doi:10.2307/1523107. JSTOR 1523107.
^ Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, Revised 2nd Edition. p. 312.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Tabbaa, Yasser (1985). "The Muqarnas Dome: Its Origin and Meaning". Muqarnas. 3: 61–74. doi:10.2307/1523084. ISSN 0732-2992. JSTOR 1523084.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Garofalo, Vincenza (2010). "A Methodology for Studying Muqarnas: The Extant Examples in Palermo". Muqarnas. 27: 357–406. doi:10.1163/22118993_02701014. JSTOR 25769702.
^ Bloom, Jonathan M. (1988). "The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt". Muqarnas. 5: 21–28. doi:10.2307/1523107. JSTOR 1523107.
^ "Mukarnas".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Fernandez-Puertas, Antonio (1993). "Muḳarbaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 500–501. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Necipoğlu, Gülru (1996). The Topkapi Scroll: Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture. Getty Publications. pp. 359 (see note 7). ISBN 978-0-89236-335-3. In the Muslim west, the term muqarbas was also used to describe muqarnas formations.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (1993). "Muḳarnaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 501–506. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gonzalo, José Carlos Palacios; Alkadi, Rana Munir (April 2018). "Muqarnas Domes and Cornices in the Maghreb and Andalusia". Nexus Network Journal. 20 (1): 95–123. doi:10.1007/s00004-017-0367-3. ISSN 1590-5896.
^ Curl, James Stevens (2006). A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (Paperback) (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860678-9.
^ ^a ^b Carrillo Calderero, Alicia (2009). Compendio de los muqarnas: génesis y evolución (in Spanish). Córdoba: Servicio de publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-84-7801-989-2.
^ "Archnet > Site > Qubba Imam al-Dur". www.archnet.org. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
^ ^a ^b Carrillo, Alicia (2014). "Architectural exchanges between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula: Muqarnas in al-Andalus". The Journal of North African Studies. 19 (1): 68–82. doi:10.1080/13629387.2013.858473. ISSN 1362-9387. S2CID 143453931.
^ M. Bloom, Jonathan; S. Blair, Sheila, eds. (2009). "Architecture". The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 108. ISBN 9780195309911.
^ Golvin, Lucien (1957). "Notes sur quelques fragments de platre trouvés récemment à la Qal'a des Beni-Hammâd". Mélanges d'Histoire et d'archéologie de l'occident musulman II, Hommage a Georges Marçais. Algiers: Imprimerie Officielle du Gouvernement Général de l'Algérie. pp. 75–94.
^ Arnold, Felix (2017). Islamic Palace Architecture in the Western Mediterranean: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190624552.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bloom, Jonathan M. (2020). Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300218701.
^
See distinction made in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition:
- Fernandez-Puertas, Antonio (1993). "Muḳarbaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 500–501. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
- Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (1993). "Muḳarnaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 501–506. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
For further discussion, see also: Gonzalo, José Carlos Palacios; Alkadi, Rana Munir (April 2018). "Muqarnas Domes and Cornices in the Maghreb and Andalusia". Nexus Network Journal. 20 (1): 95–123. doi:10.1007/s00004-017-0367-3.
^ Tabbaa, Yasser (2017). "The Resurgence of the Baghdad Caliphate". In Flood, Finbarr Barry; Necipoğlu, Gülru (eds.). A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture. Wiley Blackwell. pp. 307–326. ISBN 9781119068662.
^ "Shrine of al-Imam Awn al-Din". Remembering Mosul. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
^ Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800. Yale University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780300064650.
^ O'Kane, Bernard (1987). Timurid Architecture in Khurasan. Mazdâ Publishers. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-939214-35-8.
^ ^a ^b Michell, George (2007). Majesty of Mughal Decoration: Art Architecture And Style Of Islamic India. Thames and Hudson. pp. 91, 111. ISBN 978-0-500-51377-4.
^ ^a ^b Koch, Ebba (1991). Mughal Architecture: An Outline of Its History and Development (1526-1858). Prestel. pp. 70, 103. ISBN 978-3-7913-1070-1.
^ Tabbaa, Yasser (2007). "Architecture". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. Brill. ISBN 9789004161658.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (2007). Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture. The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774160776.
^ Blessing, Patricia (2017). Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-1-4744-1130-1.
^ Hoag, John D. (2005) [1963]. Western Islamic Architecture: A Concise Introduction. Dover Publications. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-486-16873-9.
^ Shaaban, Muhammad Hafez (2020). "The Curious Case of a Fourteenth-Century Madrasa: Agency, Patronage and Foundation and the Foundation of the Madrasa of Umm Sultan al-Sha'ban". In Walker, Bethany J.; Al Ghouz, Abdelkader (eds.). Living with Nature and Things: Contributions to a New Social History of the Middle Islamic Periods. Bonn University Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-3-8470-1103-3.
^ Tanman, Mehmed Baha (2012). "Mamluk Influences on the Architecture of the Anatolian Emirates". In Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (ed.). The Arts of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria: Evolution and Impact. V&R Unipress and Bonn University Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-3-89971-915-4.
^ ^a ^b Bennison, Amira K. (2016). The Almoravid and Almohad Empires. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 291–298. ISBN 9780748646821.
^ Tabbaa, Yasser (2008). "Andalusian roots and Abbasid homage in the Qubbat al-Barudiyyin in Marrakesh". Muqarnas. 25: 133–146. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000128.
^ Vílchez, José Miguel Puerta (2011). Reading the Alhambra: A Visual Guide to the Alhambra Through Its Inscriptions. Translated by Trout, Jon. Edilux. p. 349. ISBN 978-84-95856-30-2. Muqarna: [...] in al-Andalus they are known as muqarbas (in Spanish mocárabes), but in the Islamic east, from whence they originate, they are called muqarnas.
^ Irwin, Robert (2004). The Alhambra. Harvard University Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780674063600.
^ López, Jesús Bermúdez (2011). The Alhambra and the Generalife: Official Guide. TF Editores. p. 145. ISBN 9788492441129.
^ Barrucand, Marianne; Bednorz, Achim (1992). Moorish architecture in Andalusia. Taschen. pp. 174–175. ISBN 3822896322.
^ Maranci, Christina (2018). The Art of Armenia: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-19-026901-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ghazarian, Armen; Ousterhout, Robert (2001). "A Muqarnas Drawing from Thirteenth-Century Armenia and the Use of Architectural Drawings during the Middle Ages". Muqarnas. 18: 146. doi:10.2307/1523305. ISSN 0732-2992. JSTOR 1523305.
^ ^a ^b Guidetti, Mattia (2017). "The 'Islamicness' of Some Decorative Patterns in the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani". In Blessing, Patricia (ed.). Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-1130-1.
^ ^a ^b Eastmond, Antony (2017). Art and Identity in Thirteenth-Century Byzantium: Hagia Sophia and the Empire of Trebizond. Routledge. pp. 77–94. ISBN 978-1-351-95722-9.
^ Grabar, Oleg (1978). The Alhambra. Allen Lane. pp. 144–148. ISBN 978-0-7139-1020-9.
^ Brett, David; Grabar, Oleg (1993). "The Mediation of Ornament". Circa (65): 63. doi:10.2307/25557837. ISSN 0263-9475. JSTOR 25557837.

External links

Images of exterior and interior of Imam Dur Shrine in Iraq, prior to its 2014 destruction
polygonal computer models
Slideshow on muqarnas geometry, with traditional and computer-assisted new designs.

[:24-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S., eds. (2009). "Muqarnas". The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. pp. 25–28. ISBN 9780195309911.

[:1-2] Stephennie, Mulder (2014). The Shrines of the 'Alids in Medieval Syria : sunnis, shi'is and the architecture of coexistence. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748645794. OCLC 929836186.

[:16-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Petersen, Andrew (1996). "muqarnas". Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. Routledge. pp. 206–208. ISBN 9781134613663.

[virtual-4] VirtualAni website. "Armenian architecture glossary". Retrieved 2009-07-17.

[Bloom-5] Bloom, Jonathan M. (1988). "The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt". Muqarnas. 5: 21–28. doi:10.2307/1523107. JSTOR 1523107.

[6] Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, Revised 2nd Edition. p. 312.

[:0-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Tabbaa, Yasser (1985). "The Muqarnas Dome: Its Origin and Meaning". Muqarnas. 3: 61–74. doi:10.2307/1523084. ISSN 0732-2992. JSTOR 1523084.

[archnet.org-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Garofalo, Vincenza (2010). "A Methodology for Studying Muqarnas: The Extant Examples in Palermo". Muqarnas. 27: 357–406. doi:10.1163/22118993_02701014. JSTOR 25769702.

[9] Bloom, Jonathan M. (1988). "The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt". Muqarnas. 5: 21–28. doi:10.2307/1523107. JSTOR 1523107.

