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Architecture of Israel

  • 6 min read
  • 3 chapters

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Through Crusades, Islam and Arabs

History

Early period

Ancient regional architecture can be divided into two phases based on building materials—stone and sundried mud brick. Most of the stones used were limestone.

After the Hellenistic period, hard limestone was used for columns, capitals, bases or also the Herodian enclosure walls of the Temple Mount. In the north of the country, basalt was used for building stone, door sockets, door pivots but also for drainage. Fieldstone were placed randomly or laid in courses as well as for polygonal structures, for example it is found in city walls. Rough-hewn Stones and ashlars were used for more complex structure, and they were extracted from quarries. Huge stones were used since the first century B.C. Stone dressing was primarily done with the chisel and the hammer.

Sundried mud bricks were the most used material until modern times, particularly in the coastal plain and valleys. Structures were roofed with timber wooden beams covered by reeds and rushes.

Ottoman period

In Lifta, until the end of the 19th century, traditional housing construction consisted of a single room without partitions, divided into levels in accordance with various functions carried out in the house:

  • Rawiyeh – a bottom level at the elevation of the courtyard considered the "dirty" part of the house, used for storage and sheltering livestock.
  • Mastabeh – A higher residential level used for sleeping, eating, hospitality and storage.
  • Sida (gallery) – Another living area above the mastaba, used primarily for sleeping.

In the second half of the 19th century, a residential story characterized by a cross-vault was added above the traditional house, creating a space between the floor with the livestock in the bottom room and the residential story. A separate entrance was installed in each story.

Fortified houses were built outside the village core and had two stories: a raised ground floor with tiny windows used for raising livestock and storage, and a separate residential floor with large windows and balconies. In the courtyard was a small structure used for storage. Sometimes a tabun baking oven would be located inside it.

The first modern building technology was evident in the farmhouses. Iron beams were used and the roofs were made of concrete and roof tiles. These structures had balconies with a view and wide doorways.

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