Middle East

64 entries covering Middle East.

Roofing Materials

• Clay Roof TileA roofing unit moulded or extruded from clay and fired in a kiln; one of the oldest and most widespread roof coverings in the world.
• Mission TileA two-piece curved clay roof tile system of half-round pans and covers, also called barrel tile or monk-and-nun tile.
• Mud RoofA roof finished with compacted earth or clay over timber beams and a layer of matting or brush, traditional in dry regions worldwide; also called an earth roof.

Low-Slope & Flat Roof Systems

• Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) RoofingA seamless roof made by spraying two-part rigid polyurethane foam onto the substrate and covering it with an elastomeric coating or aggregate.

History of Roofing

• Çatalhöyük RoofsThe flat roofs of Neolithic Çatalhöyük in Turkey, where houses had no streets between them and people entered from the roof.
• Church of the Nativity RoofThe timber-trussed, lead-covered roof of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, restored from 2013 after centuries of leaks.
• Hagia Sophia DomeThe great dome of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, built 532-537, rebuilt after a collapse in 558 and repaired after further failures in 989 and 1346.
• Hanging Gardens of BabylonA legendary terraced garden, one of the Seven Wonders, often cited as the first roof garden; its existence and location are disputed.
• Hassan FathyEgyptian architect (1900-1989) who revived Nubian mud-brick vaults and domes for low-cost housing, most famously at New Gourna near Luxor.
• Hauran Basalt Corbelled RoofsFlat roofs of long basalt slabs on corbels and stone arches, used in late antique towns of the Hauran in Jordan and Syria.
• Imbrex and TegulaThe ancient Greek and Roman roof tile system of flat tiles (tegulae) with half-round tiles (imbrices) covering the joints.
• Jørn UtzonDanish architect (1918-2008) who designed the Sydney Opera House, with its tiled shell roofs, and won the Pritzker Prize in 2003.
• Natufian Round HousesRound, semi-sunken houses with dry-stone footings built by the Natufian culture of the Levant about 15,000-11,500 years ago, before farming.
• Ohalo IIA submerged camp on the Sea of Galilee, Israel, about 23,000 years old, with six oval brush huts: among the oldest well-preserved built shelters.
• Prehistoric Shelters and Early ThatchWhat archaeology can and cannot say about the first roofs: brushwood huts, mammoth-bone dwellings and the likely Neolithic origin of straw thatch.
• Ramesseum Granary VaultsMud-brick barrel-vaulted storerooms at the Ramesseum in Luxor, built under Ramesses II in the 13th century BC; among Egypt's oldest standing true arches.
• Taq KasraThe great Sasanian brick vault at Ctesiphon, Iraq, about 37 m high and 26 m wide, built without centring.
• YakhchālA Persian ice house: a tall domed earth structure over a deep pit, used to store ice through the desert summer.

