Fig. 3. Arch construction. (From Ocheïdir, by kind permission of Dr. Reuther.)
The arches of the doorways in these rooms, and in all other small doorways in the palace, are constructed in a manner different from that which has been detailed above. Again I borrow the description from Dr. Reuther. A wooden centering has been placed upon the jambs; over this centering was laid a band of gypsum mortar and small stones, irregularly bedded, which, when it hardened, formed an inner arch of concrete (Fig. 3). When the span was narrow no other arch was considered necessary. When it was wider an outer arch of voussoirs laid horizontally encompassed the inner concrete arch. Not infrequently, besides the wooden centering, a permanent centering of mortar and reed was placed on either face of the concrete arch. When the wooden centering was removed the concrete arch remained, set back from the jambs, whereas in all the wide archways, such as those of room 4, the arch follows the principle of the vault and oversails the wall.
The passage, No. 20, which is 12·25 metres long by 2·80 metres wide, communicates by a door at its northern end with the small unlighted room, No. 21. The construction here is of interest ([Plate 17], Fig. 2). The passage is finished by a shallow pointed calotte, standing out from the face of the wall and spanning the angles in the usual fashion with a horizontal masonry bracket. Below it, but not in the centre of the passage, is the small doorway, which is covered by a masonry lintel. The passage opens on to court A through an arcade of two pointed arches. The arches spring from engaged columns and from a squat masonry column placed between them. The rough capital and engaged capitals, from which the stucco has disappeared, are constructed in the same way as the engaged capitals in the great hall. On the opposite side of the court there was once a similar arcade of two arches which has now fallen; indeed, the arcade of No. 20 is the only free-standing arcade which remains intact in the whole palace, with the exception of those in rooms 33 and 40. Court A, 10·70 metres by 6·25 metres, communicates with corridor 6 by a vaulted passage, 1·90 metres wide and 4·25 metres high, leading to an arched doorway 1·60 metres wide and 2·55 metres high. East of this passage lies a vaulted room, No. 26, the door of which stands in the ruined cloister, No. 25. Room 26 is lighted by two small windows in the south wall, opening on to the court, and by a window-slit in the east wall, opening on to the palace yard. To the south of court A lie three chambers, Nos. 22, 23, and 24, which have a width varying from 4·05 metres to 3·85 metres and a length of 5 metres. They communicate with each other and with the court, added to which No. 22 possesses a third door leading into No. 20, and No. 24 a third door leading into No. 25. For the door leading from No. 24 into court A space has been provided by removing a section of the dividing wall between Nos. 23 and 24.
The arrangement of the west wing of the three-storied block is dissimilar from that of the east wing. Three chambers, 8, 9, and 10, lie to the west of the great hall. They have an average width of 3·70 metres, but in length they are only 5·75 metres. They are lighted by small windows high up in the west wall. They communicate with one another by doors covered with ovoid arches set back from the jambs, and with the great hall by small doors in the recesses. The vaults are pointed and oversail the walls. South of No. 10, a stair leads up from the southernmost doorway in the great hall to the first floor. The vault over this stair, of which I give a photograph ([Plate 16], Fig. 2), will serve to illustrate the construction of all vaults at Ukhaiḍir over an inclined plane. They are built in horizontal sections, which form inverted steps; an unbroken rising vault is not to be found in the palace. To the east of this group of rooms with its stair is the cloistered court which I suggested, after my first visit, might be a mosque.[21] The suggestion has been borne out by the discovery of an arched niche in the south wall, which I believe to be the miḥrâb.[22]
The mosque (since I may now give it this title without hesitation) is approached by two doorways from the west corridor, 5. These doorways lead into an open rectangular court, the ṣaḥn, 10·30 metres from north to south by 16 metres from east to west. To east, south, and west of the court ran porticoes, or riwâqs, to use their Arabic name, which have now fallen ([Plate 18], Fig. 1). The engaged columns on the north side and the south-east angle pier are, however, standing, and they determine the width of the riwâqs. The southern riwâq was the widest (4·05 metres), and this is the portion of the mosque which is known as the ḥaram. The east and west riwâqs are alike 3 metres wide. The arcades, which separate the riwâqs from the ṣaḥn, occupy a space 1 metre thick. On the west side the arcade is entirely ruined, but on the east side part of the arches at either end are still to be seen ([Plate 19], Figs. 1 and 2). From these fragments it is apparent that there must have been three arches on the east and west sides, while approximately similar proportions would allow five arches on the south side. (The span of the south arches must have been about ·30 metre less than the span of the east and west arches.) The north end of the east and west vaults rested against the north wall, the south end against a transverse arch, in order to avoid intersection with the vault of the ḥaram. The east vault, which is best preserved, is a slightly pointed ovoid and oversails the east wall. Below the spring of the vault can be seen the windows of rooms 8 and 9; the window of room 10 opens into the ḥaram. Immediately above the springing of the vault there are three holes for cross beams, the decay of which has entailed the ruin of the vault. The fallen masses of masonry columns and vault form heaps of débris on all three sides of the court. At the