Morphological Diversity Of Ancient Minarets Architecture In The Ziban Region (Algeria): The Question Of Form, Style And Character

In the process of perception, all architectural objects are bearers of meaning even if those who create them do not intend to send a message or an idea. This process differs from one to another depending on the observer’s belonging, thought and imagination. In this context, vertical buildings and monuments play an important role in the perception of space and the universe; they have been used in different cultures and civilisations throughout human history, especially in spiritual and religious terms (Alihodzic and Zupančič, 2018). Islamic civilisation is no exception; certain elements have been used in Muslim religious architecture with various morphological appearances to establish a vertical relationship with God. The minaret is one of these elements. Given its significance and function, it is the most important component of the mosque’s architecture. It is a tower from which a muezzin or a crier calls the believers to pray five times a day. The minaret is considered as one of the unique features of the mosque by the embodiment of the mosque itself (Gottheil, 1910). In general, a minaret consists of four main parts (segments), which are successively from bottom to top: a basement, a shaft/tower (the main part of minaret’s body), a gallery-balcony (the platform from which the muezzin calls out the adhan) and the top/lantern (the upper part of the minaret’s body). Using these basic components, the Muslim master builders have combined and composed with them in a sophisticated manner to generate a wide morphological diversity of minarets. In southern Algeria, minarets symbolise and distinguish local Muslim communities by their morphology in human settlements. They are the most emblematic element of the Ksour (Ksar, singular) and are the central landmarks of their respective urban landscapes. The region of the Ziban (Zab, singular) illustrates this observation and provides an interesting field of research for the scientific knowledge of these minarets. The latter have sometimes been mentioned in several studies but have not been the subject of an exhaustive analysis so far. These considerations raise the following questions: What are the morphological attributes of the ancient minarets in the Ziban region? Do they have their own local specificities? Can it be said that the minarets of the Ziban region have their own style, which is continuous throughout its history, or does each period represent stylistic variations? What factors have influenced their morphology? The present research focuses on the morphological characterisation of minarets in the Ziban region. It is particularly interesting to understand the origin of the morphological diversity observed in the design of the minarets shafts in the Ziban region. The aim is to shed light on the possible reasons that led to the formal diversity of the Ziban minarets in a relatively limited geographical area. In addition, the paper seeks to explore the significant morphological attributes and stylistic contributions of these minarets and to gather information on their morphological diversity through inventories, architectural surveys, visual and formal analyses