Ethiopia & West Africa: Churches of Rock & Mud

February 23, 2018 5:19 PM

By the 5th century, christianity's mystical aspects drew the young. As the religion grew, a series of spectacular churches and monasteries were built high atop mountains or excavated out of solid rock, many of which are still in use today. Over in West Africa, mosques were being built of mud. Because islam did not arrive in an invasive flood, the architectural style was mixed with local style to create a vernacular mosque style. West African Mosques
posted by MovableBookLady (3 comments total)

I did find a post on Mali's mud mosques from 2006 but some links were broken and this article seems to have more detailed info.
posted by MovableBookLady at 5:21 PM on February 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

There's some amazing secular mud architecture in Oman, too. although a lot of mud villages have seen compulsory resettlement in more modern buildings. Archaeologists working in the area have been interviewing older people who can remember living in those, because the style goes back a very long time. Turns out that building a mud house in a depression in the ground makes a place that's cool in summer and warm in winter, the very opposite of the concrete structures they've been moved to. But you can't have a modern country with people who live in mud huts now, can you?
posted by Devonian at 9:57 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I love learning about unconventional architecture. Thank you for this!
posted by dendritejungle at 2:46 PM on February 24, 2018