JHA, xxvi (1995)

DISCUSSION ARTICLE

THE ORIENTAnON OF MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS

ARCHITECTURE AND CITIES

DAVID A. KING, Frankfurt am Main

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The sacred direction in Islam, called the qibla in all languages of the Islamic
commonwealth, has been of fundamental importance in the life of every Muslim
for close to one-and-a-half millennia. I The Quran, regarded by Muslims as the
Word of God, and Islamic tradition between them prescribe the performance of
both prayer and a variety of other ritual acts towards the sacred Kaaba in Mecca.'
Since Muslims pray towards the qibla, and since the mihrab or prayer-niche in
mosques symbolizes the direction ofthe qibla, mosques are qibla-oriented. How-
ever, the actual orientation of medieval Islamic religious architecture constitutes
a problem that has long concerned Muslim scholars and for a much shorter pe-
riod intrigued Western historians.
Medieval Muslim scientists were able - within the limitations of medieval
geography - to determine the direction to Mecca of any locality correctly to
within a few minutes of arc. Thus one might be forgiven for anticipating that
most of this architecture would face Mecca more or less in the way we moderns
think it should. Yet a glance at a plan of any medieval Islamic city gives the
impression that some of the religious architecture does not face Mecca; often, in
fact, one can identify in one and the same city a variety of directions used for
mosque orientations. Just how far colleagues in the history ofIslamic architec-
ture misunderstand this situation and its implications is revealed by a remark by
one of the most distinguished: "The orientation ofmihrabs may often be faulty."
They are not faulty: they simply do not always correspond to what we would
expect. Indeed, a misunderstanding of certain orientations has misled two modern
scholars to conclusions that are absurd. For they took the fact that the earliest
mosques in Iraq and Egypt faced a point in Northern Arabia as evidence con-
firming the existence of a "Hagaritic shrine" towards which these mosques must
have been oriented.' In fact the mosques in question were oriented towards
summer sunset and sunrise, respectively: these, as we now know, were the
directions used in those regions for the qibla. In other words, the mosques in
both localities face the Kaaba.
One principal mistake in modern scholarship has been to think of the qibla as
the direction of Mecca. It is the direction of a specific edifice, the Kaaba, in the

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254 David A. King

heart of that city. We need, then, to understand how Muslims other than the
scientists thought that they could face a distant building that they could not see.
Another mistake has been to overlook the fact that medieval geographical coordi-
nates do not correspond to modern coordinates. Even the most capable medieval
scientists could not have derived the modern, 'accurate' qiblas, for these are
computed using modern geographical coordinates. In fact, modern qibla-values
are irrelevant to any discussion of the orientation of medieval architecture. And
yet another mistake has been to ignore the existence of a second tradition in
medieval Islamic astronomy, that is, folk astronomy." In this tradition, which
flourished alongside the mathematical one, not least because it was favoured by
the scholars of the religious law, there is no advanced mathematics, and the qibla
was determined by completely different techniques of a non-mathematical nature.
The state of documentation of orientations of medieval Islamic architecture is
in general abysmal: most authors to this day do not take the trouble to measure
the orientations, and if they do mark their plans of mosques with a direction, they
usually do not state how the orientation was measured.' And, alas, to measure the
orientation of a mosque properly one cannot simply stand in front of the qibla-
wall with a compass and take a reading. Of concern here are not only mosques
and madrasas but also cemeteries (the dead are buried so as to rise facing the
qibla on the Day of Resurrection), occasional private houses, and even facilities
for performing bodily functions (necessarily perpendicular to the qibla). In addi-
tion, as we shall see, the qibla, appropriately defined according to some medi-
eval criterion, can dominate the plan of parts of a city or even of an entire city.
Since we do not yet have a reliable corpus of basic data on the orientation of the
monuments themselves, we have been fortunate to find some relevant textual
sources. These will eventually enable us to better understand the orientiations
when they are measured properly. (It is but a small consolation that the docu-
mentation of orientations of Christian and Jewish architecture in the Near East
and also in Europe is no better, and our understanding of them at a yet more
elementary level.)
These new sources that have been studied reveal why different directions were
adopted for the qibla in one and the same place, and why particular interest groups
in these places favoured one or another qibla at different times. The purpose of
this paper is to summarize the results of some recent research and to point to the
vast amount of work awaiting to be done. It was inspired by a paper published in
1990 by my colleague Professor Michael Bonine," in which he considered the
orientations ofreligious architecture and ofentire cities in the medieval Maghrib
(north-west Africa). Bonine is not only familiar with the recent research but has
added his own insights as a geographer, taking the trouble to measure the orien-
tations of numerous edifices in different urban centres, and also invoking the
layout of the land in question, that is, its slope. His results were, as he stated,
preliminary, and there is already more that can be said on Maghribi orientations
(see below).

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 255

~~abii or qabul

W-------~-.......,,;......,::~~-------E

dabur _ _ _ _ _

s
FIG. 1. The orientation of the rectangular base of the Kaaba with its major axis towards the rising of
Canopus and its minor axis towards the rising sun at the summer solstice, as recorded in various
medieval sources. The 'cardinal' winds are also shown, each one striking a wall of the Kaaba
head-on.

