Somalian architecture
Somalian architecture is the engineering and designing of multiple different construction types such as stone cities, castles, citadels, fortresses, mosques, temples, aqueducts, lighthouses, towers and tombs during the ancient, medieval and early modern periods in Somalia, as well as the fusion of Somalo-Islamic architecture with Western designs in contemporary times
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[edit] Ancient
[edit] Walled settlements, temples and tombs
Some of the oldest known structures in the territory of modern-day Somalia consist of burial cairns (taalo).[1] Although found throughout the country and the larger Horn of Africa region, northern Somalia in particular is home to numerous such archaeological structures, with many similar edifices found at Haylaan, Qa’ableh, Qombo'ul, Elaayo and Maydh, among other towns. However, many of these ancient structures have yet to be properly explored, a process which would help shed further light on local history and facilitate their preservation for posterity.[1]
Houses were constructed of dressed stone similar to the ones in Ancient Egypt,[2] and there are examples of courtyards and large stone walls such as the Wargaade Wall enclosing settlements. There were two patterns of monumental architecture in ancient Somalia: the platform monument style and the enclosed platform style. The platform monuments are rectangular structures low in height formed by a drystone wall with large phallic stones set upright at the corners, assumed to be grave stones.
The largest platform monument observed measured 24m x 17m and was situated on the coastal plain east of Alula. The enclosed platform style is smaller in size but more complex in construction, with a rectangular design surrounded by an enclosure wall.[3]
[edit] Medieval
The introduction of Islam in the early medieval era of Somalia's history brought Islamic architectural influences from the Arabian Peninsula and Persia. This stimulated a shift from drystone and other related materials in construction to coral stone, sundried bricks, and the widespread use of limestone in Somali architecture. Many of the new architectural designs such as mosques were built on the ruins of older structures, a practice that would continue over and over again throughout the following centuries.[4]
[edit] Stone cities
The lucrative commercial networks of successive medieval Somali empires and kingdoms such as the Mogadishan Sultanate, the Ajuuraan State, the Empire of Adal, the Geledi Sultanate and the Warsangali Sultanate saw the establishment of several dozen stone cities in the interior of Somalia as well as the coastal regions. Ibn Battuta visiting Mogadishu in the early 14th century called it a town endless in size [5] and Vasco Da Gama who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century noted that it was a large city with houses of four or five storeys high and big palaces in its centre[6]
Somali traders were an integral part of a long distance caravan trade network connecting major Somali cities such as Merka, Mogadishu, Zeila, Barawa and Qandala with other business centers in East Africa. The numerous ruined and abandoned towns throughout the interior of Somalia can be explained as the remains of a once booming inland trade dating back to the Medieval period.[7]
[edit] Castles and fortresses
Throughout the medieval era, castles and fortresses known as Qalcads were built by Somali Sultans for protection against both foreign and domestic threats. The major medieval Somali power engaging in castle building was the Ajuuraan State, and many of the hundreds of ruined fortifications dotting the landscapes of Somalia today are attributed to Ajuuraan engineers.[8]
Other castle building powers were the Gerad Kingdom and the Bari Sultanate. The many castles and fortresses such as the Sha'a Castle, the Bandar Qassim Castles and the Botiala Fortress Complex and dozens of others in towns such as Qandala, Bosaso and Las Khorey were built under their rule.
The Dervish State in the late 19th century and early 20th century was another prolific fortress building power in the Somali Peninsula. In 1913, after the British withdrawal to the coast, the permanent capital and headquarters of the Dervishes was constructed at Taleh, a large walled town with fourteen fortresses. The main fortress, Silsilat, included a walled garden and a guard house. It became the residence of Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, his wives, family, prominent Somali military leaders, and also hosted several Turkish, Yemeni and German dignitaries, architects, masons and arms manufacturers.[9] Several dozen other fortresses were built in Illig, Eyl, Shimbiris and other parts of the Horn of Africa.
[edit] Citadels and city walls
City walls were established around the coastal cities of Merka, Barawa and Mogadishu to defend the cities against powers such as the Portuguese Empire. During the Adal Age, many of the inland cities such as Amud and Abasa in the northern part of Somalia were built on hills high above sea level with large defensive stone walls enclosing them. The Bardera militants during their struggle with the Gobroon Dynasty had their main headquarters in the walled city of Bardera that was reinforced by a large fortress overseeing the Jubba river. In the early 19th century the citadel of Bardera was sacked by Sultan Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim and the city became a ghost town.
Somali city walls also acted as a barrier against the proliferation of arms usually carried by the Somali and Horn African nomads entering the cities with their caravan trains. They had to leave behind their weapons at the city gate before they could enter the markets with their goods and trade with the urban Somalis, Middle Easterners and Asian merchants.[10]
[edit] Mosques and shrines
Concordant with the ancient presence of Islam in the Horn of Africa region, mosques in Somalia are some of the oldest on the entire continent. One architectural feature that made Somali mosques distinct from other mosques in Africa were minarets.
