Lintel
M’sila, Algeria
Museum of M’sila (National Agency of Archaeology)
About Museum of M’sila (National Agency of Archaeology), M’sila
Hegira 406–547 / AD 1015–1152
212
Sculpted grey marble.
Height 31 cm, length 60 cm, width 36 cm, thickness 15 cm
Hammadid
Qasr al-Manar, Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.
Piece of grey marble whose form evokes that of a poly-lobed arch. Its face is bordered by a relief of sculpted double curvilinear lines that meet and interlace in the middle of the base, generating a concave decorative feature at the centre in the shape of shells or flower petals.
Architectural elements of this kind were used to decorate the façades of palatial buildings.
The shape of this lintel is reminiscent of a poly-lobed arch. The front is edged with two curved lines carved in relief that intertwine to create a central, sunken element in the shape of a shell or petalled flower. Such architectural elements were used to decorate the façades of palaces.
The piece was found in the Qal'at Bani Hammad (5th–6th / 11th–12th centuries).
Archaeological repository (Bourouiba excavations, 1971).
Found in situ in the Qasr al-Manar.
Bourouiba, R., Cités disparues: Tahert, Sédrata, Achir, Kalaâ des Beni Hammad, Algiers, 1982.
Bourouiba, R., Les H'ammadites, Algiers, 1984.
Ali Benbella "Lintel" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;dz;Mus01;22;en
MWNF Working Number: AL 32
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