eastern end of the ḥaram there is a low door, almost blocked by ruin heaps, which gives access to a narrow blind passage situated under the stair. The vault of the ḥaram has received an elaborate decoration in stucco. It was divided into sections by nine transverse arches, 1 metre wide. They cannot have had any correspondence with the columns and arches of the arcade, nor was this necessary, for they sprang from above the line of the vault and therefore from above the summit of the arches of the arcade. The transverse arches were decorated with lozenges (wards as they would be called in modern Arabic) having a zigzag outline ([Plate 18], Fig. 1). In the centre of each lozenge there was a round hole, or rosette, recessed back in concentric circles. Between the transverse arches the vault was worked in parallel bars of stucco, the one oversailing the other. The bars begin at a distance of about ·80 metre above the spring of the vault. It is evident that this vault must have been constructed over a light centering, and Dr. Reuther is of opinion that the singular ridged decoration was suggested by the impression left by the centering boards upon the plaster.[23] The top of the vault was probably treated as in room 31, where a decoration similar to that of the ḥaram is more fully preserved. Holes for cross-beams break the fourth and fifth stucco ridge between each transverse arch. Between the terminal transverse arches and the wall at either end of the ḥaram there is a space 1·60 metres long. It is divided into two quarter-domes by a transverse arch which springs from the back wall, at right angles to the transverse arches of the vault. This arch is decorated in exactly the same manner as the others and must have joined the first transverse arch at either end, at the summit of the vault. The quarter-domes are covered with stucco ornament. At the east end ([Plate 20], Fig. 1) a fluted squinch occupies the two angles; on either side of it are two shallow calottes. Three concentrically recessed rosettes are set above each of the calottes, and there is a like motive in the apex of the calotte. Above the squinch and calottes there is a band of four isolated crenellations, the same motive which appears on the archivolt over the doors of corridors 5 and 6. Above the crenellations are vestiges of a decorated band, and above the band the apex of the quarter-dome is fluted. At the west end there is a slight variation in the proportions and in the motives of the lower register of the quarter-domes ([Plate 20], Fig. 2). The squinch, instead of being fluted, is decorated with three concentric bands, sunk one within the other. At its base lies one of the usual concentric rosettes. The same rosette is placed on either side of each calotte and within the calotte, the rosette above the calotte being omitted. The crenellated motive of the east end is repeated at the west end, but the band between the crenellations and the flutes of the quarter-domes is omitted.
The miḥrâb niche is not placed exactly in the centre of the south wall, but a few centimetres to the east ([Plate 18], Fig. 2). If there was any stucco ornament upon it, it was all carried away by the fall of the vault. The semi-dome which covers it is set over the rectangular niche on horizontal brackets of masonry, like all other semi-domes and calottes in the palace. The archivolt is constructed of a double ring of voussoirs, the inner ring laid vertically, the outer horizontally. There is no reason to doubt that the miḥrâb is contemporary with the wall. The plaster which remains upon the interior of the semi-dome shows no sign of decoration. Below the semi-dome the face of the walls of the niche is much injured by the heavy masses of fallen masonry.
The angle pier which took the corner arches of the ḥaram and the east arcade shows, on the sides facing the arcades, returns in the shape of engaged columns. A third return is rectangular and corresponds with a return on the east wall, the two carrying the transverse arch which terminates the eastern vault. In the fragment of this vault which is standing the principles of construction can be discerned unusually well ([Plate 19]). The vault is built of thin slabs of stone, laid in rings, with a marked inclination against the northern head wall. At the southern end these rings fan out so as to meet the transverse arch.
One more detail remains to be noticed. The two doors from the west corridor, 5, stand in recesses 1 metre deep. The recesses are covered by a calotte, and round the archivolt is placed a stucco decoration consisting of seven cusps ([Plate 21], Fig. 1).
The first floor of the north gate tower has already been described. The east door of room 90 communicates with the vaulted and unlighted room, 93. A thin dividing wall separates room 93 from room 94 (there is a small aperture like a window in this wall). Beyond another thin dividing wall lies room 95, with a window at its eastern end looking into the palace yard. These three rooms, 93, 94, and 95, occupy the space above the east corridor, 6. Room 107 is on a lower level; it is approached from 93 by a doorway with steps and is wholly unlighted. The group of rooms Nos. 103, 104, and 105 are on the same level as 107. They are 14·75 metres long and correspond in width with the rooms below them. At their western end they are provided with a masonry divan, 1·20 metres wide and raised ·55 metre above the level of the floor. The meaning of this divan is apparent in the section (section a-b, Plate 4, Fig. 1); it was needed in order to lift the floor of the three rooms above the vaulted tube which lies parallel to the vault of the great hall. The height of these rooms from the floor to the top of the vault is 4·20 metres. They communicate with each other and with the vaulted passage 108, and room 103 possesses further a door in the south wall leading into room 102. The latter returns to the level of rooms 93, 94, and 95, and consequently steps are placed in the doorway of 103.