Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Ajdabiya, Fatimids, Tripoli (Libiya)
Further reading:
A.Abdussaid, ‘Early Islamic monuments at Ajdabiyah’,
Libiya Antiqua
1: 115–19, 1964.
—— ‘An early mosque at Medina Sultan (Ancient Sort)’,
Libiya Antiqua
3–4 : 155–60, 1967.
—— ‘Barqa, modern al-Merj’, 
Libiya Antiqua
8: 121–8,
1971.
J.W.Allan, ‘Some mosques on the Jabal Nefusa’, 
Libiya
Antiqua
9–10 : 147–69, 1973.
J.M.Evans, ‘The traditional house in the Oasis of
Ghadames’, 
Libyan Studies
7: 31–40, 1976.
A.Hutt, ‘Survey of Islamic sites’, 
Libyan Studies
3: 5–6,
1972.
—— 
Islamic Architecture: North Africa,
London 1977.
G.R.D.King, ‘Islamic archaeology in Libiya 1969–1989’,
Libyan Studies
20: 193–207, 1989.
N.M.Lowick, ‘The Arabic inscriptions on the mosque of
Abu Macruf at Sharwas (Jebel Nefusa)’, 
Libyan Studies,
5: 14–19, 1974.
A.M.Ramadan, 
Reflections on Islamic Architecture in Libiya,
Tripoli 1975.
M.Shagluf, ‘The Old Mosque of Ujlah’, 
Some Islamic Sites
in Libiya,
Art and Archaeology Research Papers,
London 1976, 25–8.
H.Ziegert and A.Abdussalam, ‘The White Mosque at
Zuila’, 
Libiya Antiqua
9–10 : 221–2, 1973.

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167
ma
adhana
Place for the call to prayer, often identified with the
minaret.
machicolation
Downward openings or slits used defending a castle or
fortification.
There are three types of machicolation, a box
machicolation, concealed machicolation and
continuous machicolation.
A box machicolation resembles a projecting
window or gallery and may also be used for this
purpose. There are usually one or more slits in the
floor and the box is normally located over a gate or
doorway. Box machicolations were used in Roman
times and their first use in Islamic structures is at
Qasr al-Hayr (East and West).
Concealed machicolations are usually set into the
roof above a vaulted passage leading from a gateway
and are often used in conjunction with a portcullis.
The first example in Islamic architecture comes from
the eighth-century palace of Ukhaidhir in Iraq. These
were frequently used in medieval Islamic
fortifications.
Continuous machicolation consists of a parapet
which is cantilevered over the front face of a wall
with a series of downward openings. The earliest
example of this is also at Ukhaidhir although it is
not used later on in Islamic architecture.