Abstract
In a Mosque, the structure from where a call for prayer is performed -generically called minaret- is considered a land marker, a signpost, a symbol of power, a hallmark of empires or of specific religious communities. In this essay, I attempt to investigate how such symbolically charged structures evolve in times of discord; and I take the early medieval minarets of Tunisia as an example.
I intend to discuss the presence, absence and evolution through time of the minarets in mosques dating 8th to 11th Century Ifriqiya (Qayrawan, Tunis, Sousse, Mahdiya, Sfax and Jerba). These structures vary in shape, scale, lavishness and position in the mosque. The first goal of this essay is to question these variations and attempt to understand the links between the architectural structure and the context and religious creeds and practices that led to its shaping. The second goal of this essay is to investigate the transformations that occurred to a number of these structures specifically in the 10th and 11th Century (such as in Sfax). The third and main goal of the essay is to explore the eventuality of destructions subjected specifically to Fatimid minarets of Ifriqiya.
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