FOLK ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICAL ASTRONOMY

Already before the advent of Islam the four corners of the Kaaba were associ-
ated with four main regions of the surrounding world: Syria, al- 'Iraq, the Yemen
and "the West". How does one face a corner of an edifice or a segment of a wall
when one is so far from that edifice that one can no longer see it? The answer,
according to the legal scholars of Islam if not the Muslim astronomers (see be-
low), is straightforward: one stands in the same direction as one would stand in if
one were in front of the Kaaba itself, at the part of the edifice associated with
one's own region. Now the Arabs of Mecca in the seventh century knew that the
Kaaba was astronomically aligned, that is, they knew that if one stood in front of
any of its four walls one would be facing significant astronomical horizon phe-
nomena (see Figure 1).7 The major axis ofthe rectangular base is aligned towards
the rising of Canopus, and the minor axis towards summer sunrise and winter
sunset, these directions being roughly perpendicular at the latitude of Mecca.
(More precisely, the minor axis is oriented towards the furthest limits of the
moon at the solstices, but lunar alignments are not known from Islamic

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256 David A. King

N
ANDALUSIA

1 IRAQ

MEDINA
/0
0 1 0
1 1
FIG. 2. Early mosques in Andalusia and the province of al-Traq were oriented so that their qibla-walls
were 'parallel' to the appropriate wall of the Kaaba, or so that they were facing the same
direction adopted by the Prophet in Medina, namely, due south.

architecture.) The first generation of Muslims also knew that the Prophet
Muhammad, when he was in Medina, north of Mecca, had prayed facing due
south.
The first mosques, built from Andalusia to Central Asia within a few decades
of the death of the Prophet, were oriented according to these two main principles.
Either their orientations were in some way related to the orientation of the Kaaba
itself or they were oriented due south, in imitation of the practice of the Prophet
when he was in Medina. In other words, we should not be surprised to find early
mosques in the Islamic West facing the same direction as the main axis of the
Kaaba, that is, towards the rising of Canopus (or towards winter sunrise), or
mosques in the Islamic East facing the direction of the minor axis of the Kaaba,
that is, towards winter sunset, or mosques from Andalusia to Central Asia facing
due south (see Figure 2). Certain mosques in such locations as Jerusalem and
Damascus were aligned with pre-existent architecture; this was viewed without
criticism because the resultant qibla-directions (which chanced to be in both cases
due south) were deemed legally acceptable."

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 257

i, 1
I

! \
\
\\
\\

FIG. 3. A scheme of sacred geography with eight sectors of the world around the Kaaba. The scheme
is found only in a fifteenth-century manuscript of a geographical treatise by the tenth-century
Abu' Abdallah al-Muqaddasi (but not in earlier copies) and is clearly even earlier in origin. The
information is extremely corrupt, in some sectors the place-names have been omitted and one
sector has been left blank. The qiblas are defined in terms of the Pole Star, and the risings and
settings of Canopus, Altair, Vega, the Pleiades, and the stars of the Great Bear. Taken from MS
Berlin Ahlwardt 6034 (= Sprenger 5), fol. 34r, courtesy of the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek
(Preussischer Kulturbesitz), Berlin.

In the tenth century, ifnot earlier, a sacred geography was developed in which
every region of the world was associated with a segment of the perimeter of the
Kaaba and the qibla was more precisely defined, albeit still in terms ofthe cardi-
nal directions or astronomical horizon phenomena (see Figures 3 and 4). Early
schemes of a very simple variety are attested, but the first detailed schemes are to
be associated with the legal scholar Ibn Suraqa, who flourished about the year
1000. Several different schemes in this tradition were proposed over later centu-
ries, with the result that between the various sources different directions were
proposed for each locality. Islamic sacred geography constitutes a fascinating
chapter in the history of Islamic folk- or ethno-astronomy, a practical, popular

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258 David A. King

w E

s
FIG. 4(a). A simple scheme of sacred geography associated with the ninth-century geographer Ibn
Khurradadhbeh.

wl---------' :----------1E

S
FIG.4(b). A simplified version of the 12-sector scheme ofsacred geography found in some manuscripts
of the popular geographical work Athar al-bilad by al-Qazwlni (d. 1283).

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 259

FIG. 5. Diagrams explaining the notions of "actual qibla" (on the right)and "legally permissibleqiblas"
(on the left) in the treatise on the qibla by the twelfth-centuryEgyptian legal scholar al-Dimyati.
The person praying is at the bottomapex ofthe triangles,the Kaabaat the footof the perpendicular
to the opposite side. FromMSOxfordBodleianMarsh592, fols23v-24r, courtesyof the Bodleian
Library.

astronomy devoid of any underlying theory and unencumbered by any calcula-

tion beyond the most trivial arithmetical procedures. All available texts relating
to sacred geography, some thirty in number and presenting some twenty different
schemes, have been edited and prepared for publication; a summary is already
available." The different qiblas proposed by the medieval legal scholars for each
of the major regions of the Islamic world have been identified; they all involve
the cardinal directions or the risings and settings of the sun or of various fixed
stars. Sometimes the winds are invoked for identifying directions, and here it
should be borne in mind that the limits of the winds in Arab folklore were de-
fined by astronomical risings and settings. 10
The legal scholars were equal to the task of confronting these palettes of dif-
ferent directions for each region: they pronounced that whilst facing the actual
direction ('ayn) of the Kaaba was optimal, it was legally acceptable to use as
qibla any direction (jiha) within the limits of one's vision, that is, about a quad-
rant of the horizon centred on the "actual direction" (see Figure 5). In other
words, if for example the qibla is somewhere in the south-east, it is permissible
to pray due east or due south.

