Dictionary of islamic architecture

parts of the walls are built from large stone blocks to
strengthen the buildings against water and wind
erosion. The most ephemeral buildings are those
built of palm fronds and wood, although it is likely
that in the past these may have been the commonest
form of dwelling. Palmfrond, or barasti, houses are
usually built on a wooden frame made out of
mangrove poles, split-palm trunk or any other
available wood. The palm fronds are used in two
forms, either as straight poles (approximately 1 m
long) stripped of their leaves used for creating
screens or with the leaves still on for roof thatch.
The shape of palm-frond houses varies from square
or rectangular flat-roofed buildings to triangular
tent-like structures.
In the mountains in the east of the country
houses are built out of irregular-shaped blocks laid
without mortar; inside, the walls of the houses may
be plastered with mud. The flat roofs are made out
of palm fronds or any other locally available wood.
Sometimes the houses are built into the ground,
with triangular pitched roofs made of palm wood.
Most of the stone houses are rectangular, although
in the central mountains of the UAE round stone
houses are also found, with roofs made of mountain
bushes.
Before the twentieth century the emirates
depended on trade and fishing for their primary
income. Each town was located on a creek or
peninsula with easy access to the sea and a hinterland
used for agriculture. The most famous of these towns
(now disappeared) is Julfar which had extensive
trade links with East Africa, India and the Far East
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during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The
location of the emirates on the coast of the Gulf has
also meant that the country was heavily influenced
by it neighbour Iran. This influence can be seen in
the Bastakia quarter of Dubai which developed as
an outpost of the Iranian city of Bastak. Today the
Bastakiya quarter is notable for its wind-towers,
which are a characteristic feature of central Iranian
towns.
There are few old mosques standing in the UAE
and those that do survive are mostly in the smaller
villages. This is because the larger mosques of the
towns have undergone constant renovation and
renewal so that the main mosques are now dazzling
new structures. Reputedly the oldest mosque in the
emirates is the mosque of Bidiya on the east coast,
near the site of the battle of Dibba which established
Islam in the area. This mosque is a rectangular
building with a large central pillar supporting four
flat-topped domes with pointed finials. The deep-
set mihrab projects out of the back of the mosque
and is flanked by a fixed minbar of four steps. Until
recently minarets were fairly unusual in the UAE
although in the east there are a number of small
coastal mosques with squat minarets capped with
unusual pointed domes.
Like many of the other countries of the Arabian
peninsula the emirates have a number of forts and
watch-towers built to protect the urban populations.
Each of the seven emirates had its own forts which
are now in varying states of repair. The oldest of these
is the Husn of Abu Dhabi originally built in the
eighteenth century to protect the city’s well. The
emirate of al-Cain has six forts built by the Nahyan
family around the Buraimi oasis between 1830 and
1910. Most of the forts have now been restored and
converted into museums.
The most sophisticated houses in the UAE are
found in the coastal towns where there was enough
wealth and outside influence to build on a large
scale. The typical house of a wealthy coastal family
consists of a two-storey structure built around a
central courtyard. From the outside the houses are
generally quite plain, although sometimes the
upper parts of the walls were decorated with
crenellations and the wind-towers were decorated
with elaborate arches. Inside, the rooms opening
on to the courtyard were decorated with carved
Traditional house, UAE. Note wind-tower (mulqaf) (after Kay and Zandi)
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stucco panels or grilles, sometimes containing
stained glass.
The phenomenal growth of the emirates since the
Second World War has meant that many of the older
historical and traditional buildings were destroyed.
In recent times, however (since the 1970s), there has
been a concerted effort to protect and restore
historical buildings. One of the most successful
projects has been the restoration of the abandoned
nineteenth-century palace of Sheikh Saeed, ruler of
Dubai from 1912 to 1958. The present architecture of
the UAE represents a wide variety of Islamic styles
indicating both the wealth and cosmopolitan nature
of the country.