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Architecture of Somalia 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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Ancient
Somali Architecture |
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Walled settlements, temples and tombs
In ancient Somalia pyramidical structures known in Somali as taalo were a popular burial style with hundreds of these drystone monuments scattered around Somalia today. Houses were build of dressed stone similar to the ones in Ancient Egypt[1] 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 (Somali: Caluula). The enclosed platform style is smaller in size but more complex in construction with a retangular design surrounded by a enclosure wall.[2]
Nomadic architecture
Medieval
The peaceful introduction of Islam in the early medieval era of Somalia's history brought Islamic architectural influences from Arabia and Persia, which 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.[3]
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 Gerad Dynasty 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 [4] 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[5]
Somali traders were an intregal 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.[6]
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.[7]
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.
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 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.[8]
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 (1269), the Friday mosque of Merca (1609) and Fakr ad-Din (1269) were, in fact, the only mosques in East Africa to have minarets.[9] Fakr ad-Din, which dates back to the Mogadishan Golden Age, was built with marble and coral stone and included a compact rectangular plan with a domed mihrab axis. Glazed tiles were also used in the decoration of the mihrab, one of which bears a dated inscription. The 13th century Al Gami University consisted of a rectangular base with a large cylindrical tower architecturally unique in the Islamic world.
Shrines to honor Somali patriarchs and matriarchs evolved from ancient Somali burial customs. In Southern Somalia the preferred medieval shrine architecture was the Pillar tomb style while the North predominantly built structures consisting of domes and square plans.
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. Stone towers such as the 15th century Almnara tower were also built for defense.
Early modern
New style of fortifications and mausoleums
Contemporary
Fusion of Somalo-Islamic architecture with Western styles
References
- ^ Man, God and Civilization pg 216
- ^ An Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Horn: The British-Somali Expedition,1975 - Neville Chittick pg 131
- ^ Culture and customs of Somalia - Mohammed Abdullahi Diriye pg 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
- ^ Tales which persist on the Tongue - Scott S. Reese pg 4
- ^ Studies in Islamic history and civilization By David Ayalon pg 370
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