[10] "Mukarnas".

[:7-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Fernandez-Puertas, Antonio (1993). "Muḳarbaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 500–501. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.

[:9-12] Necipoğlu, Gülru (1996). The Topkapi Scroll: Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture. Getty Publications. pp. 359 (see note 7). ISBN 978-0-89236-335-3. In the Muslim west, the term muqarbas was also used to describe muqarnas formations.

[:13-13] Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (1993). "Muḳarnaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 501–506. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.

[jcpg-14] Gonzalo, José Carlos Palacios; Alkadi, Rana Munir (April 2018). "Muqarnas Domes and Cornices in the Maghreb and Andalusia". Nexus Network Journal. 20 (1): 95–123. doi:10.1007/s00004-017-0367-3. ISSN 1590-5896.

[Curl-15] Curl, James Stevens (2006). A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (Paperback) (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860678-9.

[:2-16] Carrillo Calderero, Alicia (2009). Compendio de los muqarnas: génesis y evolución (in Spanish). Córdoba: Servicio de publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-84-7801-989-2.

[17] "Archnet > Site > Qubba Imam al-Dur". www.archnet.org. Retrieved 2023-04-14.

[:3-18] Carrillo, Alicia (2014). "Architectural exchanges between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula: Muqarnas in al-Andalus". The Journal of North African Studies. 19 (1): 68–82. doi:10.1080/13629387.2013.858473. ISSN 1362-9387. S2CID 143453931.

[:242-19] M. Bloom, Jonathan; S. Blair, Sheila, eds. (2009). "Architecture". The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 108. ISBN 9780195309911.

[20] Golvin, Lucien (1957). "Notes sur quelques fragments de platre trouvés récemment à la Qal'a des Beni-Hammâd". Mélanges d'Histoire et d'archéologie de l'occident musulman II, Hommage a Georges Marçais. Algiers: Imprimerie Officielle du Gouvernement Général de l'Algérie. pp. 75–94.

[:324-21] Arnold, Felix (2017). Islamic Palace Architecture in the Western Mediterranean: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190624552.

[:8-22] Bloom, Jonathan M. (2020). Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300218701.

[23] See distinction made in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition:
Fernandez-Puertas, Antonio (1993). "Muḳarbaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 500–501. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.

Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (1993). "Muḳarnaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 501–506. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
For further discussion, see also: Gonzalo, José Carlos Palacios; Alkadi, Rana Munir (April 2018). "Muqarnas Domes and Cornices in the Maghreb and Andalusia". Nexus Network Journal. 20 (1): 95–123. doi:10.1007/s00004-017-0367-3.

[24] Fernandez-Puertas, Antonio (1993). "Muḳarbaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 500–501. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.

[25] Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (1993). "Muḳarnaṣ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 501–506. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.

[24] Tabbaa, Yasser (2017). "The Resurgence of the Baghdad Caliphate". In Flood, Finbarr Barry; Necipoğlu, Gülru (eds.). A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture. Wiley Blackwell. pp. 307–326. ISBN 9781119068662.

[25] "Shrine of al-Imam Awn al-Din". Remembering Mosul. Retrieved 2023-04-15.

[26] Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800. Yale University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780300064650.

[27] O'Kane, Bernard (1987). Timurid Architecture in Khurasan. Mazdâ Publishers. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-939214-35-8.

[:5-28] Michell, George (2007). Majesty of Mughal Decoration: Art Architecture And Style Of Islamic India. Thames and Hudson. pp. 91, 111. ISBN 978-0-500-51377-4.

[:6-29] Koch, Ebba (1991). Mughal Architecture: An Outline of Its History and Development (1526-1858). Prestel. pp. 70, 103. ISBN 978-3-7913-1070-1.

[:0522-30] Tabbaa, Yasser (2007). "Architecture". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. Brill. ISBN 9789004161658.

[:4-31] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (2007). Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture. The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774160776.

[32] Blessing, Patricia (2017). Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-1-4744-1130-1.

[33] Hoag, John D. (2005) [1963]. Western Islamic Architecture: A Concise Introduction. Dover Publications. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-486-16873-9.

[34] Shaaban, Muhammad Hafez (2020). "The Curious Case of a Fourteenth-Century Madrasa: Agency, Patronage and Foundation and the Foundation of the Madrasa of Umm Sultan al-Sha'ban". In Walker, Bethany J.; Al Ghouz, Abdelkader (eds.). Living with Nature and Things: Contributions to a New Social History of the Middle Islamic Periods. Bonn University Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-3-8470-1103-3.

[35] Tanman, Mehmed Baha (2012). "Mamluk Influences on the Architecture of the Anatolian Emirates". In Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (ed.). The Arts of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria: Evolution and Impact. V&R Unipress and Bonn University Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-3-89971-915-4.

[:23-36] Bennison, Amira K. (2016). The Almoravid and Almohad Empires. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 291–298. ISBN 9780748646821.

[:22-37] Tabbaa, Yasser (2008). "Andalusian roots and Abbasid homage in the Qubbat al-Barudiyyin in Marrakesh". Muqarnas. 25: 133–146. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000128.

[38] Vílchez, José Miguel Puerta (2011). Reading the Alhambra: A Visual Guide to the Alhambra Through Its Inscriptions. Translated by Trout, Jon. Edilux. p. 349. ISBN 978-84-95856-30-2. Muqarna: [...] in al-Andalus they are known as muqarbas (in Spanish mocárabes), but in the Islamic east, from whence they originate, they are called muqarnas.

[39] Irwin, Robert (2004). The Alhambra. Harvard University Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780674063600.

[:44-40] López, Jesús Bermúdez (2011). The Alhambra and the Generalife: Official Guide. TF Editores. p. 145. ISBN 9788492441129.

[41] Barrucand, Marianne; Bednorz, Achim (1992). Moorish architecture in Andalusia. Taschen. pp. 174–175. ISBN 3822896322.

[42] Maranci, Christina (2018). The Art of Armenia: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-19-026901-2.

[:12-43] Ghazarian, Armen; Ousterhout, Robert (2001). "A Muqarnas Drawing from Thirteenth-Century Armenia and the Use of Architectural Drawings during the Middle Ages". Muqarnas. 18: 146. doi:10.2307/1523305. ISSN 0732-2992. JSTOR 1523305.

[:10-44] Guidetti, Mattia (2017). "The 'Islamicness' of Some Decorative Patterns in the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani". In Blessing, Patricia (ed.). Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-1130-1.

[:11-45] Eastmond, Antony (2017). Art and Identity in Thirteenth-Century Byzantium: Hagia Sophia and the Empire of Trebizond. Routledge. pp. 77–94. ISBN 978-1-351-95722-9.

[46] Grabar, Oleg (1978). The Alhambra. Allen Lane. pp. 144–148. ISBN 978-0-7139-1020-9.

[47] Brett, David; Grabar, Oleg (1993). "The Mediation of Ornament". Circa (65): 63. doi:10.2307/25557837. ISSN 0263-9475. JSTOR 25557837.

