ministerials 493among them the minaret at BUKHARAfrom 1127, and that
of Jam in Afghanistan from about 1180.
See alsoART AND ARCHITECTURE, ISLAMIC; ISLAM;MIN-
BAR; MOSQUE.
Further reading:Jonathan Bloom, Minaret, Symbol of
Islam(Oxford: Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies,
University of Oxford, 1989); Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic
Architecture: Form, Function, and Meaning (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1994), 129–171.
minbar(mimbar) The minbar was a type of pulpit
usually found in MOSQUESfrom which PRAYERS, speeches,
and religious guidance were given. The minbar was
situated to the right of the mihrab, the niche indicating
the correct direction for prayer, and consisted of a raised
platform reached by a set of steps, often a door at the
entrance to the steps, and a dome or canopy above the
platform.
The minbar was one of the earliest architectural fea-
tures identified with Islamic architecture for mosques. In
629 MUHAMMADsupposedly used a minbar from which
he preached. At that time the minbar consisted of
two steps and a seat resembling a throne. After the death
of the Prophet, the minbar was used by caliphs and
governors as a symbol of authority. In 750 all the
mosques of EGYPTwere to be provided with minbars.
This process was repeated in other Islamic lands so that
by the beginning of the Abbasid period its function as a
pulpit was universally established.
Most minbars were made of wood and highly deco-
rated; those made of stone or brick tended to be simpler
and were often a bare platform reached by three to five
steps. In the FATIMIDperiod minbars were built with a
door at the entrance to the stairway and a domed canopy
above the platform. The Friday sermon was delivered
from them.
See also ART AND ARCHITECTURE, ISLAMIC; FRIDAY
PRAYER.
Further reading:Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Art and
Architecture (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999);
Robert Irwin, Islamic Art in Context: Art, Architecture, and
the Literary World(New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997).mines and mining See METALSMITHS AND METAL
WORK, METALLURGY.ministerials Ministerials were persons who exercised
a function, an office, or a TRADE. They made up the
household that surrounded a ruler or an important insti-
tution, especially in the area of the HOLYROMANEMPIRE
in the central Middle Ages. These individuals were
needed to exercise control. They usually emerged from a
servile class and gained status and opportunity because of
their capacity to fill an office. They were ultimately dis-
tinguished from the usual servants of the Crown and
called ministeriales.Indispensable for government, they
soon extracted the right to transmit inheritances and
marry at their own discretion. They demanded more free-
doms and did not hesitate to rebel to get them. They took
places in a feudal system, received FIEFS, became lords,
had KNIGHTSunder their orders, and held CASTLES. They
then took on the status of nobles in the thirteenth cen-
tury. By the end of the Middle Ages, the ministeriality had
formed a social group of knights.
See also NOBILITY AND NOBLES; SOCIAL STATUS AND
STRUCTURE.
Further reading: John B. Freed, The Counts of
Falkenstein: Noble Self-Consciousness in Twelfth-Century
Germany(Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society,
1984); John B. Freed, Noble Bondsmen: Ministerial Mar-
riages in the Archdiocese of Salzburg, 1100–1343(Ithaca,
N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1995); Timothy Reuter,
ed., The Medieval Nobility: Studies on the Ruling Classes ofThe minaret of the Holy Mosque of Medina, built in 1483,
beside the green cupola over the Prophet’s grave, built in
1840 (Courtesy Library of Congress)