Each piece was pierced with a small hole prior to being baked so that the tiles could be affixed by nails to a wooden frame set into a mortar surface on this part of the minaret. : 26 The individual tile pieces are large, allowing the pattern to be visible from afar. : 231 Jonathan Bloom cites the glazed tiles on the minaret of the Kutubiyya Mosque, dating from the mid-12th century, as the earliest reliably-dated example of zellij in Morocco. Relatively simple in design, they may have reflected artistic influences from Sanhaja Berber culture. ĭuring the Almohad period, prominent bands of ceramic decoration in green and white were already features on the minarets of the Kutubiyya Mosque and the Kasbah Mosque of Marrakesh. : 28 By the 11th century, the zellij technique had reached a sophisticated level in the western Islamic world, as attested in the elaborate pavements found at Qal'at Bani Hammad in Algeria. : 99, 335 It was probably inspired or derived from Byzantine mosaics and then adapted by Muslim craftsmen for faience tiles. Georges Marçais argued that these fragments, along with similar decoration found at Mahdia, indicate that the technique likely originated in Ifriqiya and was subsequently exported further west. Zellij fragments from al-Mansuriyya (Sabra) in Tunisia, possibly dating from either the mid-10th century Fatimid foundation or from the mid-11th Zirid occupation, suggest that the technique may have developed in the western Islamic world around this period. Tile decoration on the upper part of the minaret of the Kasbah Mosque in Marrakesh (modern restoration of original 12th-century tiles) : 166 History Origins (10th to 13th centuries) In Spain, the mosaic tile technique used in historical Islamic monuments like the Alhambra is also referred to as alicatado, a Spanish word deriving from the Arabic verb qata'a ( ﻗَﻄَﻊَ) meaning "to cut". The word azulejo in Portuguese and Spanish, referring to a style of painted tile in Portugal and Spain, derives from the word zillīj. The word zillīj ( زليج) is derived from the verb zalaja ( زَلَجَ) meaning "to slide," in reference to the smooth, glazed surface of the tiles. The influence of zellij patterns was also evident in Spanish tiles produced during the Renaissance period and is seen in some modern imitations painted on square tiles. : 414–415 Zellij is found in modern buildings making use of traditional designs such as the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca which adds a new color palette with traditional designs. Īfter the 15th century the traditional mosaic zellij fell out of fashion in most countries except for Morocco, where it continues to be produced today. From the 14th century onwards, zellij became a standard decorative element along lower walls, in fountains and pools, on minarets, and for the paving of floors. It is found in the architecture of Morocco, the architecture of Algeria, early Islamic sites in Tunisia, and in the historic monuments of al-Andalus (in the Iberian Peninsula). This form of Islamic art is one of the main characteristics of architecture in the western Islamic world. : 335 : 41 : 166 The pieces were typically of different colours and fitted together to form various patterns on the basis of tessellations, most notably elaborate Islamic geometric motifs such as radiating star patterns. Zellij ( Arabic: الزليج, romanized: zillīj also spelled zillij or zellige) is a style of mosaic tilework made from individually hand-chiseled tile pieces. A wall covered in zellīj at the Ben Youssef Madrasa in Marrakesh
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