| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| [I.] | UKHAIḌIR | [1] |
| [II.] | QṢAIR, MUDJḌAH, AND ‘AṬSHÂN | [38] |
| [III.] | QAṢR-I-SHÎRÎN | [44] |
| [IV.] | GENESIS OF THE EARLY MOHAMMADAN PALACE | [55] |
| [V.] | THE FAÇADE | [122] |
| [VI.] | THE MOSQUE | [145] |
| [VII.] | THE DATE OF UKHAIḌIR | [161] |
| [SUBJECT INDEX] | [169] | |
| [INDEX OF NAMES] | [173] | |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| FIGURES IN THE TEXT | ||
|---|---|---|
| FIG. | PAGE | |
| [1.] | Ukhaiḍir, north wall of palace, showing original scheme | [11] |
| [2.] | Ukhaiḍir, arch construction | [12] |
| [3.] | Ukhaiḍir, arch construction | [15] |
| [4.] | Ukhaiḍir, south side of court B | [31] |
| [5.] | Zindjirli | [61] |
| [6.] | Pasargadae | [62] |
| [7.] | Persepolis, Apadana of Xerxes | [63] |
| [8.] | Persepolis, palace of Darius | [64] |
| [9.] | Parthian palace at Niffer | [66] |
| [10.] | Hatra palace | [67] |
| [11.] | Relief from Quyundjik | [77] |
| [12.] | Modern Ṭarmah houses | [83] |
| [13.] | Balkuwârâ | [85] |
| [14.] | Scheme of Pompeiian house | [87] |
| [15.] | Priene, house 33 | [88] |
| [16.] | Priene, house 24 | [88] |
| [17.] | Palace at Pergamon | [89] |
| [18.] | Small palace at Hatra | [91] |
| [19.] | Ctesiphon | [95] |
| [20.] | Karkh | [95] |
| [21.] | Roman fort at Housesteads | [99] |
| [22.] | Odhruḥ | [100] |
| [23.] | Ledjdjûn | [101] |
| [24.] | Da’djaniyyeh | [102] |
| [25.] | Bshair | [104] |
| [26.] | Qasṭal | [105] |
| [27.] | Lagash | [107] |
| [28.] | Ṭûbah | [113] |
| [29.] | Kharâneh | [114] |
| [30.] | Petra, the storied tomb | [129] |
| [31.] | Hatra, façade of palace reconstructed | [138] |
| [32.] | Mosque at Raqqah | [154] |
| [33.] | Mosque of Abû Dulaf | [155] |
| [34.] | Assyrian fortress | [157] |
| [35.] | Ukhaiḍir, graffito in room 44 | [163] |
| MAPS | ||
| [1.] | Syria and Mesopotamia | —at end |
| [2.] | Ukhaiḍir, map of site | |
| PLATES (at end) | |
|---|---|
| 1. | Ukhaiḍir, ground-plan. |
| 2. | Ukhaiḍir, ground-plan of interior buildings. |
| [3.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, first floor of palace. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, second floor of palace. |
| 4. | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, Section a-b. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, Section c-d. |
| 5. | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, Section e-f. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, Section g-h. Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir,The Ḥammâm. Fig. 4. Qṣair. |
| [6.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir from north-east. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, central court, from south. |
| [7.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south-east angle of palace yard. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, north-east corner. |
| [8.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south-west corner. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, detail of tower chamber.Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, decoration on north wall. |
| [9.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south gate, interior. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, south gate, exterior. |
| [10.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, chemin de ronde of east wall, looking north. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, northfaçade, showing loopholes of chemin de ronde. |
| [11.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, north façade. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, north gate. |
| [12.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, room 1, looking north. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, room 88, south-west endof vault. |
| [13.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, room 4, north-east portion of dome. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, room 4, south-westportion of dome. |
| [14.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, great hall, looking south. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, vault of great hall,looking south. |
| [15.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, great hall, west side. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, great hall, door of south-weststair. |
| [16.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, great hall, looking north. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, vault of south-west stairout of great hall. |
