Dictionary of Islamic Architecture   Hammam (Turkish bath; bath house) General term used to describe both private and public bath houses. Public hammams are found throughout the Islamic world and together with the mosque are regarded as one of the essential features of an Islamic city. Private bath houses are less well known although it is known that they existed from the early Islamic period where they have been found in palaces such as Qasr al-Hayr and Ukhaidhir. Definition Hammams developed directly out of Byzantine bath houses such as those discovered at Avdat, and Yotvata in the Negev. One of the earliest and certainly the most famous early Islamic bath house is Qusayr Amra located in the north-eastern Jordanian desert. The building was heated by a hypocaust system supported on short brick pillars and supplied with water raised from a deep well by an animal-powered mechanism. Like other early Islamic baths Qusayr Amra does not have the frigidarium common in Roman baths... [more] See also Khirbet al-Mafjar; Qusayr Amra Further Reading M. Dow, Hammams of Palestine, Oxford 1993. M. Ecochard and C. Le Coeur, Les Bains de Damas, Beirut 1943. E. Pauty, Les Hammams flu Caire, Cairo 1963. H. Terrasse, 'Trois Bains marinides du Maroc', Melanges, 311-20,1950. Related ArchNet Materials   Images IAA2186 Domed roofs of the hammam; the... IAA2188 Interior, tepidarium IAA2197 B&W drawing, plan ITH0203 Exterior view from southeast,... Search Alphabetically A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Legal Notes Contact ArchNet