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260 David A. King

FIG. 6. In this diagram AB represents the equator and P the North Pole. It is required to find the qibla
or direction of Mecca M from any locality X. We denote the qibla measured from the local
meridian by q = LAXM and the distance by d = XM. The latitudes ofboth localities are represented
by <l>M = MB and <I> = XA and their longitude difference by !iL = AB. The modern formulae are:
q = arc cot {[sin <I> cos!iL - cos <I> tan <l>Mll sin!iL}
and d = arc sin {sin !iL cos <l>M I sin q},
and medieval formulae were mathematically equivalent to these.

Already in the eighth century the Muslims had come in contact with the very
different notions of mathematical geography. They soon solved the problem of
determining the direction of one locality from another (see Figure 6). Indeed, by
the ninth century they had not only derived geometric and trigonometric solu-
tions that are ultimately equivalent to the complicated modern formula but had
also compiled tables displaying the qibla as an angle in degrees and minutes for
all latitudes and longitudes in the Islamic world (see Figure 7). There is already
a substantial modern literature on various medieval mathematical methods, ta-
bles and instruments for finding the qibla." Medieval astronomical handbooks
occasionally contain lists oflocalities with their geographical coordinates as well
as their qiblas; such lists sometimes occur on instruments, but few of these have
been published." Simple, approximate procedures that would yield qiblas within
a degree or two of the 'correct' mathematical qibla were also available. The use
ofthe magnetic compass for finding the qibla is outlined already in a thirteenth-
century Yemeni astronomical treatise, and one fourteenth-century astronomical
instrument originally fitted with a compass-needle survives." We also have a
Syrian ceramic bowl from c. 1520 for a compass-needle floating on water, but
the corrupt geographical data on it indicate that it is a copy of a much earlier
instrument of the same kind from Iran. 14 Muslim scientists even developed carto-
graphic grids on which the direction and distance to Mecca could be read di-
rectly. One such map with a 'rectazimuthal equi-distant' cartographic grid,
engraved on an instrument apparently made c. 1700 in Isfahan, has been pre-
served for us (see Figure 8).15
In short, any Muslim astronomer worth his salt could have determined the
qibla of any locality in the Islamic world as accurately as the available geographical
data would allow. The qiblas accepted by the medieval astronomers are either

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 261

FIG. 7. An extract from a table computed by the mid-fourteenth-century Damascus astronomer Shams
ai-Din al-Khalili displaying the qibla as an angle in degrees and minutes measured from the
local meridian for each degree of latitude and each degree of longitude difference from Mecca.
There are close to 3,000 entries in the entire table, and this extract serves latitudes 39°, 40°, ...,
44° (for longitude differences 1°, 2°, ... , 60°). The majority of the entries are correct to the
nearest minute; indeed, the errors are so insubstantial that it has not yet been possible to determine
how the table was computed. Taken from MS Paris B.N. ar. 2558, fols 57v-58r, courtesy of the
Bibliotheque Nationale.

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262 David A. King

FIG. 8(a). A world-map centred on Mecca from Isfahan c. 1700. The map is fitted with a highly
sophisticated cartographical grid that enables the user to read the qibla on the outer scale
and the distance from Mecca (in farsangs) on the diametral rule. The results are accurate for
all practical purposes. Photograph by Margit Matthews, courtesy of the owner.

known or can be found very easily by using the appropriate medieval geographical
coordinates and the appropriate trigonometrical formula. Rarely, though, were
astronomers consulted on the qibla when it came to planning the layout ofreligious
architecture; it was generally the legal scholars who decided on the qibla. In a few
cases, however, we do find medieval architecture aligned in the qibla-directions
computed by the astronomers. Since medieval longitudes were in general not par-
ticularly accurate, even these qibla-values may differ by a few degrees from the
modern qibla. Thus modern religious architecture, oriented in the modern qibla,
will in general be slightly skew to even those edifices laid out in the mathemati-
cally-computed qiblas of yesteryear. But, as noted above, the modern qiblas are
otherwise irrelevant to any discussion of the orientation of medieval architecture.

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 263

(M, <p)

cos M sin <P cos <PM

Mecca - cos <P sin <PM

sin M cos <PM

FIG. 8(b). The mathematics underlying the cartographical grid on the Isfahan world-map. The coordinates
of a general point (M, <p) are shown, and these may be compared with the formulae in Fig.
6. The latitude curves on the map have been approximated by arcs of circles, which leads to
slight distortions of the qibla in the furthest west (Andalusia) and furthest east (China).

REGIONAL SURVEYS OF ORIENTATIONS

The qiblas proposed in treatises on sacred geography are for various regions of
the Islamic world. Also, the medieval discussions of the appropriateness of par-
ticular qiblas are mainly regional. In the following survey, which is essentially
only bibliographical, I have followed such an organization.

Arabia
The orientation and astronomical alignment of the Kaaba is mentioned in medi-
eval texts and the information in these has been shown to be accurate. 16 An un-
derstanding of the orientation of the Kaaba is essential to an understanding of
orientations generally. The orientation of the earliest mosques in Arabia has been
investigated using the sparse written sources. 17

Yemen
Information on qiblas is available from the astronomical and folk-astronomical
sources," and I believe that Professor Ronald Lewcock of Harvard University
has prepared a list of actual orientations. A comparison has yet to be conducted.

Egypt
Most of the available information in astronomical and legal and historical works
(notably al-Maqrizr) has been gathered and interpreted. 19 Several different qibla-

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264 David A. King

150
180

FIG.9(a). According to a twelfth(?)-century Andalusian treatise on the astrolabe, mosques in Cordova

were oriented in these different directions: 113°, the qibla computed by the standard
approximate formula (which works well for localities in the central regions of the Islamic
world, but not for Andalusia); 120°, winter sunrise; 135°, south-east (a compromise direction
between due east and due south); 150°, the direction of the Great Mosque, which is 'parallel'
to the major axis of the Kaaba; and 180°, due south (not specifically mentioned in this text).