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{for|the academic journal|Muqarnas (journal)}}
 {{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
-[[File:Sally Port of Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Muqarnas vaulting in the [[iwan]] entrance to the [[Shah Mosque (Isfahan)|Shah Mosque]] in [[Isfahan]], [[Iran]] (17th century)]]
+[[File:Mezquita Shah, Isfahán, Irán, 2016-09-20, DD 64 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Muqarnas as seen from below in the [[iwan]] entrance to the [[Shah Mosque (Isfahan)|Shah Mosque]] in [[Isfahan]], [[Iran]] (17th century)]]
 [[File:Alhambra_(51949919755).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Muqarnas dome in the ''Sala de Dos Hermanas'' at the [[Alhambra]] in [[Granada]], Spain (14th century)]]
-'''Muqarnas''' ({{lang-ar|مقرنص}}; {{lang-fa|مقرنس}}, or {{lang-fa|آهوپای|translit=ahoopāy|links=no}}), also known in Iberian architecture as '''Mocárabe''' (from {{Lang-ar|مقربص|links=no|translit=muqarbaṣ}}), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in [[Islamic architecture]] in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below.<ref name=":24" /> It is an archetypal form of Islamic architecture, integral to the vernacular of Islamic buildings.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=The Shrines of the 'Alids in Medieval Syria : sunnis, shi'is and the architecture of coexistence |last=Stephennie |first=Mulder |date=2014 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=9780748645794 |oclc=929836186}}</ref><ref name=":16" /> It is typically featured in domes and vaults, as well as [[iwan]]s, entrance portals, or other niches. It can also be applied across a flat surface as a decorative band or frieze.<ref name=":16" />
+'''Muqarnas''' ({{langx|ar|مقرنص}}; {{langx|fa|مقرنس}}, or {{langx|fa|آهوپای|translit=ahoopāy|links=no}}), also known in Iberian architecture as '''Mocárabe''' (from {{Langx|ar|مقربص|links=no|translit=muqarbaṣ}}), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in [[Islamic architecture]] in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below.<ref name=":24" /> It is an archetypal form of Islamic architecture, integral to the vernacular of Islamic buildings,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=The Shrines of the 'Alids in Medieval Syria : sunnis, shi'is and the architecture of coexistence |last=Stephennie |first=Mulder |date=2014 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=9780748645794 |oclc=929836186}}</ref><ref name=":16" /> and typically featured in domes and vaults, as well as [[iwan]]s, entrance portals, or other niches.<ref name=":16" /> It is sometimes referred to as "honeycomb vaulting"<ref name="virtual">{{cite web |author=VirtualAni website |title=Armenian architecture glossary |url=http://www.virtualani.org/glossary/index.htm |access-date=2009-07-17}}</ref> or "stalactite vaulting".<ref name=":24" />
-The muqarnas structure originated from the [[squinch]]. Sometimes called "honeycomb vaulting"<ref name="virtual">{{cite web |title=Armenian architecture glossary |url=http://www.virtualani.org/glossary/index.htm |author= VirtualAni website |access-date=2009-07-17}}</ref> or "stalactite vaulting",<ref name=":24" /> the purpose of muqarnas is to create a smooth, decorative zone of transition in an otherwise bare, structural space. This structure gives the ability to distinguish between the main parts of a building and serves as a transition from the walls of a square or rectangular room to a round dome or vault above it.<ref name="Bloom">{{cite journal |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan M. |date=1988 |title=The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt |journal=Muqarnas |volume=5 |pages=21–28 |doi=10.2307/1523107 |jstor=1523107}}</ref><ref name=":16" /> From below, these compositions can create an elaborate visual effect based on the interplay of light and shadow across the surfaces sculpted into three-dimensional patterns.<ref name=":24" />
+The muqarnas structure originated from the [[squinch]]. Its purpose is to create a smooth, decorative zone of transition in an otherwise bare, structural space. This structure gives the ability to distinguish between the main parts of a building and serves as a transition from the walls of a square or rectangular room to a round dome or vault above it.<ref name="Bloom">{{cite journal |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan M. |date=1988 |title=The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt |journal=Muqarnas |volume=5 |pages=21–28 |doi=10.2307/1523107 |jstor=1523107}}</ref><ref name=":16" /> Muqarnas could also form entire vaults and domes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stokstad|first=Marilyn|title=Art History, Revised 2nd Edition|page=312}}</ref> From below, these compositions can create an elaborate visual effect based on the interplay of light and shadow across the surfaces sculpted into three-dimensional patterns.<ref name=":24" />
 Muqarnas most likely first developed in eleventh-century [[Iraq]], though the earliest preserved examples are also found outside this region.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |date=1985 |title=The Muqarnas Dome: Its Origin and Meaning |journal=Muqarnas |volume=3 |pages=61–74 |doi=10.2307/1523084 |issn=0732-2992 |jstor=1523084}}</ref><ref name=":24">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan M. |volume=3 |location= |pages=25–28 |language=en |chapter=Muqarnas |editor-last2=Blair |editor-first2=Sheila S. |chapter-url=https://oxfordartonline.com/groveart/display/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000060413#oao-9781884446054-e-7000060413}}</ref> As the technique became widespread in the 12th century, regional styles and variations developed across the Islamic world.<ref name=":24" />
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 The etymology of the word ''muqarnas'' is somewhat vague.<ref name="archnet.org" /> Its earliest use in Arabic dates to the 12th century.<ref name=":24" /> It is thought to have originated from the Greek word ''korōnis'', meaning "[[cornice]]"<ref name=":24" /> or "ornamental molding".<ref name="archnet.org"/> There is also speculation of the origin to stem from the Arabic word ''qarnasi'' meaning "intricate work".<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=Muqarnas|volume=5|pages=21–28|language=en|jstor = 1523107|last1 = Bloom|first1 = Jonathan M.|title=The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt|year=1988|doi=10.2307/1523107}}</ref> [[Sevan Nişanyan|Nişanyan]] claims that it is related to the Aramaic קרנסא, meaning "hammering".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nisanyansozluk.com/?k=mukarnas|title = Mukarnas}}</ref>
-The Spanish term {{Lang|es|mocárabe}} is derived from the Arabic term {{Transliteration|ar|muqarbaṣ}}, which was also used to denote ''muqarnas'' in the western regions of the Islamic world.<ref name=":7">{{EI2|volume=7|title=Muḳarbaṣ|last=Fernandez-Puertas|first=Antonio|pages=500-501}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Necipoğlu |first=Gülru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHXEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA359 |title=The Topkapi Scroll: Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture |publisher=Getty Publications |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-89236-335-3 |pages=359 (see note 7) |language=en |quote=In the Muslim west, the term ''muqarbas'' was also used to describe muqarnas formations.}}</ref> Its origin may be the Greek word ''ḳarbasa'' ({{Lang|grc|κρηπίѕ}}) meaning "base, plinth".<ref name=":7" /> It may also be related to the Arabic word {{Transliteration|ar|mukrab}} meaning "solid, firm, bound".<ref name="archnet.org" />
+The Spanish term {{Lang|es|mocárabe}} is derived from the Arabic term {{Transliteration|ar|muqarbaṣ}}, which was also used to denote ''muqarnas'' in the western regions of the Islamic world.<ref name=":7">{{EI2|volume=7|title=Muḳarbaṣ|last=Fernandez-Puertas|first=Antonio|pages=500-501}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Necipoğlu |first=Gülru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHXEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA359 |title=The Topkapi Scroll: Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture |publisher=Getty Publications |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-89236-335-3 |pages=359 (see note 7) |language=en |quote=In the Muslim west, the term ''muqarbas'' was also used to describe muqarnas formations.}}</ref> Its origin may be {{Langx|grc-x-koine|κρηπίѕ|krēpís|base, plinth}}.<ref name=":7" /> It may also be related to the Arabic word {{Transliteration|ar|mukrab}} meaning "solid, firm, bound".<ref name="archnet.org" />
 ==Structure==
-[[File:Honeycomb work.jpg|left|thumb|Close-up of muqarnas vaulting in the [[Alhambra]] (14th century) in Granada, Spain, showing horizontal [[Course (architecture)|courses]] of alveoles]]
+[[File:Honeycomb work.jpg|left|thumb|Close-up of muqarnas vaulting in the [[Alhambra]] (14th century) in Granada, Spain, showing horizontal [[Course (architecture)|courses]] of cells projecting over those below]]
-Muqarnas is typically applied to the undersides of [[domes]], [[pendentive]]s, cornices, [[squinch]]es, arches and [[Vault (architecture)|vaults]] and is often seen in the [[mihrab]] of a mosque.<ref name="Curl">{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0|url-access=registration|last=Curl|first=James Stevens|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-19-860678-9|edition=2nd|type=Paperback}}</ref> They can be entirely ornamental, or serve as load-bearing structures. The earliest forms of muqarnas domes, found in the Mesopotamian region, were primarily structural. Muqarnas grew increasingly common and decorative in the beginning of the 12th century. Muqarnas can either be carved into the structural blocks of [[corbelled]] vaulting or hung from a structural roof as a purely decorative surface.<ref>{{Citation |last=sharmiarchitect|date=2013-09-10|title=Muqarnas - Mathematics in Islamic Architecture|url=https://www.slideshare.net/sharmiarchitect/muqarnas-mathematics-in-islamic}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dan Owen|date=2014-01-16|title=Muqarnas مقرنس Reconceived - A Brief Survey|url=https://www.slideshare.net/danowen777/muqarnas-reconceived-a-brief-survey#}}</ref> The most distinctive form of the muqarnas is the honeycomb structure, often intricate and impossibly fractal-like in its complexity. The individual cells are called alveoles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.virtualani.org/glossary/index.htm|title=Armenian Architecture - VirtualANI - Glossary|website=www.virtualani.org|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref>
