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Mashrabiya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mashrabiya is the Arabic term given to a type of projecting oriel window enclosed with carved wood latticework, often located on the second storey of a house. A good view of the street can be obtained by the occupants without being seen, offering privacy for women and protection from the hot sun. The detailed, turned wood lattice is open to the air, without the use of glass windows. Found along the streets of Cairo and other cities of the Levant.
These areas were originally used as a place for drinking. The term was derived from the small semicircular bows, in which porous water-bottles are placed to cool by evaporation in the air. The word may also be used for lattice work screens.
Alternate spellings:
- Meshrebiya or mushrabiyah
- Meshrebeeyeh, mashrebeeyeh or mashrebeeyah
- Moucharabieh or moucharaby in the French language
- Musharabie or musharabia in Italian and German
- Glossary and Useful Terms in Islamic art and architecture
- Britannica: moucharaby
- Ching, Francis D. K. (1995) A Visual Dictionary of Architecture Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.