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Shrines, Shells, and Symbols: A Study on Fatimid Mihrabs
This thesis explores the architectural significance of Fatimid mihrabs, examining their stylistic evolution, cultural influences, and spatial contexts. Positioned within the broader framework of Islamic architectural history, this study analyzes the development of mihrab forms in Fatimid Egypt (10th...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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AUC Knowledge Fountain
2025
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| Summary: | This thesis explores the architectural significance of Fatimid mihrabs, examining their stylistic evolution, cultural influences, and spatial contexts. Positioned within the broader framework of Islamic architectural history, this study analyzes the development of mihrab forms in Fatimid Egypt (10th–12th centuries), highlighting their role beyond the conventional function of indicating qibla direction. Through a comparative approach, the thesis investigates the adaptation of pre-Islamic and regional artistic motifs, such as the trilobed arch, shell-shaped semidomes, and epigraphic compositions, often adapted to Fatimid mihrabs.
By analyzing mihrabs in mosques, shrines, and portable forms, this research reveals how these architectural elements were employed as both functional prayer markers and talismanic motifs, which did not necessarily face the qibla. Additionally, the thesis explores the evolution of mihrab ornamentation, including the introduction of vegetal and geometric motifs influenced by Iranian and North African artistic traditions.
Through a detailed assessment of spatial compositions, materiality, and epigraphy, this research challenges traditional readings of Fatimid mihrabs and their decoration as purely sectarian. Instead, it argues that their design and function were shaped by cross-cultural exchanges and the Fatimids’ broader strategies of visual and political legitimization. The study considers the perception interpretations of mihrabs within Fatimid contexts. By examining their relationship to pre-Islamic Roman, Coptic, and Byzantine funerary traditions, and additionally similar to the contemporaneous Ibadite palace in Sedrata, Algeria, I argue that Fatimid mihrabs did not have motifs that could be read as a direct symbol but rather could be understood multivalently by the various sectarian groups in the medieval Mediterranean. |
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