Dictionary of islamic architecture

Further reading:
M.Burgoyne, 
The Architecture of Islamic Jerusalem,
Jerusalem 1976.
M.Burgoyne and D.Richards, 
Mamluk Jerusalem: An
Architectural Study,
London 1987.
A.Cohen, ‘The walls of Jerusalem’, in 
Essays in Honour of
Bernard Lewis: The Mamie World from Classical to Modern
Times,
ed. C.E.Bosworth, C.Issawi, R.Savory and A.
Udovitch, Princeton, N.J., 1989, 467–78.
K.Prag, 
Jerusalem Blue Guide,
London 1989.
D.Pringle, ‘Crusader architecture in Jerusalem’, 
Bulletin
of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society
10: 105–13,
1990–1.
M.Rosen-Ayalon, ‘Art and architecture in Ayyubid
Jerusalem’, 
Israel Exploration Journal
40(4): 305–14,
1990.

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137
joggled voussoirs
Term used to describe a method of construction where
stones in an arch or composite lintel are interlocked.
The earliest examples of joggled voussoirs are
found in Roman architecture particularly in Spain
and France where they are used in bridge
construction. It seems that the purpose of this
structural device was to strengthen lintels and
arches during earthquakes, thus the arch could be
pulled apart but would fall back to its original
position afterwards.
The first use of joggled voussoirs in Islamic
architecture is for the lintel above the entrance to
the greater enclosure at Qasr al-Hayr East. Later on
(twelfth century) they become characteristic of
Ayyubid architecture and stones of alternating
colours were used. Under the Mamluks (mid-thir-
teenth to early sixteenth century) they are one of the
main decorative features in architecture and are cut
into very complex patterns. At this stage the patterns
become more important than the structural design
thus the patterns are sometimes achieved by inlaying
one type of stone into another or even painting the
design on.