Origins & Early Archetypes of Muqarnas

Perhaps, the most important design form in the pre-Islamic architectures, which had the
greatest influence on the architectures of the Muslims, was the use of the dome over a
square sanctuary chamber. Placing the circle of the base of the dome upon the square of
the lower walls presented a major structural problem. (Dold-Samplonius, 1992)
The squinch (Figure 02.02), attributed to the Sassanids, developed as the primary motive
of the zone of transition between cube and dome, and retained as the solution for many
centuries (Dold-Samplonius, 1992). Another important innovation, was the pendentive
(Figure 02.03), popularized by the Byzantines, and deep rooted in the building traditions
of the Egypt, where the first record of pendentives as a transitional element between the
dome and its supporting walls is found at Tomb of Seneb, Thebes, build around 2,500 B.C.
(Okasha, 1994). Worth mentioning that the use of pendentives had also been mastered
by Sumerian architects, as present at the Royal Cemetery, Ur. (Fletcher, 1996)
Okasha (1994) considers the squinch to be the ancestor of muqarnas, and that the builders,
concerned with finding decorative roles for the squinch areas, favoured a decoration
by the multiplication of parts, a treatment which gave interest to the otherwise blank
and shaded inner surface of the squinch. A parallel development, according to Rosintal
and Schroeder (1967), occurred in Seljuk Anatolia, where the triangular form of the
pendentive is adopted as formula of dome transition.
The interpretation which assigns the pendentive as an architectural and structural origin to
the muqarnas, finds less acceptance in more recent literature. (abou-Seif, 1986)
As for the muqarnas as we know it today the origin is still obscure, and although it
has usually been assigned to be between the 9th and the 11th centuries, the argument
continues about the whereabouts of its first developments:
Iran: Excavations by the Metropolitan Museum at Nishapur have brought to light fragments
of carved and painted-stucco niches of muqarnas that seem to have been applied as
facing of walls and corners in residential architecture. (abou-Seif, 1986) (Dates?)
Iraq: The earliest example of a fully-fledged muqarnas dome in the Shrine of Imam al-
Dawr, Samarra, which betrays certain affinities with the regular squinch dome. (Tabbaa,
1985) (Dates?)
Egypt: The Islamic Museum of Cairo contains painted-plaster fragments discovered in the
ruins of the Bath of abul-Suud, al-Fustat. On stylistic grounds they have been dated to the
11th century, before the destruction of al-Fustat in the 12th century. (Bloom, 1988)
In that case, Baghdad as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and closest to the Sassanid
influence, could well be the place of origin of the muqarnas. (Dold-Samplonius, 1992)
This disagreement on the origins of the muqarnas, extends to a dispute over its emergence
in Egypt. This is mainly due the scarce of historical evidence, and the discontinuity in the
chronology of the surviving monuments.
Creswell theorized that Egyptians, during the Early Christian era, were responsible for
the first steps in the evolution of the squinch into the muqarnas. Another socioeconomic
interpretation, by Jonathan Bloom, represents the vernacular squinch (Figure 02.04) as
a popularized building element which ascended to become an essential term in the high
architectural vocabulary.