90

204 156
180

FIG. 9(b). The Egyptian historian al-Maqrlzi (d. 1442) mentioned these qiblas used for mosque
orientation in Cairo: 90°, due east (not explicitly mentioned); 117°, winter sunrise (the qibla
of the Companions of the Prophet); 127°, the qibla computed by the tenth-century Egyptian
astronomer Ibn Yunus according to the accurate formula; 141°, the qibla of the Mosque of
Ibn Tulun (variously explained); and c. 156° - c. 204°, any direction between the rising and
setting of Can opus in Cairo.

directions are attested in these sources for medieval Cairo (see Figure 9(b». A
text of major importance from the twelfth century by a legal scholar named al-
Dimyati was discovered more recently and has yet to be published." A corpus of
reliable plans ofMamluk mosques in Cairo is now available but has not yet been
exploited for the information it can cast on orientations."
Cairo provides a particularly interesting example of a city facing Mecca: the
three main parts of the medieval city are oriented in three different qiblas (see
Figure 10), and some medieval architectural complexes are aligned in more than
one qibla." In brief, the city founded in the year 969 alongside the canal (first
laid out in Pharaonic times) has an orthogonal street-pattern aligned towards winter

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 265

180

FIG.9(c). The legal scholar al-Bazdawi (d. 1089) reported these qiblas used for mosque orientation in
Samarqand: 270°, due west, used by the Hanafl legal school and corresponding to the direction
in which the road to Mecca left the city; 240°, winter sunset, as used for the Grand Mosque;
230°, the qibla computed using the accurate formula (not specifically mentioned); 225°
south-west (underlies a table presented by al-Bazdawi, lifted from some earlier source); and
180°, due south, used by the Shafi't legal school, corresponding to the qibla of the Prophet in
Medina.

1
FIG. 10. The main orientations of three parts of medieval Cairo. Each part is qibla-oriented, the old city
(A) in the qibla of the Companions of the Prophet (winter sunrise at c. 117°), the "City of the
Dead" (B) in the qibla of the astronomers (at c. 127°), and the area around the tomb of al-
Shafi't (C) in the qibla of the Shafl't school, that is, the qibla of the Prophet when he was in
Medina (due south).

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266 David A. King

sunrise (c. 117°), which was the qibla favoured by the Companions of the Prophet
who first settled in Egypt. The "City of the Dead" to the east of the old city is
aligned along a wadi and has an orthogonal street pattern facing the qibla deter-
mined by the astronomers (c. 127°). Here, then, in both cases slope has played a
role in the layout of the urban plan, ifnot in the very choice of the sites in ques-
tion. The southern part of the city has a basic orientation of due south, and it is no
coincidence that the tomb of the legal scholar al-Shafi'I (d. 820) is there; his
school favoured a qibla of due south, after the practice of the Prophet in Medina.
In some of the Mamluk (thirteenth- to fifteenth-century) architecture in the old
city of Cairo the outer wall is aligned with the street-plan even though the qibla
of the astronomers was favoured by that time. A simple architectural expedient
was adopted: although the outer qibla-wall faces the qibla of the Companions,
that is, winter sunrise at c. 117°, the inner wall with the mihrab was built to face
the qibla of the astronomers at c. 127°. One can see the 10° difference in
orientations at the places where the walls are pierced by windows. The modern
qibla of Cairo is c. 135°, but this is irrelevant to any discussion of medieval
architecture in the city.

Syria and Palestine

No lists of orientations are available. The qibla towards the south was favoured
in both Jerusalem and Damascus, although the mathematically-computed qiblas
in these two cities are closer to 135° and 150°, respectively." The religious ar-
chitecture of the new Mamluk city of Tripoli shows the complexity ofthe prob-
lem of orientations in this region: here mosques and madrasas were built
apparently after the model of buildings elsewhere in Syria, their orientations too
being adopted, and that in spite of the fact that any Mamluk astronomer would
have known the mathematically-computed qibla of Tripoli.

Andalusia
All of the currently available information in various textual sources has been
studied," but no reliable data on mosque orientations other than for the Great
Mosque in Cordova have been gathered. This edifice faces the direction perpen-
dicular to summer sunrise, its main axis being 'parallel' to that of the Kaaba. In
other words, it is aligned towards the rising of Canopus, or rather, 'parallel' to
the rising of Canopus in Mecca (see Figure 2). From textual sources we know
that some early mosques faced winter sunrise and others faced the qibla com-
puted by the approximate procedure advocated by al-Battanl (Raqqa, Syria, c.
910), which works well for the central lands of Islam but for Cordova yields a
qibla differing by 10° from that which could have been derived by exact
procedures. Yet other mosques faced south, following the Prophetic practice in
Medina, and others south-east, as a kind of compromise between due south and
due east (see Figure 9(a».

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 267

The Maghrib
Numerous orientations have been measured." A predominant direction is that
of c. 150°, which is also to be found in the Great Mosque in Cordova. Fez consti-
tutes a particularly interesting example of orientations, with some mosques ori-
ented due south and others due east. A qibla of south-east was also adopted as a
kind of compromise. A medieval text (date uncertain) has been made available
but not yet exploited for the information relevant to orientations."