| [17.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, corridor 5, looking west. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, north end of corridor 20. |
| [18.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south wall of mosque. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, miḥrâb. |
| [19.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, east side of mosque. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, east side of mosque, north end. |
| [20.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south-east angle of mosque. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, south-west angle ofmosque. |
| [21.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, door of mosque. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, north end of gallery 108. |
| [22.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, north-east angle of court A. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, corridors 28 and 102from corridor 100. |
| [23.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, court H, north side, and north wall of mosque. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir,second story, rooms 119, 120, and 121, from east. |
| [24.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, second story, rooms to south and east of court. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir,second story, showing doors of 132, 137, and 117. |
| [25.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, gallery 134. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, squinch in north-west angle ofgallery 134. |
| [26.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, north-west angle of central court. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, east door andsouth-east end of central court. |
| [27.] | Ukhaiḍir, central court, east side of north façade. |
| [28.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south-east angle of central court. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, fluted semi-dome,south-east angle of central court. |
| [29.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, room 29 and south side of central court. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, southside of central court, showing door of room 31. Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, south side ofcentral court, door into room 42. |
| [30.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, vault of room 31. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, room 31, showing decoration intop of vault. |
| [31.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south wall, east end, of room 32. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, room 40 fromroom 30. Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, south-west angle of passage 36. |
| [32.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, room 33, north-west column. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, groin in north-eastangle of corridor 28. |
| [33.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, court B, north-west angle. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, court B, eastern halfof north façade. Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, court C, north-west angle. Fig. 4. Ukhaiḍir,court C, eastern half of north façade. |
| [34.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south door of room 44. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, south doors of room 45. |
| [35.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south side of court B. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, south-west angle of court H.Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, west end of No. 78. |
| [36.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, door between rooms 44 and 45 from room 44. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir,court C, south door of room 55. |
| [37.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, door from court C into palace yard. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, south-westcorner of court E. Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, south side of court H. |
| [38.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, from south-east corner of chemin de ronde. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, fromeast gate. |