+Muqarnas consists of a series of niche-like elements or cells which are combined in a geometrical framework with a few axes of symmetry.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":24" /> The individual cells consist of a limited set of simple [[Prism (geometry)|prismatic]] elements which are combined according to precise rules.<ref name="archnet.org" /> Cells are organized in multiple levels overlapping and projecting over those below like [[Corbelling|corbels]], thus creating a three-dimensional composition.<ref name="archnet.org" /><ref name=":24" /> Although following strict rules and using only a limited set of individual forms, the technique allows for the creation of highly complex and diverse compositions.<ref name="archnet.org" /><ref name="jcpg" /> The interplay of light and shadow across individual cells in a vast, geometric arrangement is what gives muqarnas its aesthetic visual effect.<ref name=":24" /> Western writers have often compared the resulting compositions to "stalactites" or "honeycombs" and these terms are often used in European languages to describe the technique.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":13" />
 [[File:One of the iwan ceilings of Fatima Masumeh Shrine in atabki sahn, Qom, Iran.jpg|thumb|Muqarnas vaulting covered with tilework, seen from below, in the iwan entrance of the [[Fatima Masumeh Shrine]] in [[Qom]], Iran]]
+Muqarnas is typically applied to the undersides of [[domes]], [[pendentive]]s, cornices, [[squinch]]es, arches and [[Vault (architecture)|vaults]] and is often seen in the [[mihrab]] of a mosque.<ref name="Curl">{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0|url-access=registration|last=Curl|first=James Stevens|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-19-860678-9|edition=2nd|type=Paperback}}</ref> It can also be applied across a flat surface as a decorative band or frieze.<ref name=":16" /> Its main function is ornamental and it is typically used to obscure or fill the structural transitions within a building. One of its main uses is to bridge the transition between the base of a circular dome and a square chamber below it, effectively serving as an evolution of the more traditional squinch.<ref name=":13">{{EI2|volume=7|title=Muḳarnaṣ|last=Behrens-Abouseif|first=Doris|pages=501-506}}</ref>
-Muqarnas are made of brick, stone, stucco, or wood, and clad with tiles or plaster. The form and medium vary depending on the region they are found. Muqarnas structures in the east are built using a standard set of components and guidelines, creating a more uniformed style. Muqarnas found in the west are more intricately creative because they tend to not have a standard set of regulations regarding composition, components, and construction.<ref name="jcpg" /> In [[Syria]], [[Egypt]], and Turkey, muqarnas are constructed out of stone. In North Africa, they are typically constructed from plaster and wood, and in Iran and Iraq, the muqarnas dome is built with bricks covered in plaster or ceramic clay.<ref name="archnet.org">{{Cite journal|journal=Muqarnas|volume=27|pages=357–406|language=en|jstor = 25769702|last1 = Garofalo|first1 = Vincenza|title=A Methodology for Studying Muqarnas: The Extant Examples in Palermo|year=2010|doi=10.1163/22118993_02701014|url=http://archnet.org/publications/9481}}</ref>
+The form and medium vary depending on the region they are found, as does the size of individual cells.<ref name="archnet.org" /> In [[Syria]], [[Egypt]], and Turkey, muqarnas are usually constructed out of stone. In North Africa, they are typically constructed from plaster or wood. In Iran and Iraq, muqarnas are built with bricks which are sometimes covered in plaster or ceramic.<ref name="archnet.org">{{Cite journal|journal=Muqarnas|volume=27|pages=357–406|language=en|jstor = 25769702|last1 = Garofalo|first1 = Vincenza|title=A Methodology for Studying Muqarnas: The Extant Examples in Palermo|year=2010|doi=10.1163/22118993_02701014|url=http://archnet.org/publications/9481}}</ref> Some plaster muqarnas compositions are attached to a hidden supporting framework or upper vault above, either glued or suspended by ropes.<ref name=":13" />
 == History ==
@@ Line 27: / Line 30: @@
 The earliest monuments to make use of this feature date from the 11th century and are found in Iraq, North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and [[Upper Egypt]].<ref name=":24" /> This apparently near-simultaneous appearance in distant regions of the Islamic world has led to different scholarly theories about their origin and diffusion.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":0" /> Some early scholars of Islamic art, such as [[K. A. C. Creswell]] and [[Georges Marçais]], believed that the evidence points to a simultaneous parallel development in these different regions. Others propose that they originated in one region at least a century earlier and then spread from there.<ref name=":24" />
 [[File:Muhammad Al-Durri Shrine.jpg|left|thumb|[[Imam Dur Mausoleum]] (1090), with exterior view of its muqarnas dome]]
-The earliest evidence of muqarnas-like elements, although only conjectural, comes from fragments of stucco found in [[Nishapur]], Iran, dated to the 9th or 10th century. These fragments have concave triangular shapes and were reconstructed by excavators as a tripartite [[squinch]].<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":0" /> The earliest surviving examples preserved ''in situ'' are tripartite squinches used as transitional elements for domes and semi-domes. These examples include the [[Arab-Ata Mausoleum]] (977–978) in Tim (near [[Samarkand]]) in [[Uzbekistan]], the [[Gonbad-e Kavus|Gunbad-i Qabus]] (1006–1007) in northeastern Iran, and the [[Davāzdah Imām|Duvazdah Imam Mausoleum]] (1037–1038) in [[Yazd]], Iran.<ref name=":242222">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Muqarnas''|last1=|year=}}</ref> The oldest muqarnas dome, completed in 1090, is found in the [[Imam Dur Mausoleum]], at [[Samarra]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> (This shrine was reported destroyed by [[ISIS]] in October 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archnet > Site > Qubba Imam al-Dur |url=https://www.archnet.org/sites/3838 |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=www.archnet.org}}</ref>)
+The earliest evidence of muqarnas-like elements, although only conjectural, comes from fragments of stucco found in [[Nishapur]], Iran, dated to the 9th or 10th century. These fragments have concave triangular shapes and were reconstructed by excavators as a tripartite [[squinch]].<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":0" /> The earliest surviving examples preserved ''in situ'' are tripartite squinches used as transitional elements for domes and semi-domes. These examples include the [[Arab-Ata Mausoleum]] (977–978) in Tim (near [[Samarkand]]) in [[Uzbekistan]], the [[Gonbad-e Kavus|Gunbad-i Qabus]] (1006–1007) in northeastern Iran, and the [[Davāzdah Imām|Duvazdah Imam Mausoleum]] (1037–1038) in [[Yazd]], Iran.<ref name=":24" /> The oldest muqarnas dome, completed in 1090, is found in the [[Imam Dur Mausoleum]], at [[Samarra]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> (This shrine was reported destroyed by [[ISIS]] in October 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archnet > Site > Qubba Imam al-Dur |url=https://www.archnet.org/sites/3838 |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=www.archnet.org}}</ref>)
-Some scholars have theorized that muqarnas originated in northeastern Iran, based on the evidence from Nishapur and Tim, and that it was further developed in subsequent [[Seljuk architecture]], as seen in the Seljuk domes of the [[Great Mosque of Esfahan|Great Mosque of Isfahan]] (1088).<ref name=":0" /> Other scholars believe the most likely point of origin is instead [[Abbasid Iraq]] in the early 11th century, at a time when the Abbasids in [[Baghdad]] were undergoing a renaissance.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |url=https://www.archnet.org/collections/126 |title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=9781134613663 |location= |pages=206–208 |language=en |chapter=muqarnas}}</ref><ref name=":24" /> Alicia Carrillo Calderero has proposed that the first muqarnas originated in the palaces of the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Carrillo Calderero |first=Alicia |url=https://helvia.uco.es/xmlui/handle/10396/2343 |title=Compendio de los muqarnas: génesis y evolución |publisher=Servicio de publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba |year=2009 |location=Córdoba |pages=41–43 |isbn=978-84-7801-989-2 |language=es}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Carrillo |first=Alicia |date=2014 |title=Architectural exchanges between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula: Muqarnas in al-Andalus |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2013.858473 |journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=68–82 |doi=10.1080/13629387.2013.858473 |s2cid=143453931 |issn=1362-9387}}</ref>