For centuries, Arba Rukun (1260), the Friday mosque of Merca (1609) and Fakr ad-Din (1269) were, in fact, the only mosques in East Africa to have minarets.[11] Arba Rukun's massive round coral tower of about 13 and a half meters high and over four meters in diameter at its base has a doorway that is narrow and surrounded by a multiple ordered recessed arch, which may be the first example of the recessed arch that was to become a prototype for the local mihrab style.
Constructed by and named after the first Sultan of the Mogadishu Sultanate, the Fakr-ad Din mosque dates back to the 1269. Built with marble and coral stone on a compact rectangular plan, it features a domed mihrab central azis. Glazed tiles were also used in the decoration of the mihrab, one of which bears a dated inscription. In addition, the masjid is characterized by a system of composite beams, alongside two main columns. This well-planned, sophisticated design is not replicated in mosques further south outside the Horn region.[12]
The 13th century Al Gami University consisted of a rectangular base with a large cylindrical tower architecturally unique in the Islamic world.
Shrines erected to house and honor Somali patriarchs and forefathers evolved from ancient Somali burial customs. Such tombs, which are predominantly found in northern Somalia (the suggested point of origin of the Somalia's majority Somali ethnic group), feature structures mainly consisting of domes and square plans.[13] In southern Somalia, the preferred medieval shrine architecture was the pillar tomb-style.
[edit] Towers and lighthouses
Somalia's historical strategic location within the world's oldest and busiest sealanes encouraged the construction of lighthouses to co-ordinate shipping and to ensure the safe entrance of commercial vessels in the nation's many port cities. In times of weak central authority the Somalian civilizational matrix of interior cities and port cities was based on a clan formula that saw various clans in fierce competition over natural resources that led to chronic feuding between neighbours. Towers provided the merchant class and the urban population protection against potential raids from the nomadic regions. Stone towers such as the 15th century Almnara tower in Mogadishu and the Jamia tower of Merka were also built for defense. The Dar Ilalo stone towers though initially constructed to defend the fortress of Taleex were also used as granaries for the Dervish State.
[edit] Early modern
The early modern period saw a continuation in the use of materials such as coral stone, sundried bricks and limestone in Somali architecture which with the increasing European influence on the Somali peninsula was now being complemented by new construction materials such as cement. The period was characterised by military architecture in the form of multi-purpose forts, and the construction of new ports. The Sultans of Alula in the northern part of the country and the Gobroon Dynasty in the south were at their peak during this period, and many of the castles, palaces and forts found in various Somalian cities originate from that era.
[edit] Contemporary
[edit] Fusion of Somalo-Islamic architecture with Occidental and Oriental styles
In the modern period, several Somali cities such as Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Berbera received large projects that saw the construction of architectural styles previously unseen in Somali architecture, but which harmoniously blend in with the existing old architecture. Due to Italian influence, parts of Mogadishu are built in the classical style. The Somali government continued upon that legacy, while also opening the door to German, American and Chinese designers.
As a departure from the prevailing Somalian architectural style, the National Theatre in Mogadishu was completely built from a Chinese perspective. The town-hall was constructed in the Moroccan style. Many of the new architecture also continued upon ancient tradition, the Al-Uruba Hotel, the pre-eminent hotel in Somalia and an iconic feature of Mogadishu's waterfront was entirely designed and constructed by Somalis in the Arabesque style.
In recent times, due to the civil war and the subsequent decentralization, many cities across the country have rapidly developed into urban hubs and have adopted their own architectural styles independently. In the cities of Garowe, Bosaso and hargeisa one can observe the construction of hotels, government facilities, airports and residential neighbourhoods in the modernist style, with predominant chrome, steel and glass materials, and houses with Western-styled roofs.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Michael Hodd, East African Handbook, (Trade & Travel Publications: 1994), p.640.
- ^ Man, God and Civilization pg 216
- ^ An Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Horn: The British-Somali Expedition,1975 - Neville Chittick pg 131
- ^ Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Press: 2001), p.102.
- ^ The Archaeology of Islam in Sub Saharan Africa pg 62
- ^ Da Gama's First Voyage pg.88
- ^ Shaping of Somali Society - Lee Cassanelli pg.149
- ^ Shaping of Somali Society pg 101
- ^ Taleh W. A. MacFadyen The Geographical Journal, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Aug., 1931), pp. 125-128
- ^ Tales which persist on the Tongue - Scott S. Reese pg 4
- ^ Studies in Islamic history and civilization By David Ayalon pg 370
- ^ Peter S. Garlake, Early art and architecture of Africa, (Oxford University Press US: 2002), p.176.
- ^ Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Press: 2001), p.8.
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