Iraq and Iran

With few exceptions, notably data compiled several decades ago by Myron B.
Smith," little reliable information on mosque orientations has been collected.
Some early mosques in the province of al-' Iraq are oriented towards winter sun-
set (at c. 240°). See also below on the newly-excavated mosque at Ayla near
Aqaba (which has an orientation more appropriate for a mosque in al-Traq). An
important tenth-century text on the problems of early mosque orientations in Iran
has yet to be studied."

Central Asia
No reliable information on mosque orientations is available. A most informative
eleventh-century treatise on the problems of the qibla in Transoxania has been
published and evaluated." From this we learn that whilst the earliest mosque in
Samarqand was oriented towards winter sunset, later adherents of the Shafi 'I and
Hanafi legal schools favoured due south and due west, respectively (following
the Prophetic practice in Medina on the one hand and the direction of the road to
Mecca on the other), whereas others favoured south-west and the astronomers
computed c. 230° (see Figure 9(c».

Turkey, Greece and the Balkans

Orientations in Turkey and Greece have been measured," but no relevant texts
have been identified. The Balkans is an unpromising area for field research these
days.

India and the Far East

Most plans of mosques show the qibla-wall facing due west; few are to be trusted.
Relevant texts have yet to be identified.

East Africa
Mosque orientations have been measured, and display a range from c. 300° to c.
60°.31 No relevant texts have been identified, but this wide variation can be

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268 David A. King

1 1\
/1 \
0
EAST AFRICA

FIG. 11. The qiblas attested in mosques in East Africa correspond to orientations with respect to the two
southern walls and the southern corner of the Kaaba. No precision is to be expected in the
individual orientations, whatever their motivation.

explained in the light of the literature on sacred geography: clearly two different
walls of the Kaaba, namely, those to the south-east and the south-west, as well
as the southern corner, were associated with the region by different groups (see
Figure 11).

West Africa
No information is available.

ORIENTATION OF CITIES

In my earlier work I pointed out that some cities may be said to be qibla-ori-
ented in the sense that their city-plans (defined by a main axis, which may be the
major axis or the minor axis of a rectangular orthogonal street-pattern) are influ-
enced by the qibla." My study of orientations in medieval Cairo (from texts,
confirmed by maps) is now supplemented by Bonine's study of Maghribi cities
(from on-site measurements, confirmed by texts). Were the sites of some cities,

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 269

FIG. 12. Taza in Morocco is an example ofa city oriented with respect to the qibla. Its main axis, aligned
with the main mosque, is 'parallel' to that of the Kaaba.

such as Taza in Morocco (see Figure 12) and Cairo, actually chosen because by
virtue ofthe hydrographical layout they chanced to be qibla-oriented? I suspect
that the answer is a most definite Yes, but I have yet to find evidence in medi-
eval texts, and I wonder if one should expect to find it anyway.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

What remains to be done is clear. Various available texts as yet unstudied must
be published and evaluated." We must continue the search for other relevant
textual sources, the vast corpora of texts on sacred law and folk astronomy being
the most obvious place to look. At the same time we must measure and document
the orientations of Islamic religious architecture. Individual orientations must
be compared with others in the same city and region, as Bonine has done for
Morocco, and they can then be interpreted in the light of the textual sources.
There is material available for several doctoral dissertations, involving
library- or field-work or both. But where are the candidates? The importance
of the subject has already been made known to the history of science and to the
flourishing new field of archaeoastronomy. In the latter discipline the Islamic

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270 David A. King

material is unique in Europe in being both archaeological and textual, to the

envy of those who work on megalithic and other astronomically-aligned archi-
tecture in other cultural contexts." But now it is time that the subject of
orientations be recognized as an important chapter in the history of Islamic ar-
chitecture; it certainly has much to contribute to that discipline."

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS

Note: Most of the vast literature on medieval Islamic architecture or city-planning has been omitted.
Ali, al-Btruni's Tahdid: Jamil Ali, The determination ofthe coordinates ofcities ... by al-Btrunt (Beirut,
1967). [See also Kennedy, al-Btruni's Tahdld.]
Barmore, "Turkish orientations": Frank E. Barmore, "Turkish mosque orientation and the secular
variation of the magnetic declination", Journal ofNear Eastern studies, xliv (1985), 81-98.
Barthold, "Orientierung": Wilhelm Barthold, "Die Orientierung der ersten muhammedanischen
Moscheen", Der Islam, xviii (1929), 245-50.
Bonine, "Iran": Michael E. Bonine, "The morphogenesis of Iranian cities", Annals ofthe Association
ofAmerican Geographers, lxix (1979), 208-24.
Bonine, "Maghrib": Michael E. Bonine, "The sacred direction and city structure: A preliminary analysis
of the Islamic cities of Morocco", Muqarnas: An annual on Islamic art and architecture, vii
(1990), 50-72.
Burgoyne, Mamluk Jerusalem: Michael H. Burgoyne, Architecture in Mamluk Jerusalem (London,
1987).
Cairo survey: David A. King, A survey ofthe scientific manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library
(Publications of the American Research Center in Egypt, Catalogs, no. 5; Winona Lake, Ind.,
1986).
Chelhod, "Pre-eminence of right": Joseph Chelhod, "A contribution to the problem ofthe pre-eminence
of the right, based upon Arabic evidence", in R. Needham (ed.), Right & left (Chicago and
London 1973),239-62.
Crone, Meccan trade: Patricia Crone, Meccan trade and the rise ofIslam (Princeton, N.J., 1987). [To be
used with caution.]
Crone and Cook, Hagarism: Patricia Crone and Michael Cook, Hagarism: The making ofthe Islamic
world (Cambridge, 1977). [To be used with caution.]
EI': Encyclopaedia ofIslam, 1st edn (4 vols, Leiden, 1913-34; reprinted in 9 vols, 1987, and again in
paperback, 1993).
EI': Encyclopaedia of Islam, new edn (7 vols to date, Leiden: 1960- ), especially articles "Anwa"
(aspects of folk astronomy), "Badgtr" (ventilator (in the Supplement)), "Kibla" (religious and
astronomical aspects of the sacred direction), "Layl wa-nahar" (aspects of folk astronomy),
"Makka, iv: As centre of the world" (sacred geography), "Matla'" (astronomical risings and
settings), "Ri\:J" (winds in the folk-astronomical tradition), "Samt" (direction) and "Tasa"
(compass).
Hawkins & King, "Orientation of the Kaaba": see King, Studies, C-XII.
History ofcartography, ii/I: J. B. Harley and David Woodward (eds), The history ofcartography, iill:
Cartography in the traditional Islamic and South Asian societies (Chicago and London, 1992).
Janin & King: see King, Studies, B-XII.
Kennedy et al., Studies: Edward S. Kennedy, colleagues and former students, Studies in the Islamic
exact sciences (Beirut, 1983).
Kennedy, al-Biruni 's Tahdid: E. S. Kennedy, A commentary upon Birunt 's Kitab Tahdid [nihayat] al-
amakin (Beirut, 1973). See also Ali, al-Biruni's Tahdid.
Kennedy & Kennedy, Geographical coordinates: E. S. Kennedy and M. H. Kennedy, Geographical
coordinates oflocalities from Islamic sources (Frankfurt am Main, 1987).

