Some questions about islamic city: etymology, architectural structure and functional nature of māsārī

Abstract

The architectonic construction known as masriyya (plural māsārī) in Muslim Spain and in the Maghreb raises some questions that are, on occasion, difficult to answer. In this article, some hypotheses are provided of key questions for the study of these top floors in the Islamic medina, comparing mainly the situation in Granada in the fifteenth century to the Maghrebi case. The traditional sources used in these works (Chronicles, History books, Hubus books, Archaeology), are added to documentary notarial sources of fifteenth century, in order to shed a little more light in regard to questions such as the etymology of the term, the architectonic structure of the buildings, and the use given to them.