This monograph discusses the urban and architectural works commissioned by Tankiz al-Nāṣirī, governor of the province of Damascus (1312–1340), during the reign of the Mamluk sultan al-Nāṣir Muḥammad ibn Qalawūn. In addition to Damascus, the book also covers Tankiz's important works in Jerusalem and smaller Palestinian cities and lesser building activities in castles in eastern Syria. More than just a study of monumental architecture, the book also analyses Tankiz's military, commercial, utilitarian and urban projects, thereby creating an almost complete picture of Tankiz's patronage in southern Syria and beyond. As one of the longest reigning and most prodigious builders in the history of Damascus, Tankiz merits the thorough treatment he gets here, and the fact that his building activities extended well beyond his primary city adds interesting dimensions to this book.
The word “patronage” features prominently in the title and scheme of this book, but is this really a study of patronage? A study of architectural patronage raises expectations of a deep analysis of the social and economic foundations of architecture and of the affiliations between patron, architect, and commission, all contributing to a commanding vision of the patron. Unfortunately, these expectations are rarely met in studies of Islamic architecture, where, despite the richness of literary sources, the documentary evidence is often lacking. This deficiency of crucial evidence enforces certain limitations on the resulting scholarship, including this book, which is not quite a study of patronage but rather an important work on contextual architectural history. Kenney does, however, introduce two intangible factors – charisma and special affection for the city – that strengthen her case for patronage. Al-Dhahabi described Tankiz as “a wall surrounding Damascus”, and al-Ṣafadi eulogized him, saying “God brought him to a land that he loved and that loved him”. It seems likely, therefore, that Tankiz, just like governors before and after him, may have found in the history and sanctity of Damascus and Jerusalem appropriate mirrors to reflect his own pious and charismatic image.
Although Mamluk architecture has been thoroughly explored in recent decades, this book differs from earlier studies in its closer engagement of contexts – urban, architectural, functional and symbolic – and in its attempt to engage discourses that have been proposed over the past four decades to explain the nature of architectural patronage in the middle Islamic period, including “expressive intent”, “power and piety” and “perpetuity through pious acts”. Kenney glosses over these discourses without emphasizing or consistently deploying any one of them. This even-handed strategy does leave options open for interpretation, but it also contributes to a degree of ambiguity with regard to the intentions of Tankiz's patronage.
Overall, the book succeeds more in the textual investigation of monuments than in a sustained analysis of the architecture. This is in part due to the fragmentary nature of the monuments which, with the exception of Tankiz's works in Jerusalem, have survived poorly or vanished entirely. But that is in fact all the more reason to provide thorough analyses of these monuments and to present them with full graphic documentation. For example, the discussion of Tankiz's restoration of the Great Mosque of Damascus (pp. 45–55), which is solidly based on a thorough examination of the sources, remains rather unclear without a specially prepared plan that highlights these restorations. The same is true of Tankiz's palace, Dar al-Dhahab, which although it has now vanished beneath the Aẓem Palace, could have been partly resuscitated by a more precise graphic documentation of its various remains that have been incorporated into the later palace.
In fact, the weakness and uneven nature of graphic and even photographic presentation often mars otherwise thorough and detailed discussions of the architecture. Plans are drawn from a wide variety of sources, without a uniform standard, a deficiency that diminishes both the clarity and attractiveness of the presentation. The absence of some photographs – such as the interior of Tankiz Mosque in Damascus or the author's photographs of the interior of the Tankiziyya Madrasa in Jerusalem – is also surprising.
Kenney's analysis of the fourteenth-century architecture of southern Syria displays a mixture of originality and derivation, of assertion and deference. She is quite assertive in her insistence on the importance and influence of the schools of Damascus and Aleppo in plans, vaulting, stereotomy and intarsia work. Rather than recipients of foreign ideas – whether the four-iwan plan, stone muqarnas, or polychrome intarsia – Kenney insists on the local nature of these innovations and their spread to neighbouring regions. At the same time, she argues that the period of Tankiz introduced a number of architectural and ornamental features – including ṭirāz bands, folded cross-vaults, and extensive marble revetment – that seem to have been introduced to Syria from Egypt and Anatolia.
On the other hand, the book includes at least two instances of uncritical acceptance of previous scholarship. First, in discussing the use of striped masonry (ablaq), Kenney suggests that the technique was reintroduced to Damascus by artisans working from Egypt. In fact, however, many late Ayyubid buildings, especially in the Ṣāliḥiyya quarter in Damascus, use ablaq masonry, often in combinations of black, pink, red and white stone. And second, the discussion of victory monuments in Islam, which refers to an article by Thomas Leisten, could easily be expanded to include three quasi-victory arches, such as that in Lashkar-ī Bazār at Bust, the Qasṭal al-Shuʿaybiyya in Aleppo, and the Bāb al-Ṭilasm in Baghdad.
The one chapter where the methodology of patronage works quite well is chapter two on Jerusalem. The urban context of Tankiz's monuments in Jerusalem, their excellent state of preservation, the existence of a waqfiyya, and their thorough documentation all contribute to the creation of an organic unit that seems to reflect a particular vision. Encompassing a convent for women, a madrasa, and school of ḥadīth; a gateway with a minaret; two ḥammāms; a khān, and a sūq, this complex beautifully illustrates the use of pious endowment to fulfil the requisite pious, educational, hygienic and economic dimensions.
In some respects, therefore, the chapter on Jerusalem highlights the possibilities and unfortunate limitations of studies of patronage in medieval Islamic architecture. Kenney does make a strong case for the importance of the works of Tankiz for the architectural and urban history of Damascus and Jerusalem and, conversely, for the ways in which these works may have reflected a particular affiliation and concern for these cities. But the absence of a consistent strategy to deal with the shortage of documentary evidence and a clear methodological direction minimize the usefulness and the impact of this book.