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 271

Kessler, "Mecca-oriented architecture": Christel Kessler, "Mecca-oriented architecture and urban growth
of Cairo", Alii del Terzo Congresso di Studi Arabi e Islamici (Ravello, 1966) (Naples, 1967),
425; "Funerary architecture within the city", Colloque International sur l'Histoire du Caire
(Cairo, 1969), 257--67; and "Mecca-oriented architecture within the city: Reflections on a
singular building practice of medieval Cairo", published in a memorial volume for Prof. M.
Nuwayhi [this last not available for consultation].
King, "Astronomy in the Maghrib": David A. King, "An overview of the sources for the history of
astronomy in the medieval Maghrib", Actes du 2' Colloque Maghrebin de I'Histoire des
Mathematiques Arabes, Tunis, 1-3 Dec. 1988 (Tunis, n.d. [c. 1990]), 125-57. (A revised and
expanded version is to appear in a memorial volume for Prof. Jamal al-Dm al-'Alawi, to be
published in Fez.)
- , Astronomy in the Yemen: - , Mathematical astronomy in medieval Yemen: A bio-bibliographical
survey (Publications of the American Research Center in Egypt, Catalogs, no. 4) (Malibu,
Calif., 1983).
"Cairo ventilators": - , "Architecture and astronomy: The ventilators of medieval Cairo and
their secrets", Journal ofthe American Oriental Society, civil (1984),97-133.
- , "Ethnoastronomy": - , "Ethnoastronomy in the service of Islam", in Clive L. N. Ruggles and
Nicholas J. Saunders (eds), Astronomies and cultures (Niwot, Col., 1993), 124-38.
"Qibla in Transoxania": - , "Al-Bazdawi on the qibla in early Islamic Transoxania", Journalfor
the history ofArabic science (Aleppo), vii (1983/86),3-38.
-, "Sacred geography": - , "The sacred geography of Islam", to be published by Islamic Art
Publications, S.p.A. [A summary is available in EP article "Makka, iv".]
- , Studies, A: - , Islamic mathematical astronomy (London, 1986; 2nd rev. edn, Aldershot (U.K.),
1993). Contains reprint of:
XIII "al-Khalilf's qibla table", Journal ofNear Eastern studies, xxiv (1975),81-122.
Studies, B: - , Islamic astronomical instruments (London, 1987). Contains reprints of:
XII "Ibn al-Shatir's Sanduq al-yawaqu: An astronomical compendium" (with Louis Janin),
Journal for the history ofArabic science, i (1977), 187-256.
XV "Three sundials from Islamic Andalusia", Journal for the history ofArabic science, ii
(1978),358-92. [See especially the appendix on pp. 370-87 (incorrectly paginated):
"Some medieval qibla values for Cordova", and the corrections in the addenda to the
reprint.]
XVII "The sundial on the west wall of the madrasa of Sultan Qaytbay in Jerusalem" (with
Archibald G. Walls), Art and architecture research papers, xv (1979), 16-21.
- , Studies, C: - , Astronomy in the service ofIslam (Aldershot (U.K.), 1993). Contains reprints of:
I "Science in the service of religion: The case of Islam", Impact ofscience on society, xl
(1991), 245-62.
IX-XI Articles "~ibla, ii", "Makka, iv" and "Malia'" from EP.
XII "On the orientation of the Ka'ba" (with G. S. Hawkins), Journal for the history of
astronomy, xiii (1982),102-9.
XIII "Astronomical alignments in medieval Islamic religious architecture", Annals of the
New York Academy ofSciences, ccclxxxv (1982), 303-12.
XIV "The earliest Islamic mathematical methods and tables for finding the direction of
Mecca", Zeitschrift fiir Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften, iii (1986),
82-149, with corrections listed ibid., iv (1987/88), 270, incorporated.
- & Lorch, "Qibla charts": - and Richard P. Lorch, "Qibla charts, qibla maps, and related instruments",
a chapter in History ofcartography, iill, 189-205.
- & Walls, "Jerusalem sundial": see King, Studies, B-XVII.
MacKay, "Qibla in Greece": Pierre MacKay, "The qibla ofOttoman mosques in Greece", paper presented
at the Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, San Francisco, April 1980.
Meinecke, Mamlukische Architektur: Michael Meinecke, Die mamlukische Architektur in Agypten und
Syrien (2 pts, Gliickstadt, 1992).

