1. MedievWorld1_fm_4pp.qxd

506 Mosul

near BAGHDAD, which has a spiral minaret and a capacity
of 100,000 faithful. In the 10th and 11th centuries, the
FATIMIDSintroduced corner domes of the qiblahall into
mosques in EGYPT, while farther east the GHAZNAWIDS
built brick minarets decorated with KUFICletters. In
AL-ANDALUS, the Great Mosque of CÓRDOBAwas begun
in 786. This Iberian style was repeated under the
ALMOHADSin the Kutubiya mosque at MARRAKECHin
the 12th century. The SELJUKS in ANATOLIA added
domes and vaulted halls with an open side. The archi-
tectural details of mosques in different areas of ISLAM
were often dependent on local building traditions and
available materials.
See alsoART AND ARCHITECTURE,ISLAMIC.
Further reading:Martin Frishman and Hasan-Uddin
Khan, eds., The Mosque: History, Architectural Develop-
ment and Regional Diversity(London: Thames and Hud-
son, 1994); Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Architecture:
Form, Function and Meaning(New York: Columbia Uni-
versity Press, 1994), 31–128; R. Nath, Mosque Architec-

ture: From Medina to Hindustan, 622–1654 A.D.(Jaipur:

Historical Research Documentation Programme, 1994);

Johannes Pedersen, “Masdjid,” Encyclopedia of Islam

(1930), 3.314–376.

Mosul(al-Mawsil) Mosul is a city in northern IRAQ

founded by the Persian Sassanians on a bank of the

upper Tigris River, avoiding the Syrian desert and con-

trolling the principal commercial route between IRAN

and SYRIA. By the Arab conquest in 641, it had become

one of the most important Christian and Byzantine

strongholds in this frontier region. After the conquest,

many Arabs and their families settled in this strategic

and commercial center. In the eighth century the city

became important town for TEXTILEproduction, espe-

cially for its famous muslin cloth, much sought after

throughout the caliphate and western Europe. In the

10th century local dynasties ruled Mosul under the

authority of the ABBASIDcaliphs in BAGHDAD. In 1095

Mosque of Sultan Darkhour, Cairo, 1860–90 (Courtesy Library of Congress)