The Sabils in the Islamic Architecture of Mecca and Medina

الأسبلة في العمارة الإسلامية بمكة المكرمة والمدينة المنورة

A historical and archaeological study by Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad (Cairo, 2004) of the water sabils of Mecca, Medina and the pilgrim roads, in two chapters: a history of the siqayas and sabils period by period, and an archaeological study of their types ¹ ².

Overview

Al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara: dirasa tarikhiyya athariyya is a book by Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, professor of Islamic architecture and archaeology at Cairo University, the fourth part of his series Islamic Architecture in the Arabian Peninsula, first published by Maktabat Zahra' al-Sharq in Cairo in 2004. ³ ⁴

Structure

Introduction: on the meaning and derivation of the word sabil and on charitable foundations generally. ⁵ ⁶
Chapter 1, historical study: water in the Hijaz and the Mecca-Medina road, then the sabils of Mecca from the Abbasids to King Abd al-Aziz, and those of Medina from the Mamluks to Muhammad Ali. ¹ ⁷
Chapter 2, archaeological study: the Siqaya of al-Abbas, al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh's sabil at the Haram, Qaytbay's sabil at Masjid al-Khayf, then Ottoman sabils and those of King Abd al-Aziz. ² ⁸
Conclusion, notes, figures and plates, sources. ²

Method

The author notes that almost none of the sabils of the two cities survive, so he relies on local histories such as al-Azraqi's and al-Fakihi's Akhbar Makka and al-Fasi's Shifa' al-gharam, on travellers' accounts, documents and biographies, and on surviving inscriptions and photographs to recover their types and elements. ⁶ ⁸ He compares the Hijazi examples with the Mamluk sabils of Cairo and discusses modern scholars such as al-Harithi, Ghabbashi and Nuwaysir. ⁹ ¹⁰ ¹¹

Main conclusions

The author concludes that siqayas were known from early Islam, that by the last quarter of the third century AH Mecca alone had about a hundred, and that they spread under the name sabil from the Ayyubid period. ¹² He holds that al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh's sabil beside Zamzam is the earliest known three-window sabil, that Qaytbay's four-window sabil at Masjid al-Khayf is a rare example, that Ottoman sabils added the "çeşme" (tap fountain) for drinking and ablution, and that the Mina sabil of 1340 AH was a splendid finale to sabil architecture. ¹³ ¹⁴

Sources

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.5

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.6

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , title page

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , imprint

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.7

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.10

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.13

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.37

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.41

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.43

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.47

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.49

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.50

Muhammad Hamza Isma'il al-Haddad, al-Asbila fi al-'imara al-islamiyya bi-Makka al-Mukarrama wa-l-Madina al-Munawwara (2004) , p.51

The Sabils in the Islamic Architecture of Mecca and Medina

At a glance

In time

Overview

Structure

Method

Main conclusions

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Objects

Sabil (public water fountain)