By: Tayana Fincher

The Ancient Mosque at Kilwa seems oddly similar to High Gothic Cathedrals, especially considering that there was no European presence in Tanzania, conversely either, during the time of its initial construction in the twelfth century. Kilwa was one of the many East African cities that experienced growth and transformation with the arrival of Islam in the 7^th century. From this contact sparked the creation of Islamic cities and the “Swahili Culture”, which in turn led to the development of altered identities, and a combination of foreign and local artistic, cultural, and social influences[1]. These influences resulted in the Kilwa Mosque (the title of the structure for the duration of this paper), a physical representation of an early merging of the newly accepted and transformed Islamic faith. With its incorporation of both local materials and foreign elements, the mosque became a site of economic wealth and success for the Islamicized Swahili Coast. Simultaneously though, the Kilwa Mosque also seemed to architecturally distinguish social groups, having multipurpose areas to reinforce a social hierarchy[2]. The level of similarities in spatial purposes between it and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, in Chartres, France (to be labeled simply as the Chartres Cathedral), could be incredibly high or strikingly low, and is therefore worthy of discourse and exploration. It is also important to keep in mind that both of these regions were having vastly different experiences, meaning exploitations were not universal or evident in France. Nevertheless, by association also juxtaposing Islam with Christianity, the religious aims can be understood as shaping space and the way the architectural structures dictated interior social interactions, or the lack thereof.

Many of the sources covering Kilwa tended to focus more on the aesthetic and economic aspects of the mosque and city, instead of the spatial intentions and elements. Simultaneously, the Chartres sources too emphasize the cathedral as a whole, not necessarily focusing on the interior and exterior separately. For both Kilwa and Chartres, many of the used books are from the mid-twentieth century, and are possibly a bit outdated. Because of this, some of the analysis in this paper may be of idiosyncratic interpretation. Kilwa had become a rich commercial center along the Swahili Coast, and through trade with the new Arab, Indian, and Persian presences, influential exchanges between them and the heterogeneous Swahili population was allowed[3]. As a result of the increased amount of contact with their Islamic neighbors, Kilwa enjoyed economic prosperity and was subsequently able to afford expensive building materials and techniques. Based on an oceanic environment, the Kilwa Mosque’s materials included mainly coral and mortar, organized in a way combining the “rectilinear assemblage method” and the covering with coral based plaster[4]. As the building material of the elite, coral was used aesthetically, staggered in space and therefore allowed to pick up and reflect radiant light. This disorderly assemblage provided the mosque an opportunity to produce its own type of light and shadow effect[5], furthermore using the brightness of the coral to advertise splendor and wealth. Contrasted with the Chartres Cathedral, the literal use of light and limestone was the High Gothic method of inducing awe, coupled with a strong verticality and skeleton-like interior[6]. Simson wrote that light, “ordinarily concealed by matter,” acted as an active principle, controlling the experience of being inside the cathedral. He also added that the Chartres architect “realized the cosmological order of luminosity and proportion to the exclusion of all other architectural motifs and with a perfection never achieved before.”[7] Instead of the stained-glass windows dictating the flow of light, especially since brightness was relatively inadequate for the entirety of the church, the active movement of light itself through the seemingly porous Gothic wall allowed for bouncing radiance throughout the nave of the cathedral. The way these two religious structures played with the effects of natural light might have evoked very similar messages; aims of reflecting religious piety and reverence.

From viewing both mosques and cathedrals, it can be understood that architectural styles are instilled in order to direct attention and reflect religious piety. Mosques normally serve as gathering places for Muslims to pray, facing towards qibla[8]. Sharply contrasting the Christian ideal of communal worship, a mosque does not necessarily have to be a permanent structure, hence the East African interest in and acceptance of a flexible Islam[9]. Because of this mobile facet of the Islamic way of life, there were no real architectural requirements for the creation of the Kilwa Mosque; the coral embellishments were unnecessary inclusions, though strikingly beautiful, emanating the wealth of the Islamic presence on the coast. In opposition, the Chartres Cathedral placed emphasis especially on the geometry of the structure, focusing on logical proportion and its relation to beauty[10]. Gothic architecture, “inspired by the religious power of the time,” attempted to create a new interpretation of Christian piety, forming a direct path toward the heavenly Father[11]. By means of verticality, evident in the tall arches and columns that seem to travel up and become the limbs of the overarching ceiling ribs, Gothic architects tried to make the cathedral a symbol of heaven. With extravagant decorations and uses of light, mentioned earlier, efforts were made to make the space “worthy of and welcoming to the divine.”[12] As Robert A. Scott explained, the transcendent presence is not immediately experienced – upon entering a cathedral one must travel the length of the interior nave, reaching proliferating levels of sacredness with every zone closer to the altar[13]. From a religious standpoint, the Kilwa Mosque would seem to have a lax personality, being a space for the community to willingly congregate in prayer, while the Chartres Cathedral would have a stricter doctrine, evident in its elongated construction extending into the sacred realm.