+Some scholars have theorized that muqarnas originated in northeastern Iran, based on the evidence from Nishapur and Tim, and that it was further developed in subsequent [[Great Seljuk architecture]], as seen in the Seljuk domes of the [[Great Mosque of Esfahan|Great Mosque of Isfahan]] (1088).<ref name=":0" /> Other scholars believe the most likely point of origin is instead [[Abbasid Iraq]] in the early 11th century, at a time when the Abbasids in [[Baghdad]] were undergoing a renaissance.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |url=https://www.archnet.org/collections/126 |title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=9781134613663 |location= |pages=206–208 |language=en |chapter=muqarnas}}</ref><ref name=":24" /> Alicia Carrillo Calderero has proposed that the first muqarnas originated in the palaces of the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Carrillo Calderero |first=Alicia |url=https://helvia.uco.es/xmlui/handle/10396/2343 |title=Compendio de los muqarnas: génesis y evolución |publisher=Servicio de publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba |year=2009 |location=Córdoba |pages=41–43 |isbn=978-84-7801-989-2 |language=es}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Carrillo |first=Alicia |date=2014 |title=Architectural exchanges between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula: Muqarnas in al-Andalus |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2013.858473 |journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=68–82 |doi=10.1080/13629387.2013.858473 |s2cid=143453931 |issn=1362-9387}}</ref>
 [[File:Cairo, moschea di al-aqmar, 04.JPG|thumb|Façade of the [[Aqmar Mosque]] in Cairo (c. 1125, [[Fatimid period]]), with rectangular muqarnas niches to the left and right of the central doorway]]
@@ Line 50: / Line 53: @@
 In northern Mesopotamia, muqarnas domes were often made of stucco inside a conical or pyramidal brick roof, as seen in [[Mausoleum of Imam Awn Al-Din]] in [[Mosul]] (built in 1245, destroyed by [[Islamic State|ISIL]] in 2014<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shrine of al-Imam Awn al-Din |url=https://rememberingmosul.org/shrine-of-al-imam-awn-al-din/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Remembering Mosul |language=en-US}}</ref>).<ref name=":24" /> A closely related type is also seen in the Shrine of [[Abdussamad Esfahani|Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad]] in [[Natanz]], Iran, which is dated to 1307 and demonstrates the sophistication muqarnas had reached in the [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanid period]].<ref name=":24" /> The oldest examples of entrance portals decorated with muqarnas vaulting in Iran also date to the Ilkhanid period.<ref name=":24" />
-==== Egypt and Syria in the 13th to 16th centuries ====
+==== Eastern Islamic world after the 14th century ====
+Under the [[Timurids]], ruling from Central Asia in the late 14th and 15th centuries, some extraordinary muqarnas vaults were built.<ref name=":24" /> Muqarnas was used on the exterior of large ribbed domes along the transition between the base of the dome and the cylindrical [[Tholobate|drum]] below.<ref name=":24" /> [[Timurid architecture]] also developed a new type of geometric ribbed vaulting, also known as "squinch net vaulting",<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mhIgewDtNkC |title=The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan M. |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780300064650 |location= |pages=46 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQ_qAAAAMAAJ&q=squinch-net+vaulting |title=Timurid Architecture in Khurasan |date=1987 |publisher=Mazdâ Publishers |isbn=978-0-939214-35-8 |pages=51 |language=en}}</ref> where muqarnas was further employed to fill spaces between different segments of the vault.<ref name=":24" /> It is also in this period that the oldest surviving written work about muqarnas was composed, the ''Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb'' ('Key to Arithmetic'), written by [[Jamshid al-Kashi|Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi]] in 1427.<ref name=":24" /> Muqarnas vaulting nonetheless became somewhat less popular in the region during this period.<ref name=":24" />[[File:Chehel Sotoon Palace (17t. century) Mirror works Esfahan Iran (19061978835).jpg|thumb|Muqarnas vault with covered with mirror mosaics in an iwan inside [[Chehel Sotoun]] in Isfahan (from a 1706–7 restoration, [[Safavid Iran|Safavid period]])|left]]In [[Safavid Iran]] of the 16th to early 18th centuries, muqarnas was no longer used to cover the interiors of religious buildings but was still used to fill the vaults of iwans. Like other surfaces in [[Safavid art|Safavid architecture]], they were typically covered in colourful tilework.<ref name=":24" /> In the 18th century, Iranian muqarnas began to be covered with mirror glass mosaics, with one of the earliest examples found at [[Chehel Sotoun]] in Isfahan, dating to its restoration in 1706–7. This style was used afterward to decorate the interiors of major Shi'a shrines in Iran and Iraq.<ref name=":24" />
+[[File:Colorful Interior of Main Chamber of Wazir Khan Mosque.jpg|thumb|Muqarnas and geometric vaulting inside the [[Wazir Khan Mosque]] in [[Lahore]] (early 17th century, [[Mughal Empire|Mughal period]])]]
+Muqarnas was also a recurring embellishment of vaults and iwans in [[Mughal architecture]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Michell |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAzqAAAAMAAJ&q=stalactite |title=Majesty of Mughal Decoration: Art Architecture And Style Of Islamic India |publisher=Thames and Hudson |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-500-51377-4 |pages=91, 111 |language=en}}</ref> Experimentation with new styles of vaulting was characteristic of the reign of [[Jahangir]] ({{Reign|1605|1627}}).<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Koch |first=Ebba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=teFPAAAAMAAJ&q=muqarnas+another |title=Mughal Architecture: An Outline of Its History and Development (1526-1858) |publisher=Prestel |year=1991 |isbn=978-3-7913-1070-1 |pages=70, 103 |language=en}}</ref> Muqarnas with small lozenge-shaped cells were combined with a related type of geometrically-patterned (squinch net) vaulting, usually based on a star motif. The latter was probably derived from the influence of Safavid architecture.<ref name=":6" /> In Mughal decoration, muqarnas are often covered with [[arabesque]] decoration, crafted with molded plaster and fitted to each of the cells.<ref name=":5" />
+==== Mamluk Egypt and Syria ====
 [[File:Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan 7.jpg|thumb|Stone muqarnas vault and scalloped semi-dome in the entrance portal of [[Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan]] (1356''–''1363, [[Mamluk period]])]]
 Muqarnas in carved stone was characteristic of [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] and [[Mamluk architecture]] from the 13th to early 16th centuries in Egypt and the Levant.<ref name=":24" /> The [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] sultan [[Baybars]] introduced to Egypt the Syrian tradition of entrance portals with a muqarnas hood. These subsequently developed into spectacular designs used in at the entrances of both religious monuments and private palaces,<ref name=":24" /> forming some of the most accomplished stone muqarnas designs in the Islamic world.<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Behrens-Abouseif |first=Doris |title=Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2007 |isbn=9789774160776}}</ref>{{Rp|page=86}} Muqarnas was also frequently used to cover the pendentives inside domed chambers.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|page=|pages=81–83}}
@@ Line 56: / Line 65: @@
 Muqarnas vaulting in Mamluk portals usually culminated in a scalloped or shell-shaped semi-dome at the top.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|page=86}}<ref name=":24" /> Variations of this style became prevalent in the entrance portals of the 14th century, with the most monumental example being that of the [[Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan]] in Cairo. Among the other examples, several unusual portals have muqarnas covering the underside of a flat vault, most notably at the [[Mosque of Amir Ulmas]] (1330).<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|page=86}} Muqarnas became less prominent in Mamluk portals during the 15th century.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|page=89}}
-==== Eastern Islamic world after the 14th century ====
+==== Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire ====
+[[File:Sultanhani - Portal außen 2 Muquarnas.jpg|left|thumb|Muqarnas vault over the entrance of the [[Sultan Han]] (1229, [[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuk period]]) in Turkey ]]In [[Anatolia]], the monuments of the [[Anatolian Seljuks]] and [[Anatolian beyliks|other local dynasties]] made use of muqarnas inside mihrabs (sometimes covered in tilework), on the [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] of columns, in the transitional zones of minaret balconies, and over masonry entrance portals. It was used less in the pendentives and squinches of domes, where other techniques came to be employed instead.<ref name=":24" />
-Under the [[Timurids]], ruling from Central Asia in the late 14th and 15th centuries, some extraordinary muqarnas vaults were built.<ref name=":24" /> Muqarnas was used on the exterior of large ribbed domes along the transition between the base of the dome and the cylindrical [[Tholobate|drum]] below.<ref name=":24" /> [[Timurid architecture]] also developed a new type of geometric ribbed vaulting, also known as "squinch net vaulting",<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mhIgewDtNkC |title=The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan M. |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780300064650 |location= |pages=46 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQ_qAAAAMAAJ&q=squinch-net+vaulting |title=Timurid Architecture in Khurasan |date=1987 |publisher=Mazdâ Publishers |isbn=978-0-939214-35-8 |pages=51 |language=en}}</ref> where muqarnas was further employed to fill spaces between different segments of the vault.<ref name=":24" /> It is also in this period that the oldest surviving written work about muqarnas was composed, the ''Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb'' ('Key to Arithmetic'), written by [[Jamshid al-Kashi|Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi]] in 1427.<ref name=":24" /> Muqarnas vaulting nonetheless became somewhat less popular in the region during this period.<ref name=":24" />[[File:Chehel Sotoon Palace (17t. century) Mirror works Esfahan Iran (19061978835).jpg|thumb|Muqarnas vault with covered with mirror mosaics in an iwan inside [[Chehel Sotoun]] in Isfahan (from a 1706–7 restoration, [[Safavid Iran|Safavid period]])|left]]In [[Safavid Iran]] of the 16th to early 18th centuries, muqarnas was no longer used to cover the interiors of religious buildings but was still used to fill the vaults of iwans. Like other surfaces in [[Safavid art|Safavid architecture]], they were typically covered in colourful tilework.<ref name=":24" /> In the 18th century, Iranian muqarnas began to be covered with mirror glass mosaics, with one of the earliest examples found at [[Chehel Sotoun]] in Isfahan, dating to its restoration in 1706–7. This style was used afterward to decorate the interiors of major Shi'a shrines in Iran and Iraq.<ref name=":24" />