| [39.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, south-west angle of court G. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, east annex, north-eastend. Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, east annex, from north. |
| [40.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, remains of stair. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, room 140. |
| [41.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, room 141, north-west corner of groin. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, east annex,from south. |
| [42.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, east annex from south, showing door of room 141. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir,north annex, showing roof. Fig. 3. Ukhaiḍir, north annex, detail of roof. |
| [43.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, north annex, from north gate. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, from north. |
| [44.] | Fig. 1. Ukhaiḍir, north annex, from west. Fig. 2. Ukhaiḍir, from north-west. |
| [45.] | Fig. 1. Qṣair, interior, showing apse. Fig. 2. Qṣair, detail of apse. Fig. 3. Qṣair,exterior from south. |
| [46.] | Fig. 1. Mudjḍah. Fig. 2. ‘Aṭshân. |
| [47.] | Fig. 1. Mudjḍah. Fig. 2. Mudjḍah. Fig. 3. Mudjḍah, detail of lower niches. |
| [48.] | Fig. 1. Ṭâûq, minaret. Fig. 2. ‘Aṭshân, from north-east. |
| [49.] | Fig. 1. ‘Aṭshân, north gate, exterior. Fig. 2. ‘Aṭshân, north gate, interior. |
| [50.] | Fig. 1. ‘Aṭshân, rooms 2, 3, and 5, from north. Fig. 2. ‘Aṭshân, rooms 5 and 8, fromnorth. |
| [51.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, corridor 103, east side. Fig. 2. ‘Aṭshân, west door ofroom 6, from west. |
| [52.] | Fig. 1. ‘Aṭshân, room 8, from west. Fig. 2. Palace of Khusrau, vault of room 71. |
| 53. | Qaṣr-i-Shîrîn, palace of Khusrau, upper level. |
| 54. | Qaṣr-i-Shîrîn, palace of Khusrau, lower level. |
| [55.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, east end of hall 3. Fig. 2. Palace of Khusrau, west end ofhall 3. |
| [56.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, vaulted ramp in corridor 12. Fig. 2. Palace of Khusrau,court M, south antechamber, showing door leading into corridor 42. |
| [57.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, south-west corner of court M, showing corridor 42. Fig. 2.Palace of Khusrau, east side of courts O and Q. |
| [58.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, west side of courts Q and S. Fig. 2. Palace of Khusrau,south-west corner of court S. |
| [59.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, vault of room 73. Fig. 2. Palace of Khusrau, corridor 43,looking west. |
| [60.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, court V, looking west. Fig. 2. Palace of Khusrau,gateway between courts U and V, west arch. |
| [61.] | Palace of Khusrau, gateway between courts U and V, south-east angle of room 82. |
| [62.] | Palace of Khusrau, court W, with rooms 97 and 98. |
| [63.] | Fig. 1. Palace of Khusrau, eastern double ramp. Fig. 2. Palace of Khusrau, northbuildings. |
| [64.] | Qaṣr-i-Shîrîn, Chehâr Qapû. |
| [65.] | Fig. 1. Chehâr Qapû, interior of east gate. Fig. 2. Chehâr Qapû, niche in room 8.Fig. 3. Chehâr Qapû, squinch in room 6. |
| [66.] | Fig. 1. Chehâr Qapû, niche in room 6. Fig. 2. Chehâr Qapû, squinch in room 14. |
| [67.] | Chehâr Qapû, court D and hall 54, from east. |
| [68.] | Fig. 1. Chehâr Qapû, vault of room 31. Fig. 2. Chehâr Qapû, squinch in room 39. |
| [69.] | Fig. 1. Chehâr Qapû, hall 54, south-east corner. Fig. 2. Chehâr Qapû, hall 54,squinch in south-west corner. |
| [70.] | Fig. 1. Chehâr Qapû, hall 54, exterior of south door. Fig. 2. Chehâr Qapû, hall54, interior of south door. |
| [71.] | Chehâr Qapû, hall 54, from south. |
| [72.] | Chehâr Qapû, hall 54, from west. |
| [73.] | Fig. 1. Qaṣr-i-Shîrîn, Qal’a-i-Khusrau. Fig. 2. Firûzâbâd. |
| [74.] | Fig. 1. Sarvistân, small domed chamber. Fig. 2. Hatra, oversailing vault in mainpalace. |
| [75.] | Fig. 1. Kerkûk, Mâr Ṭahmâsgerd. Fig. 2. Hatra, vaulted passage in so-calledtemple. |
| [76.] | Sarvistân. |
| [77.] | Sargon’s Palace at Khorsâbâd. |
| [78.] | Fig. 1. Gate at Khorsâbâd. Fig. 2. Ḍumair. |
| [79.] | Fig. 1. Kharâneh. Fig. 2. Kharâneh, gateway. |
| [80.] | Fig. 1. Kharâneh, interior of court. Fig. 2. Kharâneh, interior of audience hall. |
| [81.] | Mshattâ. |
| [82.] | Fig. 1. Petra, Corinthian tomb. Fig. 2. Petra, al-Dair. |
| [83.] | Ctesiphon. |
| [84.] | Fig. 1. Doorway of mosque, Ḥasan Kaif. Fig. 2. Gateway of mosque, Ḥarrân.Fig. 3. Mayâfârqîn, north façade of mosque. |