Roofing Around the World

• Badgir (Windcatcher)A rooftop tower that catches wind and vents hot air to cool buildings, typical of Iran and the Persian Gulf, where it is called barjeel.
• BarastiGulf houses and shelters built of date-palm fronds (arish), once common along the coasts of the UAE and its neighbours.
• Chandal RoofTraditional Gulf flat roof of imported mangrove poles (chandal, danshil) overlaid with bamboo, palm or reed mats and clay.
• DarbaziTraditional Georgian house with a stepped, corbelled timber roof (gvirgvini) rising to a central smoke and light opening.
• Harran Beehive HousesConical mud-brick domed houses (kümbet) of Harran in south-eastern Turkey, built without timber and vented at the top.
• KershefBuilding material of Egypt's Siwa Oasis made of salt rock and mud, used with palm-trunk roofs in the old fortress-town of Shali.
• Middle Eastern DomesMasonry domes of mud brick, baked brick and stone used across the Middle East where timber was scarce, from village houses to great mosques.
• Moroccan Green Roof TilesGreen glazed ceramic tiles covering pitched wooden roofs of Moroccan mosques, minaret caps, fountains and shrines, as at Fez's Al-Hamra Mosque.
• MudhifA vaulted guest house of bundled and arched reeds built by the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq, a form traced back about 5,000 years.
• Najdi Mud RoofsFlat earth roofs on tamarisk timber of the Najdi mud-brick architecture of central Arabia, edged by shurfat parapets.
• New GournaVillage near Luxor, Egypt, built 1946-1952 by Hassan Fathy with mud-brick Nubian vaults and domes; subject of a UNESCO safeguarding project.
• Nubian VaultEarth-brick vaulted roof built without formwork or timber, revived in Egypt by Hassan Fathy and now promoted across the Sahel.
• Old Town of GhadamesLibyan oasis town of mud-brick houses with palm-timber roofs, roofed streets, and rooftop terraces reserved for women; a World Heritage site since 1986.
• Onion DomeBulb-shaped dome tapering to a point, typical of Russian Orthodox churches and also common on churches in Bavaria and Austria.
• Roofing in AfghanistanAfghan houses are traditionally roofed either flat, with timber beams, mats and mud, or with mud-brick domes (gunbad), as in the villages around Herat.
• Roofing in AlgeriaAlgeria's best-documented roofing heritage is that of the Saharan ksour, above all the five fortified towns of the M'zab Valley, a World Heritage site.
• Roofing in ArmeniaArmenian roofing: stone churches with conical tuff domes and tuff-shingle roofs, and corbelled timber glkhatun roofs in old houses.
• Roofing in AzerbaijanAzerbaijani roofing: windy Absheron flat roofs with asphalt coverings, corbelled karadam lantern roofs, and modern concrete.
• Roofing in BahrainBahraini roofing: timber-and-plaster merchant houses of the Muharraq pearling towns with flat roofs on imported poles, and modern concrete.
• Roofing in DjiboutiDjibouti's traditional shelters are portable Afar and Somali huts of branches and woven mats; towns use stone, coral and masonry with white-painted walls.
• Roofing in EgyptEgypt's roofs run from stone-slab temple roofs and some of the oldest standing mud-brick vaults to Nubian domes, Siwa salt-mud houses and today's concrete.
• Roofing in GeorgiaGeorgian roofing: corbelled timber darbazi roofs, conical church domes on tall drums, and the stone tower houses of Svaneti.
• Roofing in IranIranian roofing: mud-brick and brick vaults and domes, windcatchers and ice houses on the plateau, pitched roofs on the wet Caspian coast.
• Roofing in IraqIraqi roofing: reed mudhif halls of the southern marshes, Mesopotamian mud brick, the Sasanian vault of Taq Kasra and modern flat concrete roofs.
• Roofing in IsraelIsraeli roofing: flat concrete roofs crowned with solar water heaters, mandatory since 1980, and the Modernist flat roofs of the White City.
• Roofing in JordanJordanian roofing: basalt slab roofs on corbels and arches at Umm el-Jimal, the rock-cut city of Petra, and modern flat concrete roofs.
• Roofing in KuwaitKuwaiti roofing: courtyard houses of sea stone and mud roofed with East African mangrove poles, windcatchers, and modern concrete landmarks.
• Roofing in LebanonLebanese roofing: the pyramidal red Marseille-tile roof of the 19th-century central hall house, and the flat concrete roofs that replaced it.
• Roofing in LibyaLibya's best-documented traditional roofs are in Ghadames, where mud-brick houses with palm-trunk structure carry rooftop terraces reserved for women.
• Roofing in MoroccoMorocco combines flat earth roofs of kasbahs and ksour, cedar ceilings, green-tiled pitched roofs on mosques, and flat roofs required in new districts from 1914.
• Roofing in North AfricaOverview of roofing in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt: flat roof terraces, earth kasbahs, domes and vaults, cedar ceilings and concrete today.
• Roofing in OmanOmani roofing: mud-brick forts and villages with flat roofs on palm-log or teak beams, painted ceilings, sarooj, and modern concrete.
• Roofing in PalestinePalestinian roofing from Neolithic Jericho to the lead-covered timber roof of the Church of the Nativity and modern flat concrete roofs.
• Roofing in QatarQatari roofing: layered flat roofs of danshil mangrove poles, bamboo or palm mats and clay on coral and limestone walls; GSAS for new buildings.
• Roofing in Saudi ArabiaSaudi roofing: Najdi mud-brick flat roofs on tamarisk beams, coral-stone tower houses of Jeddah, rock-cut Hegra and today’s insulated concrete roofs.
• Roofing in SudanSudan's roofs range from Nubian mud-brick vaults and flat clay roofs to thatched round huts; thatch, local earth roofs and metal sheet dominate today.
• Roofing in SyriaSyrian roofing: mud beehive domes of the north, basalt slab roofs of the Hauran, red-tiled central hall houses and modern flat concrete.
• Roofing in the Middle East and GulfOverview of roofing in the Middle East and Gulf: flat masonry and concrete roofs, domes and windcatchers, with heat, sun and rare heavy rain as drivers.
• Roofing in the United Arab EmiratesUAE roofing: palm-frond arish houses, coral and mud-brick houses with windtowers, and modern concrete roofs under Estidama and Dubai green codes.
• Roofing in TunisiaTunisia's roofs include early Islamic domes at Kairouan, fortified flat terraces on Djerba, and Matmata's pit houses, which have no roof at all.
• Roofing in TurkeyTurkish roofing from Neolithic roof-entry houses at Çatalhöyük to Ottoman lead domes, clay tile, flat earth roofs and modern concrete.
• Roofing in YemenYemeni roofing: flat-roofed earth tower houses of Sana’a and Shibam, kept watertight by constant re-mudding, now threatened by floods and war.
• Shibam Tower HousesThe mud-brick tower houses of Shibam, Yemen, up to 11 storeys high, whose walls and roofs depend on constant re-mudding.

Climate, Hazards & Sustainability

• Cool RoofA roof with high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance that stays cooler in sunlight, reducing cooling loads and urban heat.
• Rooftop Solar Water HeaterA roof-mounted solar collector and tank that heats domestic water; Israel made them mandatory on most new buildings in 1980.
• UV and Heat Degradation of RoofingHow sunlight and heat break down roofing materials over time through photo-oxidation, embrittlement, chalking and loss of protective surfaces.