-[[File:Colorful Interior of Main Chamber of Wazir Khan Mosque.jpg|thumb|Muqarnas and geometric vaulting inside the [[Wazir Khan Mosque]] in [[Lahore]] (early 17th century, [[Mughal Empire|Mughal period]])]]
+The muqarnas-vaulted entrance portal was strongly associated with Seljuk royal patronage in the 13th century and spread more widely across Anatolia as the century progressed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blessing |first=Patricia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gi1WDwAAQBAJ&dq=muqarnas+seljuk+architecture+portals&pg=PA42 |title=Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4744-1130-1 |pages=41–42 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> It typically had a pyramidal or triangular shape, more akin to a corbelled vault than a half-dome.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoag |first=John D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGRPyVxIHj8C&dq=portals+muqarnas+pyramidal+seljuk&pg=PT40 |title=Western Islamic Architecture: A Concise Introduction |publisher=Dover Publications |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-486-16873-9 |pages=40 |language=en |orig-date=1963}}</ref> This kind of muqarnas vault also appears in some Cairene Mamluk portals, particularly in the shape of the pyramidal muqarnas vault of the [[Madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban]], possibly due to Anatolian influence.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|page=219}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaaban |first=Muhammad Hafez |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_i19EAAAQBAJ&dq=portals+muqarnas+pyramidal+seljuk&pg=PA290 |title=Living with Nature and Things: Contributions to a New Social History of the Middle Islamic Periods |publisher=Bonn University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-8470-1103-3 |editor-last=Walker |editor-first=Bethany J. |pages=290 |language=en |chapter=The Curious Case of a Fourteenth-Century Madrasa: Agency, Patronage and Foundation and the Foundation of the Madrasa of Umm Sultan al-Sha'ban |editor-last2=Al Ghouz |editor-first2=Abdelkader}}</ref> During the 14th century, Mamluk influence is in turn apparent in the design of muqarnas portals in Anatolia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tanman |first=Mehmed Baha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUppyW8n_bYC&q=portals+mamluk+anatolian+muqarnas |title=The Arts of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria: Evolution and Impact |publisher=V&R Unipress and Bonn University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-3-89971-915-4 |editor-last=Behrens-Abouseif |editor-first=Doris |pages=293 |language=en |chapter=Mamluk Influences on the Architecture of the Anatolian Emirates}}</ref>[[File:Courtyard of the Selimiye Mosque 3172.jpg|thumb|Muqarnas portal at the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] (1568–1574, [[Ottoman period]])]]Under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], the tradition of Seljuk muqarnas continued into [[Ottoman architecture]], although it diminished in importance during the [[Classical Ottoman architecture|Classical period]] in the 16th century, when it was only one element in a wider decorative repertoire.<ref name=":24" /> It was mainly used in entrance portals, niches, and column capitals.<ref name=":16" /> It eventually faded from use in the 18th century, when European-influenced decoration began to predominate in the [[Ottoman Baroque architecture|Ottoman Baroque period]].<ref name=":24" />
-Muqarnas was also a recurring embellishment of vaults and iwans in [[Mughal architecture]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Michell |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAzqAAAAMAAJ&q=stalactite |title=Majesty of Mughal Decoration: Art Architecture And Style Of Islamic India |publisher=Thames and Hudson |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-500-51377-4 |pages=91, 111 |language=en}}</ref> Experimentation with new styles of vaulting was characteristic of the reign of [[Jahangir]] ({{Reign|1605|1627}}).<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Koch |first=Ebba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=teFPAAAAMAAJ&q=muqarnas+another |title=Mughal Architecture: An Outline of Its History and Development (1526-1858) |publisher=Prestel |year=1991 |isbn=978-3-7913-1070-1 |pages=70, 103 |language=en}}</ref> Muqarnas with small lozenge-shaped alveoles were combined with a related type of geometrically-patterned (squinch net) vaulting, usually based on a star motif. The latter was probably derived from the influence of Safavid architecture.<ref name=":6" /> In Mughal decoration, muqarnas are often covered with [[arabesque]] decoration, crafted with molded plaster and fitted to each of the alveoles.<ref name=":5" />
 ==== Maghreb and al-Andalus ====
-[[File:Ceiling in Kairaouine Mosque (cropped).jpg|thumb|One of the muqarnas vaults in the [[Qarawiyyin Mosque]] in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], created between 1134 and 1143 under the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] patronage. The purely decorative vault is made of plaster and suspended from a hidden wood framework above.]]
+[[File:Ceiling in Kairaouine Mosque (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|One of the muqarnas vaults in the [[Qarawiyyin Mosque]] in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], created between 1134 and 1143 under the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] patronage. The purely decorative vault is made of plaster and suspended from a hidden wood framework above.]]
-In the western Islamic world, muqarnas decoration was definitively introduced during the reign of the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] emir [[Ali ibn Yusuf]].<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":23">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19JVDwAAQBAJ |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780748646821 |location= |pages=291–298 |language=en}}</ref> The earliest examples, although limited to small details of larger domes, are found in the [[Almoravid Qubba]] in [[Marrakesh]], Morocco, built probably in 1117 or 1125,<ref name=":23" /><ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |date=2008 |title=Andalusian roots and Abbasid homage in the Qubbat al-Barudiyyin in Marrakesh |journal=Muqarnas |volume=25 |pages=133–146|doi=10.1163/22118993-90000128 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and in the stucco [[openwork]] dome in front of the mihrab of the [[Great Mosque of Tlemcen]], Algeria, dated to 1136.<ref name=":24" /> The earliest complete muqarnas vaults in the western Islamic world are located in the [[Qarawiyyin Mosque]] in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], dating to Ali ibn Yusuf's major expansion of the mosque between 1134 and 1143. These vaults are made of plaster and suspended from hidden wooden struts above them. They are richly decorated, with individual alveoles painted with vegetal motifs and highlighted in red and blue.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|pages=119–120}}
+In the western Islamic world, muqarnas decoration was definitively introduced during the reign of the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] emir [[Ali ibn Yusuf]].<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":23">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19JVDwAAQBAJ |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780748646821 |location= |pages=291–298 |language=en}}</ref> The earliest examples, although limited to small details of larger domes, are found in the [[Almoravid Qubba]] in [[Marrakesh]], Morocco, built probably in 1117 or 1125,<ref name=":23" /><ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |date=2008 |title=Andalusian roots and Abbasid homage in the Qubbat al-Barudiyyin in Marrakesh |journal=Muqarnas |volume=25 |pages=133–146|doi=10.1163/22118993-90000128 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and in the stucco [[openwork]] dome in front of the mihrab of the [[Great Mosque of Tlemcen]], Algeria, dated to 1136.<ref name=":24" /> The earliest complete muqarnas vaults in the western Islamic world are located in the [[Qarawiyyin Mosque]] in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], dating to Ali ibn Yusuf's major expansion of the mosque between 1134 and 1143. These vaults are made of plaster and suspended from hidden wooden struts above them. They are richly decorated, with individual cells painted with vegetal motifs and highlighted in red and blue.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|pages=119–120}}
 Further north, in [[al-Andalus]] (present-day Spain), the oldest surviving muqarnas fragments were found in a palace built by [[Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Saʿd ibn Mardanīsh|Muhammad Ibn Mardanish]] (r. 1147–1172), excavated under the present-day Monastery of Santa Clara in [[Murcia]]. The fragments are painted with images of musicians and other figures.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|pages=98–100}} It's possible that an even older instance of muqarnas existed in a palace inside the [[Alcazaba of Almería]], dating to the reign of the ''[[Taifa]]'' ruler al-Mu'tasim (r. 1051–1091). The evidence for its existence comes from a written account by [[Al-Udri|al-Udhri]], though the wording may be open to multiple interpretations.<ref name=":3" />