| [85.] | Ukhaiḍir, reconstructed north façade of central court. |
| [86.] | Fig. 1. Parthian decoration, Assur. Fig. 2. Sasanian silver dish (Hermitage,St. Petersburg, No. 2969). |
| [87.] | Details of decoration from Medînat al-Zahrâ. |
| [88.] | Fig. 1. Djebel Sindjâr, khân. Fig. 2. Ḥasan Kaif, mosque. |
| [89.] | Fig. 1. Cairo, mosque of Ibn Ṭulûn. Fig. 2. Mosque of Abû Dulaf. |
| [90.] | Diyârbekr, Ulu Djâmi’. |
| [91.] | Fig. 1. Cairo, mosque of Ibn Ṭulûn. Fig. 2. Sâmarrâ, mosque. |
| [92.] | Mosque of Ṣalaḥ al-Dîn, Mayâfârqîn. |
| [93.] | Fig. 1. Diyârbekr, mosque, fragment of old wall. Fig. 2. Mayâfârqîn, mosque. |
CHAPTER I
UKHAIḌIR
The fortified palace of Ukhaiḍir stands in the desert about three hours’ journey to the south-east of the oasis of Shethâthâ and some seven hours’ south-west of Kerbelâ. Its exact site has been fixed by Sir William Willcocks’s survey and it is upon his map that mine is based ([Map 1]). Ukhaiḍir is not far from the south-west end of the low ground which Sir William Willcocks has called the Ḥabbâniyyeh depression. The southern part of this depression covers an area of 146 square kilometres at a level of 46 metres above the Persian Gulf;[9] at its lower end it still contains a lake of brackish water, the lake of Abû Dibs, the water-level of which is 19 metres above the Persian Gulf. The northern part is occupied by the Ḥabbâniyyeh Lake. That the whole area was once filled with escape water from the Euphrates is shown by the fact that it is covered at a level of 25 metres above the Persian Gulf by a thick belt of Euphrates shells; at this level it extends over an area of 1,200 square kilometres. The oases of Raḥḥâliyyeh and Shethâthâ are situated upon the edge of this ancient reservoir. Between Shethâthâ and Ukhaiḍir a shallow valley, the Wâdi al-Ubaiḍ, makes its way up from the south-west to the lake of Abû Dibs. I have been told that after heavy winter rain a stream has been known to flow down the ghadîr, the water-course, which winds through the sand and stones of the valley bed. Whether this be true or no, a well of good sweet water exists in the Wâdi al-Ubaiḍ, fed, in all probability, by a spring, like the famous water of Muḥaiwir in the Wâdi Ḥaurân, or the wells of ‘Asîleh in the Wâdi Burdân. At no other point in the immediate vicinity of Ukhaiḍir is fresh water to be obtained; whether you dig within the palace walls, or without, the water, if water there be, is brackish and unfit to drink. To the north of the Wâdi al-Ubaiḍ the ground opposite Ukhaiḍir, sloping gradually down to the Ḥabbâniyyeh depression, is intersected by gulleys, narrow and steep, cutting through hillocks of gypsum, and among these hillocks is the small ruin which the Arabs call Qṣair. Here, I take it, the gypsum was obtained for the mortar which binds the masonry of the palace, and its good qualities are attested by the excellent preservation of wall and vault until this day. I have not visited the quarries, but the Arabs told me that the stone had been brought from a distance of about an hour to the south of Ukhaiḍir, where there are traces of working ‘taḥt al-arḍ’, below the ground—not in a hill-side. Near the quarries there is said to be a well of good but not abundant water; Shakhârîz is the name of the well. It is built of stone. Behind it, some three hours’ journey from Ukhaiḍir, there is a low line of hills, the Djebel Ḍaba’. From the castle walls the long levels of the desert spread out invitingly to the hills, and I would gladly have gone thither, but I had not time to spare during either of my visits. Ukhaiḍir does not reckon security among its many charms. The plentiful sweet water of the well in the Wâdi al-Ubaiḍ makes it a trysting-place for raiding parties, and after four or five days’ sojourn it is best to be gone, lest the news that a foreigner is lodged within the palace walls should run too temptingly among the tribes. In 1911, the date of my last visit, I came to Ukhaiḍir from Shethâthâ, having ridden straight across the desert from Ramâdi, skirting the Ḥabbâniyyeh Lake and the east side of the Ḥabbâniyyeh depression. When I left I did not follow the usual way, by Abû Dibs to Kerbelâ, but rode almost due east, to the foot of a cliff of sand and rock, which is the western limit of a flat desert plateau that stretches eastward to the Hindiyyeh. An abrupt rise of this nature is called in colloquial Arabic a ṭâr.