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272 David A. King

Morley, "Safavid astrolabe": William H. Morley, Description ofa planispheric astrolabe constructed
for Shah Sultan Husain Safawi ... (London, 1856; reprinted as an introduction to Robert T.
Gunther's The astrolabes ofthe world ... (2 vols, Oxford, 1932; reprinted in I vol., London,
1976».
Nuremberg GNM 1992-93 exhibition catalogue: Gerhard Bott (ed.), Focus Behaim-Globus (2 vols,
Nuremberg, 1992).
Paris IMA 1993-94 exhibition catalogue: Sophie Cluzan, Eric Delpont and Jeanne Moulierac (eds),
Syrie, memoire et civilisation (Paris, 1993).
Philibert, Qibla au Maghreb: M. Philibert, La qibla et Ie Mih'rdb: Differences constatees dans la
direction des mosquees maghrebines. Raisons possibles, orientation par des precedes modernes
(Algiers, 1972). [Privately-circulated photostat.]
Renaud, "Reponse": A reply by H. P. J. Renaud to Sarton's "Query", Isis, xxxiv (1942), 24.
Rubin, "Ka'ba": Uri Rubin, "The Ka'ba: Aspects of its ritual functions and position in pre-Islamic and
early Islamic times", Jerusalem studies on Arabic and Islam, viii (1986), 97-131.
Sarnso, Ciencias: Julio Sarnso, Las ciencias de los antiguos en al-Andalus (Madrid, 1992).
Sarton, "Query": George Sarton, "Orientation of the mihrab in mosques", Isis, xx (1933), 262-4. [See
also Renaud, "Reponse'"]
Schoy, Beitrage: F. Sezgin et al. (eds), Carl Schoy: Beitrage zur arabisch-islamischen Mathematik und
Astronomie (2 vols, Frankfurt am Main, 1988).
al-Shabib, Al-Matiji's Dala'il al-qibla: 'Arnrnar Sa'td al-Sabib, "Kitab Dala'Il al-Qibla: Abu 'All al-
Matiyi", unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Barcelona, 1992.
Smith, "Corpus": Myron Bement Smith, "Material for a corpus of early Iranian Islamic architecture",
a series of papers published in Ars Islamica, starting in vol. ii (1935).
Whitcomb, "Ayla Mosque": Donald Whitcomb, "The Ayla Mosque: Early Islamic remains in Aqaba,
Jordan", Fondation Max van Berchem (Geneva) - Bulletin, no. 8 (Nov. 1994),3-5.

REFERENCES

I. See the article "Kibla, i: Ritual and legal aspects" by A. J. Wensinck in EI'.
2. On the Kaaba see the article "Ka'ba" by A. J. Wensinck in EI' as well as the revised version by
idem and J. Jomier in EP (in which some material from the former has been omitted). A useful
recent study, which does not mention the orientation of the edifice, is Rubin, "Ka'ba",
3. See Crone & Cook, Hagarism, 23-24, and Crone, Meccan trade, 198.
4. See King, "Ethnoastronomy", and the articles "Matla" and "RI\:!" in EP which supplement material
surveyed in the articles "Anwa'" and "Layl wa-nahar" by Charles Pellat .
5. In the early 1980s I conducted an armchair survey of over a thousand published plans of mosques
and other religious architecture. Other than being a useful educational experience, this proved
to be mainly a waste of time as far as my immediate purpose was concerned, the information
gathered being so unreliable that nothing useful could be done with it. See below for some of
the few exceptions.
6. Bonine, "Maghrib". See also idem, "Iran", for an analogous study of another region of the Islamic
world.
7. Hawkins & King, "Orientation ofthe Kaaba", and King, "Astronomical alignments" (both reprinted
in King, Studies, C-XII and XIII). See also Chelhod, "Pre-eminence of right".
8. Certain mosques in Andalusia and India, which do not appear to face the qibla, have been declared
to have been built on pre-existent architecture. Most of these pronouncements, which are not
worth citing, are rendered void by the findings presented here.
9. King, "Sacred geography", summarized in the article "Makka, iv: As the centre of the world" in
EP, reprinted in King, Studies, C-X.
10. See the articles "Matla'" (reprinted in King, Studies, C-XI) and "RI\:!" by Miquel Forcada in EP.
II. See various articles in Schoy, Beitrage; Kennedy et al., Studies; and King, Studies, A-XIII and C-

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 The Orientation ofIslamic Architecture 273