-[[File:المسجد الأعظم تينمل 15.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Muqarnas cupola inside the [[mihrab]] of the [[Tinmal Mosque]] in Morocco (circa 1148, [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]] period)]]
+[[File:Doorway - Patio de los Leones - Alhambra.JPG|thumb|Archway with muqarnas in the [[Court of the Lions|Palace of the Lions]] (14th century, [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrid period]]) at the Alhambra in Granada]]
 Muqarnas in the Maghreb and al-Andalus evolved a different style and execution from that of muqarnas in the regions to the east.<ref name=":7" /><ref name="jcpg" /> In this western region, the technique was also traditionally denoted by the term {{Transliteration|ar|muqarbaṣ}} in Arabic and it can also be denoted by the present Spanish term {{Lang|es|mocárabe}}.<ref name=":7" /><ref name="archnet.org" /><ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vílchez |first=José Miguel Puerta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYYMZV9fZd8C |title=Reading the Alhambra: A Visual Guide to the Alhambra Through Its Inscriptions |publisher=Edilux |year=2011 |isbn=978-84-95856-30-2 |pages=349 |language=en |translator-last=Trout |translator-first=Jon |quote=Muqarna: [...] in al-Andalus they are known as ''muqarbas'' (in Spanish mocárabes), but in the Islamic east, from whence they originate, they are called ''muqarnas''.}}</ref> This style of muqarnas reached a new level of standardization and always employed the same repertoire of eight possible shapes, regardless of the complexity of the overall composition.<ref name="jcpg">{{Cite journal |last1=Gonzalo |first1=José Carlos Palacios |last2=Alkadi |first2=Rana Munir |date=April 2018 |title=Muqarnas Domes and Cornices in the Maghreb and Andalusia |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00004-017-0367-3 |journal=Nexus Network Journal |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=95–123 |doi=10.1007/s00004-017-0367-3 |issn=1590-5896}}</ref> Whereas muqarnas in other regions is typically organized in horizontal layers projecting over each other, those in the west are organized in vertical layers. Wood and stucco were also the preferred mediums of muqarnas construction.<ref name="jcpg" />
+Muqarnas eventually reached its highest level of sophistication in the [[Alhambra]] of [[Granada]], built by the [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrids]]. The most impressive domes are found in the [[Court of the Lions|Palace of the Lions]], built in the 14th century.<ref name=":24" /> The dome over the chamber known today as the ''Sala de Dos Hermanas'' ('Hall of the Two Sisters') is one of the most magnificent muqarnas domes in Islamic art, consisting of at least 5000 cells that unfold from a central summit downward into sixteen miniature domes around the dome's perimeter.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Irwin |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M64VYn8Qq-QC |title=The Alhambra |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780674063600 |location= |pages=55 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":44">{{Cite book |last=López |first=Jesús Bermúdez |title=The Alhambra and the Generalife: Official Guide |publisher=TF Editores |year=2011 |isbn=9788492441129 |location= |pages=145 |language=en |chapter=}}</ref>
-[[File:Doorway - Patio de los Leones - Alhambra.JPG|thumb|Archway with muqarnas in the [[Court of the Lions|Palace of the Lions]] (14th century, [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrid period]]) at the Alhambra in Granada]]
-Muqarnas eventually reached its highest level of sophistication in the [[Alhambra]] of [[Granada]], built by the [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrids]]. The most impressive domes are found in the [[Court of the Lions|Palace of the Lions]], built in the 14th century.<ref name=":24" /> The dome over the chamber known today as the ''Sala de Dos Hermanas'' ('Hall of the Two Sisters') is one of the most magnificent muqarnas domes in Islamic art, consisting of at least 5000 alveoles that unfold from a central summit downward into sixteen miniature domes around the dome's perimeter.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Irwin |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M64VYn8Qq-QC |title=The Alhambra |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780674063600 |location= |pages=55 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":44">{{Cite book |last=López |first=Jesús Bermúdez |title=The Alhambra and the Generalife: Official Guide |publisher=TF Editores |year=2011 |isbn=9788492441129 |location= |pages=145 |language=en |chapter=}}</ref>
 Muqarnas was also employed in the constructions sponsored by non-Muslim patrons in the Iberian Peninsula, referred to as [[Mudéjar art]]. It continued to be used up to the 17th century in chapels, synagogues, and palaces.<ref name=":7" /> The Asunción chapel in the [[Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas]] (near [[Burgos]] in northern Spain) features muqarnas and other Islamic-style decoration compatible with Almohad craftsmanship.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Barrucand |first1=Marianne |url=https://archive.org/details/moorisharchitect00mari/mode/2up |title=Moorish architecture in Andalusia |last2=Bednorz |first2=Achim |publisher=Taschen |year=1992 |isbn=3822896322 |location= |pages=174–175 |language=en}}</ref>
-==== Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire ====
-[[File:Sultanhani - Portal außen 2 Muquarnas.jpg|left|thumb|Muqarnas vault over the entrance of the [[Sultan Han]] (1229, [[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuk period]]) in Turkey ]]
-In [[Anatolia]], the monuments of the [[Anatolian Seljuks]] and [[Anatolian beyliks|other local dynasties]] made use of muqarnas inside mihrabs (sometimes covered in tilework), on the [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] of columns, in the transitional zones of minaret balconies, and over masonry entrance portals. It was used less in the pendentives and squinches of domes, where other techniques came to be employed instead.<ref name=":24" />
-The muqarnas-vaulted entrance portal was strongly associated with Seljuk royal patronage in the 13th century and spread more widely across Anatolia as the century progressed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blessing |first=Patricia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gi1WDwAAQBAJ&dq=muqarnas+seljuk+architecture+portals&pg=PA42 |title=Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4744-1130-1 |pages=41–42 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> It typically had a pyramidal or triangular shape, more akin to a corbelled vault than a half-dome.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoag |first=John D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGRPyVxIHj8C&dq=portals+muqarnas+pyramidal+seljuk&pg=PT40 |title=Western Islamic Architecture: A Concise Introduction |publisher=Dover Publications |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-486-16873-9 |pages=40 |language=en |orig-date=1963}}</ref> This kind of muqarnas vault also appears in some Cairene Mamluk portals, particularly in the shape of the pyramidal muqarnas vault of the [[Madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban]], possibly due to Anatolian influence.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|page=219}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaaban |first=Muhammad Hafez |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_i19EAAAQBAJ&dq=portals+muqarnas+pyramidal+seljuk&pg=PA290 |title=Living with Nature and Things: Contributions to a New Social History of the Middle Islamic Periods |publisher=Bonn University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-8470-1103-3 |editor-last=Walker |editor-first=Bethany J. |pages=290 |language=en |chapter=The Curious Case of a Fourteenth-Century Madrasa: Agency, Patronage and Foundation and the Foundation of the Madrasa of Umm Sultan al-Sha'ban |editor-last2=Al Ghouz |editor-first2=Abdelkader}}</ref> During the 14th century, Mamluk influence is in turn apparent in the design of muqarnas portals in Anatolia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tanman |first=Mehmed Baha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUppyW8n_bYC&q=portals+mamluk+anatolian+muqarnas |title=The Arts of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria: Evolution and Impact |publisher=V&R Unipress and Bonn University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-3-89971-915-4 |editor-last=Behrens-Abouseif |editor-first=Doris |pages=293 |language=en |chapter=Mamluk Influences on the Architecture of the Anatolian Emirates}}</ref>[[File:Courtyard of the Selimiye Mosque 3172.jpg|thumb|Muqarnas portal at the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] (1568–1574, [[Ottoman period]])]]Under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], the tradition of Seljuk muqarnas continued into [[Ottoman architecture]], although it diminished in importance during the [[Classical Ottoman architecture|Classical period]] in the 16th century, when it was only one element in a wider decorative repertoire.<ref name=":24" /> It was mainly used in entrance portals, niches, and column capitals.<ref name=":16" /> It eventually faded from use in the 18th century, when European-influenced decoration began to predominate in the [[Ottoman Baroque architecture|Ottoman Baroque period]].<ref name=":24" />
 ==== Outside the Muslim world ====
-[[File:Palatine chapel (Palermo) - Interior 02.jpg|thumb|upright|Painted muqarnas in the [[Cappella Palatina]] in [[Palermo]] (circa 1140), commissioned by [[Roger II of Sicily]]]]
+[[File:Palatine chapel (Palermo) - Interior 02.jpg|thumb|upright|Painted muqarnas in the [[Cappella Palatina]] in [[Palermo]] (circa 1140), commissioned by [[Roger II of Sicily]]]]Muqarnas was also used by Christian patrons outside the Muslim world, in regions influenced by Islamic art and culture. It is found in some monuments of [[Norman–Arab–Byzantine culture|Arab-Norman architecture]] in 12th-century Sicily. The most impressive example is in the [[Cappella Palatina]] (c. 1140) in [[Palermo]], which has a central nave covered by the largest rectangular muqarnas vault in the world, made of painted wood.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|pages=102–104}}