[10] From Ukhaiḍir the ground dropped gradually. After two hours’ riding (about six miles) we reached the khabrâ of Wizikh. A khabrâ is a hollow bottom where rain water lies and stagnates till it evaporates. The khabrâ of Wizikh, which was dry and sandy, appeared to stretch along the foot of the ṭâr, northward to Abû Dibs, and also southwards. My Arab guide, a sheikh of the Zaqârît, which is a sub-tribe of the Shammar, informed me that there were wells of brackish water in the khabrâ further to the south, the Biyâr Slâm. The khabrâ was about a fifth of a mile wide. At the further side we rode up the sandy gulleys of the ṭâr and in ten minutes reached a well, the Bir Sbai’i, the water of which was brackish but drinkable. From here to the Hindiyyeh there is no water of any kind. Another ten minutes brought us to the summit of the ṭâr, whence we could see Ukhaiḍir on the one hand and the tower of Mudjḍah on the other. The bearings here were as follows: Ukhaiḍir (south-east angle of the castle) 300°, Mudjḍah 97°, central point of the Djebel Ḍaba’ 244°. Mudjḍah is a solitary tower without any provision for the storage of water, or any ruins round it. I think it can have served no other purpose than that of a landmark on the line of the caravan track, which must have passed this way from the great city of Kûfah to the oasis of Shethâthâ, or ‘Ain al-Tamr, to give it its earlier name. From the top of the ṭâr to the modern Kerbelâ-Nedjef road the desert is absolutely flat and featureless, and we ourselves came near to losing our way across it. The existence of a former caravan track across this waste is assured by the ruined khân of ‘Aṭshân, half-way between Mudjḍah and the modern Khân Ḥamâd.
Such are the characteristics of the country round Ukhaiḍir. The ṭâr, standing over the low ground of the khabrâ, bounds the view to the east; to the north-east, across the Wâdi al-Ubaiḍ, the gypsum hillocks lead down to the Ḥabbâniyyeh depression; to the north-west a few shallow desert wâdis cross the path to Shethâthâ; to south and west stretches the immense expanse of the Syrian desert, broken only by the small group of the Djebel Ḍaba’. It is, however, by no means certain that in the seventh and eighth centuries, that is to say, at the period during which it is probable that the palace was built, the local conditions were the same as they are at present. It is indeed likely that the Ḥabbâniyyeh depression contained at that time more water than it does now, that the lake of Abû Dibs stretched across a considerable part of it, and that its margin approached nearer to Ukhaiḍir. The scrub and reed round the edge of the lake would have given cover for water fowl, for boar and other wild animals, and the lords of Ukhaiḍir, when they went out to the chase, would have had an ample supply of game. Moreover the oasis of Shethâthâ was certainly a more important place then than it is at present, for all its 160,000 palm-trees.[11] There can be no doubt that it occupies the site of ‘Ain al-Tamr, famous in the days of the Persian kings[12]—that same oasis which Khâlid ibn al-Walîd took and sacked in the year A.H. 12. It is my belief that the Mohammadan invasion did not diminish its importance, and in proof I would adduce the evidence afforded by the khân of ‘Aṭshân and the landmark tower of Mudjḍah, showing that from Kûfah to ‘Ain al-Tamr there must have been a direct caravan road across the desert. Muqaddasi, writing in the year A.D. 985, describes ‘Ain al-Tamr as a little castle;[13] Yâqût, who mentions the name Shefâthâ as part of ‘Ain al-Tamr, praises its dry dates above those of other towns,[14] and to this day they maintain that honourable pre-eminence. Ukhaiḍir, then, with the marshy haunts of game a mile or two from its gates, and a much-frequented oasis three hours to the north, presented in the eighth century advantages which it no longer enjoys now that the waters have retreated to the confines of the modern Abû Dibs, and the traffic of Shethâthâ has shrunk to an occasional small caravan of merchant and citizen passing along the Kerbelâ track, or the visit of a ragged crew of Beduin date-buyers. Yet it is difficult to conjure up any picture but that of isolation when, after a weary struggle through sand or marsh, according to the season, the gaunt walls and towers of the palace rear themselves out of the solitudes of the desert—in all that barren waste sole vestige of mortal energy, of the fleeting splendour of mankind. ([Plate 6], Fig. 1).