XIV; as well as Ali (translation) and Kennedy (commentary), al-Btruni 's Tabdld(dealing with
the most important medieval work on mathematical geography). A summary is in the article
"Kibla, ii: Astronomical aspects" in £1', reprinted with corrections of many printing errors in
King, Studies, C-IX.
12. See, for example, Morley, "Safavid astrolabe", 23-26. On Islamic geographical coordinates in
general see Kennedy & Kennedy, Geographical coordinates.
13. King, Astronomy in the Yemen, 29 and Plate 7; and idem, Studies, B-XII (with L. Janin), 195 and
216.
14. The description in Paris 1MA /993-94 exhibition catalogue, 440-1 (no. 336) was written before
the geographical information had been analysed.
15. On Islamic qibla-charts and instruments see King & Lorch, "Qibla charts", and my chapter
"Weltkarten zur Ermittlung der Richtung nach Mekka", in NurembergGNM 1992-93 exhibition
catalogue, i, 167-71, as well as ii, 686-91 (detailed description ofthe Isfahan world-map, with
several errors of interpretation).
16. See ref. 7 above.
17. See Barthold, "Orientierung", and also King, "Astronomical alignments", 308-9.
18. King, Astronomy in the Yemen, especially pp. 92 (index sub qibla) and 97 (caption to Plate 7).
19. King, "Cairo ventilators".
20. Extant in MS Oxford Bodleian Marsh 592. See already King, "Cairo ventilators", 115, notes 70-
71. This was a source for al-Maqrizi's information.
21. Meinecke, Mamlukische Architektur.
22. This phenomenon is noted in the three papers listed as Kessler, "Mecca-oriented architecture", and
to some extent explained in King, "Cairo ventilators".
23. On mosque orientations in Jerusalem see, for a modest start, the information gathered in King &
Walls, "Jerusalem sundial", 21. Plans are now available in Burgoyne, Mamluk Jerusalem.
24. See King, "Qibla values in Cordova", 370-87 (improperly paginated), an appendix to Studies, B-
XV (with corrections in the addenda), based mainly on information in an early Andalusian
treatise on the use ofthe astrolabe. The subject is discussed further in Sarnso, Ciencias, 60-67.
25. See Bonine, "Maghrib", and also ref. 6 above, as well as King, "Astronomy in the Maghrib",
145-6. The problems of Maghribi orientations were first discussed in Sarton, "Query", and
Renaud, "Reponse", later also in Philibert, Qibla au Maghreb.
26. See al-Shablb, Al-Matiji 's Data 'il al-qibla, for an uncritical edition and some useful appendixes.
27. See, for a useful treatment, the kind of information recorded in Smith, "Corpus". Even so, M. B.
Smith was under the impression that the modern qibla, with which he compared the actual
orientations, was somehow relevant. But the point is: he realized that the orientations are
important and he took the trouble to measure them properly.
28. MS Tashkent Oriental Institute 177, fols 97r-144v, by 'Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi; see Cairo survey,
46 (no. B46) and King, Studies, C-XIV, 84, note 6.
29. King, "Qibla in Transoxania", on a treatise by the legal scholar Abu I-Yusr al-Bazdawi, extant in
Cairo (see Cairo Survey, 50 (no. B88)).
30. Barmore, "Turkish orientations", and MacKay, "Qibla in Greece".
31. Private communication from Or Thomas H. Wilson, Lamu Museum, Kenya, in 1980.
32. King, "Astronomical alignments", 304.
33. See the texts of al-Dimyati, al-Matlji and al-Baghdadi, mentioned in refs 20, 26 and 28 above, as
well as some pronouncements on orientations in the medieval Maghrib by the 'ulama' ofCairo
in the sixteenth century, extant in MS Cairo OM 540 (see Cairo survey, 86, no. ClIO).
34. The papers listed as King, "Astronomical alignments" (Studies, C-XIII) and "Ethnoastronomy"
were presented at conferences on tropical archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy worldwide,
respectively.
35. The most recent findings concerning the Mosque of Ayla near Aqaba in Jordan (reported in
Whitcomb, "Ayla Mosque") came to my attention on the very day that I submitted this report
for publication. This mosque was built about the year 650 by the Caliph 'Uthrnan. It faces

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274 David A. King

roughly 215°, yet Ayla is slightly west of north from Mecca. This orientation has disturbed the
archaeologists, who felt, not unreasonably, that the mosque might have been more appropriately
oriented due south, as was common in early Islamic architecture in S. Syria and Jordan. They
also noted similar discrepancies in the qiblas ofsome early mosques in the province ofal-'Iraq,
described as being "misplaced by some 34°" or "some 35° in error". Yet in fact the mosque at
Ayla is oriented so that its qibla-wall (at c. 125°) is very roughly 'parallel' to the north-east
wall of the Kaaba (at c. 150°).
For better or for worse, the qibla chosen for this mosque was that of al-Traq, which was
towards winter sunset (at c. 240°) or, by analogy to the situation in Andalusia, towards the
selling point of Canopus in Mecca (to face which - at c. 210° - one should stand with
summer sunset on one's right hand side). The direction of winter sunset, roughly 240°, was
one of the qiblas of al-Traq chosen by the Companions of the Prophet. If this was behind the
qibla ofthe mosque at Ayla, then the fact that its orientation differs from the direction ofwinter
sunset by c. 25° is not surprising, given the early date of the mosque and in view of the crude
procedures for finding the qibla advocated even in the later folk-astronomical sources. The
orientation of the mosque might have been determined by someone standing with the Pole Star
in the direction behind his right ear, which is the kind of prescription for finding the qibla in the
south of al-'Iraq attested in the sacred geography oflbn Suraqa (c. 1000). (His prescriptions for
each major region of the Islamic world are recorded in the article "Makka, iv: As centre of the
world", in E/', vi, 184.)
On the other hand, the mosque might have been laid out by someone standing with summer
sunrise on their right hand side, in which case its orientation is fairly 'accurate'.
The fact that astronomers in Baghdad in the ninth century computed the qibla there as c.
13° W ofS (see King, Studies, C-XIV, 126-9) is another matter.

CORRIGENDUM
In the Note by Hugh Thurston that appeared on p. 164 of our May issue, the
opening words of the second paragraph ("As Jones shows") were an incorrect
editorial gloss and should be deleted. The Editor pleads incuria.

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