-Muqarnas was also used by Christian patrons outside the Muslim world, in regions influenced by Islamic art and culture. It is found in some monuments of [[Norman–Arab–Byzantine culture|Arab-Norman architecture]] in 12th-century Sicily. The most impressive example is in the [[Cappella Palatina]] (circa 1140) in [[Palermo]], which has a central nave covered by the largest rectangular muqarnas vault in the world, made of painted wood.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|pages=102–104}}
-[[Armenian architecture]] in the 13th century also made use of muqarnas, spurred by the influence of contemporary Islamic architecture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maranci |first=Christina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BlRuDwAAQBAJ&dq=armenian+architecture+muqarnas&pg=PA135 |title=The Art of Armenia: An Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-026901-2 |pages=135 |language=en}}</ref> Examples of this are found at the Church of St Gregory of the Illuminator (Tigran Honents) in [[Ani]] (present-day eastern Turkey) and a church in Astvatsankal (present-day Armenia).<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Guidetti |first=Mattia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gi1WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 |title=Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4744-1130-1 |editor-last=Blessing |editor-first=Patricia |pages=163 |language=en |chapter=The ‘Islamicness’ of Some Decorative Patterns in the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani}}</ref> These borrowings of Islamic architectural motifs may have been due to either Ilkhanid or Seljuk influences in this wider region, although the wide geographic spread of muqarnas usage in this period makes it difficult to pinpoint any specific influence with certainty.<ref name=":10" />
+[[Armenian architecture]] in the 13th century also made use of muqarnas, spurred by the influence of contemporary Islamic architecture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maranci |first=Christina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BlRuDwAAQBAJ&dq=armenian+architecture+muqarnas&pg=PA135 |title=The Art of Armenia: An Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-026901-2 |pages=135 |language=en}}</ref> Examples of this can be found in the [[Geghard Monastery]], the [[Gandzasar Monastery]], the church in [[Astvatsankal]] (all in present-day Armenia),<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last1=Ghazarian |first1=Armen |last2=Ousterhout |first2=Robert |date=2001 |title=A Muqarnas Drawing from Thirteenth-Century Armenia and the Use of Architectural Drawings during the Middle Ages |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523305 |journal=Muqarnas |volume=18 |pages=146 |doi=10.2307/1523305 |jstor=1523305 |issn=0732-2992}}</ref> and at the Church of the Apostles and the Church of St Gregory of the Illuminator in [[Ani]] (in present-day eastern Turkey).<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Guidetti |first=Mattia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gi1WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 |title=Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4744-1130-1 |editor-last=Blessing |editor-first=Patricia |pages= |language=en |chapter=The ‘Islamicness’ of Some Decorative Patterns in the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=164, 170–171}} In many of these examples, muqarnas vaults are recurring features in the [[Gavit|''gavit''s]] (narthexes) of the churches, which were the locus of much innovation and experimentation in medieval Armenian architecture.<ref name=":12" /> These borrowings of Islamic architectural motifs may have been due to either Ilkhanid or Seljuk influences in the region, although the wide geographic spread of muqarnas usage in this period makes it difficult to pinpoint any specific influence with certainty.<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|page=163}}
-Muqarnas is also featured in the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]-built [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Church of Hagia Sophia]] in [[Trabzon]] (Trebizond), completed in the 13th century.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Eastmond |first=Antony |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=swVBDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47-IA6#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Art and Identity in Thirteenth-Century Byzantium: Hagia Sophia and the Empire of Trebizond |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-351-95722-9 |pages=77–94 |language=en}}</ref> Antony Eastmond, in analyzing this detail of the church and comparing it with other non-Muslim monuments of the period (including Armenian constructions), suggests that ''muqarnas'' could have been adopted into a wider repertoire of architectural motifs and ideas that was shared across Anatolia and the surrounding region at this time.<ref name=":11" />
+Muqarnas is also featured in the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]-built [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Church of Hagia Sophia]] in [[Trabzon]] (Trebizond), completed in the 13th century.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Eastmond |first=Antony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swVBDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47-IA6 |title=Art and Identity in Thirteenth-Century Byzantium: Hagia Sophia and the Empire of Trebizond |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-351-95722-9 |pages=77–94 |language=en}}</ref> Antony Eastmond, in analyzing this detail of the church and comparing it with other non-Muslim monuments of the period (including Armenian constructions), suggests that ''muqarnas'' could have been adopted into a wider repertoire of architectural motifs and ideas that was shared across Anatolia and the surrounding region at this time.<ref name=":11" />
 == Symbolism ==
@@ Line 97: / Line 98: @@
 ==Gallery==
-<gallery style="packed">
+<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
 File:Al-BIMARISTAN AN-NOURI 17.jpg|Exterior of the [[Nur al-Din Bimaristan|Bimaristan of Nur al-Din]] in Damascus (1154), with a muqarnas hood over the entrance and a muqarnas dome (partly visible) behind it
 File:Details of Muqarnas corbel balcony, Qutb Minar.jpg|Muqarnas corbelling around the balcony of the [[Qutb Minar]] (1199–1220) in [[Delhi]], India
+File:المسجد الأعظم تينمل 15.jpg|Muqarnas cupola inside the [[mihrab]] of the [[Tinmal Mosque]] in Morocco (circa 1148, [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]] period)
 File:NigdePortalAlaaddin.jpg|Entrance portal of the [[Niğde Alaaddin Mosque|Alaeddin Mosque]] in [[Niğde]] (1223)
+File:Geghard Monastery (13).jpg|Muqarnas vault with central [[Oculus (architecture)|oculus]] in the ''[[gavit]]'' of the [[Geghard Monastery]] in Armenia (13th century, before 1225)<ref name=":12" />
 File:Esrefoglu3.jpg|The tiled muqarnas mihrab of the [[Eşrefoğlu Mosque]] in [[Beyşehir]] (1297)
-File:Aleppo Citadel, Syria (5077841786).jpg|Vault carved with muqarnas in [[Aleppo]], Syria, showing method of suspension for pendant points
 File:16-04-04-Altstadt Jerusalem-WAT 6594.jpg|A flat muqarnas vault in the portal of the Madrasa as-Sallamiya in [[Jerusalem]] (1338), Mamluk period
-File:Turquoise muqarna MBA Lyon 1969-331.jpg|Muqarnas, single alveole. Earthenware with molded decoration under opaque turquoise glaze, [[Timurid Empire#Art|Timurid art]], 1st half of the 15th century. From the [[Shah-i-Zinda]] in [[Samarkand]].
+File:Turquoise muqarna MBA Lyon 1969-331.jpg|Muqarnas, single cell. Earthenware with molded decoration under opaque turquoise glaze, [[Timurid Empire#Art|Timurid art]], 1st half of the 15th century. From the [[Shah-i-Zinda]] in [[Samarkand]].
 File:Topkapi Scroll P344.JPG|Medieval architect's plan of two muqarnas vaults, from the [[Topkapı Scroll]]
 File:Detail, calotte is filled with colored muqarnas. Samaritan's niche from a house in Damascus, Syria. 15th-16th century CE. Islamic Art Museum (Museum für Islamische Kunst), Berlin.jpg|Detail, calotte filled with colored muqarnas. Niche from a Samaritan's house in Damascus, Syria. 15th-16th century CE. Islamic Art Museum (Museum für Islamische Kunst), Berlin
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 File:Muqarnas carved from wood in Tangiers.jpg|Wooden muqarnas vault in the [[Kasbah Palace, Tangier]], Morocco
 File:Ceiling of Aminoddole Carvansarai, Kashan, Iran.jpg|Muqarnas vaults over the [[Aminoddole Carvansarai|Amin al-Dawla Caravanserai]] (19th century) inside the [[Kashan Bazaar]], Iran
 File:Hatem Mosque1 (10).jpg|Upward- and downward-facing muqarnas on the minaret of the Hatem Mosque in [[Alexandria]]
 </gallery>
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 ==External links==
-*{{commons category-inline}}
+{{Commons category}}
-*[https://muqarna.blogspot.com/2015/09/imam-dur.html Images of exterior and interior of Imam Dur Shrine] in Iraq, prior to its 2014 destruction
+* [https://muqarna.blogspot.com/2015/09/imam-dur.html Images of exterior and interior of Imam Dur Shrine] in Iraq, prior to its 2014 destruction
-*[http://www.sakkal.com/islamic_geometry/muqarnas.html polygonal computer models]
+* [http://www.sakkal.com/islamic_geometry/muqarnas.html polygonal computer models]
-*[http://www.slideshare.net/danowen777/muqarnas-reconceived-a-brief-survey# Slideshow on muqarnas geometry], with traditional and computer-assisted new designs.
+* [http://www.slideshare.net/danowen777/muqarnas-reconceived-a-brief-survey# Slideshow on muqarnas geometry], with traditional and computer-assisted new designs.
 {{Islamic architecture}}
 {{Islamic art}}
 {{Mathematics and art}}
 {{Authority control}}
+[[Category:Arabic architecture]]
+[[Category:Architectural elements]]
+[[Category:Architecture in Iran]]
 [[Category:Islamic architectural elements]]
 [[Category:Islamic architecture]]
-[[Category:Architecture in Iran]]
+[[Category:Ornaments (architecture)]]
-[[Category:Arabic architecture]]
-[[Category:Architectural elements]]
 [[Category:Ottoman architecture]]
-[[Category:Ornaments (architecture)]]
-[[Category:Iranian inventions]]