Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

In traditional Islamic architecture,, the qibla was the wall facing in the direction of the Mecca, and contained a maqsura, the place where the emir or caliph would pray. The mihrab was usually a concave niche in the qibla, indicating it as the Mecca-oriented wall of the mosque. However, the word ?mihrab? has been used to refer to a variety of architectural elements that vary greatly in size, shape, and elaboration. This ambiguity and loose application of the word make the true origin and purpose of the mihrab difficult to determine. In early Arabic secular literature, ?mihrab? sometimes referred to the part of the palace where the king would sit, sometimes to a niche that held an image, and sometimes to a colonnaded platform. Because it is used to describe such a variety of architectural features, historians have had to trace the origins of the word. ?Mihrab? could either be derived from the Ethiopic word ?merkuerab? meaning sanctuary (an obvious suggestion considering the religious role of mihrabs), or the Arabic ?harba?, a form of authoritative lance (a valid proposal because the prophet would often define the boundaries of the prayer space by planting his lance). However, this latter theory is questionable because the