You are standing in front of the remains of one of the mosques at Hisham’s Palace. As it is today, religion was very important for the Umayyads. In the mosques the Umayyads came together to pray.
Hisham’s Palace was built in three different phases. In the first phase the palace, the cold-water bath house and mosque A were built. In the second stage the audience hall and the large bath house were built. Finally, the pavilion and mosque B were built. As the palace complex was enlarged the diplomatic and religious functions were transferred from the oldest part of the complex to the audience hall and mosque B; the palace focussed more and more on the function of living.
1A. In the right column you see plans of the palace complex in the three different phases. What is the right chronological order of the three plans? Start with the oldest plan (phase 1) and end with the most recent one (phase 3). Click on the image to enlarge it.
1B. Explain why you have chosen this chronological order.
2A. Look at the two plans of mosque A in two different phases. What architectural change do you notice? Click on the image to enlarge it.
2B. How can you explain this adjustment with the knowledge about the changes in diplomatic and religious functions of this part of the palace by the time (see text above)?
3. Now you are standing in mosque B. Unfortunately, there is not much left of the mosque. But, thanks to one remaining feature (see photo) experts concluded that this building used to function as a mosque in the past. What is the name of this characteristic feature of a mosque?
4. Explain why this characteristic feature stands on this particular side of the mosque and not on the other side.
5. What is the area of this mosque in square metres? Hint: to calculate the area you must multiply the length by the width. First calculate the length and width by using steps of 1 metre.
Length: _______ metre
Width: ________ metre
Area: ________ metre²
6. How many people could stand in this mosque at the same time, do you think?