Instead, these two structures had divergent aims with their ideals in terms of spatial interactions and separations. Continuing with the order of space provided within the Chartres Cathedral, the sacred realm was set apart from the profane[14]. In this case the holy divinity, represented by the priest and material aspects of the high altar, at the end of the nave and therefore in the most concentrated of sacred zones, was justified in being partitioned from the mass of followers, who could unintentionally pollute the spirituality. This segregation was somewhat justified, since contamination of the holy is a common precept to avoid. Furthermore, since the whole group of followers was separated from the holy domain, as opposed to certain individuals having more privileges than others, this instead emphasized the significance of unity and the totality of Gothic design[15]. Contrastingly, the Kilwa Mosque, again emanating diversity and splendor with its fusion of foreign and local elements, becoming the quintessential model of East African Islamic architecture[16], was concurrently influenced by its social function[17]. The Kilwa Mosque in a way reflected the commerciality of the surrounding area along the Swahili Coast, and as a result the interior of the mosque came to resemble outside interactions. Mosques already separated females and youths, respectively placing them farther from the qibla wall than their male counterparts. There were many multipurpose areas, and these divisions could give evidence of attempts at isolating different classes along the Swahili Coast[18]. D.T. Niane wrote that “there were social disparities, since in addition to the main body of ordinary, free members of the community, there existed a distinct and isolated elite.”[19] When non-African Muslims were included in the attendance of this East African Islamic mosque, there was bound to develop a social hierarchy. Moreover, placing the wealthy alongside the poorer, regardless of the fact that Kilwa as a whole was, from the twelfth to sixteenth century, economically flourishing due to relations with these foreign traders, further instigated possible unpleasant interactions[20]. Due to all of these newly formulated seasonal and eventually constant interactions between the indigenous East Africans and their merchant neighbors, the Kilwa Mosque became a source of syncretism and hierarchy. Analyzing the way architecture ordered society and intermingling in France and Tanzania, it is discernible that to some degree, Gothic architecture represented a more unifying and equivalent religious society, while the East African Islamic architecture had created a more socially stratified religious realm.

From an architectural perspective, it is uncertain as to why the Kilwa Mosque’s arches show a resemblance to the Chartres Cathedral’s, more mysteriously misunderstood given there was little to no European presence on the Swahili Coast during the twelfth century. Later on in Kilwa’s history, particularly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, additions were made to the mosque, which could explain new architectural elements, though the Portuguese did not arrive on the coast until the early 1500s[21]. This was not a focus of the paper, but it could nonetheless provide an explanation as to how two religiously different regions not in contact with each other could reflect comparable architectural styles. Analogous arches would supposedly implement identical goals, but from analysis of these two religious structures, it is ostensibly not the case. Taking into account the exterior, though not a focal point of this inquiry, the Kilwa Mosque did not have any large open spaces or courtyards, hence its oddly spacious interior, evident from the many rows of arches. This preference for an ample interior over an expansive exterior courtyard could supplement the theory that the Kilwa Mosque was not intended to house any social gatherings outside of the already religious occurrence.

Though lying on a coast and therefore near commercial environments and ports, the Kilwa Mosque’s religious realm seemed to be impeded upon by trade and wealth in more than one way; the building materials acted as status markers, and the social hierarchy placed the diverse group of people into stratified classes within the mosque walls, though the former could also emulate religious power and divinity. Diverging from this economic spatial structuring, it would seem as though the Chartres Cathedral paid more heed to placing a division between the spiritual and physical worlds, and not between those in the physical world. The European High Gothic architecture therefore based more emphasis on separating the profane outside from the consecrated inside[22]. France and Tanzania were experiencing very distinctive things during the twelfth century, so it is plausible that there were several differences in the way space and social interactions were organized. For Kilwa, this early form of Islamicized African art and architecture was founded on economic principles and desires, so the presence of a social hierarchy was not all too surprising. During its High Gothic era, France did not have to deal with a foreign and local coexistence, so the social and spatial structures are amenable with preconceived notions of validated discrepancies. A quote by Guy Petherbridge fits nicely with the analysis of Afro-Islamic and European art;

“Monuments and public buildings do not […] exist in isolation, but play a particular symbolic role in a total spatial and hierarchic system of building and decorative forms, serving to reinforce political and social structure and religious belief. Because of their status and massiveness of construction, such buildings tend to survive while associated domestic and utilitarian complexes of a contemporary date are destroyed. To consider monumental architecture without these associated complexes is to create an unbalanced and perhaps erroneous impression of the nature and development of Islamic architecture and its relationship to the society that formed it.”[23]

[1] Insoll, Timothy. The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2003, 178.

[2]Class Lecture, ARTH 259, Michelle Apotsos, 16 February 2015.

[3] Niane, D. T. General History of Africa. Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Vol. IV. Berkeley: U of California, 1984, 455.

[4] Class Lecture, ARTH 259, Michelle Apotsos, 16 February 2015.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Class Lecture, ARTH 101, Peter Low, 21 October 2014

[7] Simson, Otto Georg Von. The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1988, 4, 235.

[8] O’Meara, Simon. Space and Muslim Urban Life: At the Limits of the Labyrinth of Fez. London: Routledge, 2007, 20.

[9] Class Discussion, ARTH 259, Michelle Apotsos, 9 February 2015.

[10] Class Lecture, ARTH 101, Peter Low, 21 October 2014.

[11] Jantzen, Hans. High Gothic; The Classic Cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, Amiens. New York: Pantheon, 1962, 24 and 81

[12] Scott, Robert A. The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral. Berkeley: U of California, 2003, 156.

[13] Ibid, 158.

[14] Ibid, 152.

[15] Clark, William W. Medieval Cathedrals. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2006, 61-63.

[16] Niane, D. T. General History of Africa. Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Vol. IV. Berkeley: U of California, 1984, 81.

[17] Allen, James De Vere. “Swahili Architecture in the Later Middle Ages.” African Arts 7.2 (1974): 42-84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3334723

[18] Class Lecture, ARTH 259, Michelle Apotsos, 16 February 2015.

[19] Niane, D. T. General History of Africa. Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Vol. IV. Berkeley: U of California, 1984,455.

[20] Class Lecture, ARTH 259, Michelle Apotsos, 16 February 2015.

[21] UNESCO, Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/144

[22] Scott, Robert A. The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral. Berkeley: U of California, 2003, 163.

[23] O’Meara, Simon. Space and Muslim Urban Life: At the Limits of the Labyrinth of Fez. London: Routledge, 2007, 22.