Dictionary of islamic architecture

particularly suited to the construction of large
vertical surfaces which can be enlivened by carving,
as on the entrance façade at Mshatta. With the
exception of basalt most stone is unsuitable for
roofing large areas and only small spans could be
roofed with barrel vaulting. In general Umayyad
architecture avoided the problem of intersecting
vaults so that most buildings were either made up
of small units or roofed in wood.
In Syria, timber from the forests of Lebanon was
often used for roofing. Roofs were either shallow,
pitched structures supported by wooden trusses, as
in the Great Mosque of Damascus, or occasionally
wooden domes, as in the Dome of the Rock or the
Aqsa Mosque. Timber was also used for centring,
scaffolding, tie-beams and mosque furniture such as
minbars.
Although brick architecture was common to
both the Byzantine and Sassanian empires its use
in Umayyad architecture was limited to the eastern
part of the empire. The availability of suitable stone
in Syria meant that bricks were rarely used there
even in Byzantine times. When bricks were used in
Syria it is significant that the Mesopotamian style
was used with thin joints, rather than the thick
layers of mortar used in the Byzantine tradition.
Examples of this are found at Qasr al-Tuba and
Mshatta. In Iraq both baked brick and mud brick
were used extensively. Often baked brick was used
for pillars, vaults and the lower courses of walls
whilst mud brick was used for the upper parts.
Examples can be seen at Wasit and Usqaf Bani
Junayd.
Umayyad architecture can be distinguished from
that of earlier periods by its use of decorative
techniques. None of these was new but the variety
and scale of decorative effects was far greater than
ever before. The most important decorative methods
employed were mosaic, wall painting, sculpture and
relief carving.
Although it is probable that most Umayyad
mosaics were made by Byzantine craftsmen, the
motifs used and the choice of designs usually
indicate an Islamic influence. The earliest Islamic
Umayyads

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mosaics are those in the Dome of the Rock, which
consist of gold and polychrome tesserae in
representations of Byzantine and Sassanian royal
jewels. The Great Mosque in Damascus contains a
very important group of mosaics depicting an ideal
city which, significantly, is devoid of people. This is
due to the ban on figural representation in mosques
and is a good example of Byzantine art adapted for
Islamic purposes. Even in the desert palaces mosaics
usually avoided figures, although occasionally, as at
Khirbet al-Mafjar, there are representations of
animals.
In addition to floor mosaics most Umayyad
palaces were decorated with frescoes, usually on
walls, although occasionally on floors, as at Qasr
al-Hayr al-Gharbi. The best preserved paintings
are those at Qusayr Amrah which include
representations of a great hunt, half-naked dancing
girls and a famous portrait of six rulers of the
world.
Sculptures are found at a number of desert
palaces, most notably Khirbet al-Mafjar and Qasr al-
Hayr al-Gharbi. Both eastern and western sculptural
traditions were used, although the medium was
usually stucco rather than stone. Because stucco is
not free-standing, sculptures were usually
incorporated into some structural feature of a
building such as the entrance.