Manufacturing Wooden and Armored Doors in the Mamluk Era

Abstract

The Mamluk era was characterized by skill, creativity, good design, Mamluk architecture, perfect craftsmanship and accuracy. The doors remained in the mosques of the Muslims for the applied arts, which were used by the worshipers, both in religious and civil architecture, in addition to the defensive war, especially the outer doors, which were a hallowed title for those who looked behind these doors. It was remarkable that the Muslims did not care about the greatness of their doors and always chose two-legged types of mosques, schools and palaces, while the author relied on one piece of houses mainly as well as the doors of castles and forts. The doors of the wooden doors were characterized by fine panels decorated with strips of ivory or precious wood, as well as , it was flourished the manufacture of many of historical doors which was an art of Islamic war architecture, both those built in the Fatimid or Ayyubid, and the most famous were the eight doors Fatimid, which represented the valve safety and security to defend Cairo throughout the ages, each of these doors had a name which was known to the people, and they had been repeating it for hundreds of years, and behind it is a historical story. The doors in the Mamluk era were constructed with an architectural genius. They had holes to throw arrows against enemies, pour boiling oil on enemy soldiers to prevent them from entering the fortified city of Cairo. Carpenters developed industrial and decorative styles as well as the development of decorative units. The decorative purpose was the most important of what the manufacturer intended in the Mamluk era, perhaps because of that period characterized by prosperity in various arts and the keenness to enrich most of its products with various writings and decorations. The study aims to study the design of the wooden and armored doors in the Mamluk era, an archaeological and historical study, which was considered Mamluk architecture, as well as the study of the decorative elements in it. These doors were richly decorated, with a variety of floral, written and geometric decoration. The research is based on the study of the different types of doors and their important impact during wars through many parameters; firstly, the research discusses designing door types and then discusses developments within design over time. Secondly, the study of the technical and industrial methods used in the Mamluk era and the techniques of manufacturing the basic components of these artifacts and decorating the surface with a variety of decorative devices. Finally, the favorite decorative elements of each species, which consist mostly of engineering, floral designs and writings will be studied. Consequently, the research concluded a series of basic concepts and techniques for the manufacture of doors throughout the Mamluk period. The doors of the Mamluks were used as the main executive place in the Mamluk era.