salsabil (fountain)
{{Short description|Thin-sheet fountain for evaporatively cooling buildings or water}}
File:Lal Qila (Red Fort) 123.jpg in Delhi, India.]]
A salsabil (or salasabil{{Cite book|last=Clark|first=Emma|title=The Art of the Islamic Garden|publisher=Crowood|year=2004|isbn=9781861266095|pages=92}}), also known as a shadirwan,{{Cite book|last=Rabbat|first=Nasser|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|publisher=Brill|year=1960–2007|isbn=9789004161214|editor-last=Bearman|editor-first=P.|location=|pages=|chapter=|editor-last2=Bianquis|editor-first2=Th.|editor-last3=Bosworth|editor-first3=C.E.|editor-last4=van Donzel|editor-first4=E.|editor-last5=Heinrichs|editor-first5=W.P.}} is a type of fountain which maximizes the surface area of the water. It is used for evaporative cooling of buildings, cooling and aeration of drinking water, and ornament (it has also been used to prevent eavesdropping{{cite news|title= Splendors of Topkapi, Palace of the Ottoman Sultans|url=http://www.stanleymeisler.com/smithsonian/smithsonian-2000-02-topkapi.html|work=Smithsonian Magazine|date=February 2000|access-date=2009-06-02}}). The water may flow in a thin sheet or thin streams, often over a wavy surface with many little waterfalls. Its use extends from southern Spain through north Africa and the Middle East to northern India.
Etymology and name
The name salsabil ({{langx|ar|سلسبيل}}) likely derives from a Qur'anic reference.{{Cite journal |last=Mostafa |first=Saleh Lamei |date=1989 |title=The Cairene Sabil: Form and Meaning |journal=Muqarnas |volume=6 |pages=33–42 |doi=10.2307/1602278 |jstor=1602278 }} The term shadirwan is also used for devices for aerating drinking water. However, the term shadirwan or shadirvan ({{langx|ar|شاذروان}}, {{langx|fa|شادروان}}, {{langx|tr|şadırvan}}) has slightly different uses in other cultures, such as designating a central ablutions fountain for a mosque courtyard in Turkish (see shadirvan).{{Cite book |last1=Sumner-Boyd |first1=Hilary |title=Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City |last2=Freely |first2=John |publisher=Tauris Parke Paperbacks |year=2010 |isbn= |edition=Revised }}{{Rp|459}}
Design and setting
The water flows in a manner designed to maximize the surface area, and thus evaporation. A salsabil may be a near-vertical marble waterfall mounted on a wall,{{cite book |last1=Amro |first1=Dana K. |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Analysis+of+the+architectural+elements+in+traditional+courtyard...-a0417570355 |title=Analysis of the architectural elements in traditional courtyard houses in Irbid, Jordan |publisher=Free Online Library |last2=Bahauddin |first2=Azizi }} or the sheet of water may flow down a slanted chute.{{cite journal |last1=Ford |first1=Brian |date=September 2001 |title=Passive downdraught evaporative cooling: principles and practice |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/6317345C8FB8B405AADE7BA99CD62E8B/S1359135501001312a.pdf/passive_downdraught_evaporative_cooling_principles_and_practice.pdf |journal=Architectural Research Quarterly |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=271–280 |doi=10.1017/S1359135501001312 |doi-access=free }}
Evaporative cooling causes the water and the surrounding air to cool as some of the water evaporates. Passive ventilation may be used to maximize the flow of unsaturated air over the water surface and carry the cooled air to where it is needed in the building. Salasabils are often used with windcatchers.{{cite conference |last1=Niktash |first1=Amirreza |last2=Huynh |first2=B. Phuoc |date=July 2–4, 2014 |title=Simulation and Analysis of Ventilation Flow Through a Room Caused by a Two-sided Windcatcher Using a LES Method |url=http://www.iaeng.org/publication/WCE2014/WCE2014_pp1294-1297.pdf |conference=Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering }}
A salsabil may also be used to aerate water for drinking in a sabil (or sebil; {{langx|ar|سبيل}}, {{langx|tr|sebil}}).{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Caroline |title=Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |year=2008 |isbn=9789774162053 |edition=6th |location=Cairo }}{{Rp|63, 262}} Salsabils, in the form of inclined marble slabs over which drinking water flowed before being dispensed, were often included inside the sabils of Mamluk architecture.{{Cite book |last=Behrens-Abouseif |first=Doris |title=Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2007 |isbn=9789774160776 }}{{Rp|63, 262}}
Salasabils were used in Mughal architecture from the 1200s to the 1600s. They were also used in recent centuries in Iran. They were sometimes used as decorative features in Ottoman domestic architecture.{{Cite book |last=Kuban |first=Doğan |title=Ottoman Architecture |publisher=Antique Collectors' Club |year=2010 |isbn=9781851496044 |translator-last=Mill |translator-first=Adair }}{{Cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Godfrey |title=A History of Ottoman Architecture |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=1971 |isbn=0500274290 |location=New York }}{{Rp|441}}
File:Agra Fort 25 (Friar's Balsam Flickr).jpg|Near-vertical salasabil in the mostly-1500s Agra Fort (dry)
File:Front of Bibi Ka Maqbara.jpg|1660s Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India (dry)
File:Atrium of the House of the Centenary at Pompeii, 1901.jpg|Atrium of the House of the Centenary, Pompeii, mid-2nd century BC (dry)
File:Villa Getty.JPG|Replica of a Roman fountain in the House of the Large Fountain, Pompeii.
File:Indoor fountain with water channel - Alcázar of Seville, Spain - DSC07295 (cropped).JPG|A near-horizontal ridged channel in the Room of Justice, 1360s Alcazar of Seville, Spain (wet)
File:Fuente Alhambra.JPG|Water flows out over the corrugated sides of a fountain, 1360s {{lang|es|Patio del Cuarto Dorado}}, Alhambra, Granada, Spain (wet)
File:Fontaine chambre Murad III harem palais Topkapi.jpg|Privy Chamber of Murat III, late 16th century, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkey (dry)
File:Al-Ghuri sabil DSCF8913.jpg|Marble salsabil in the sebil chamber of the al-Ghuriya Complex, Cairo, Egypt (dry)
See also
References
{{commonscat|Salsabil}}
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