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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology

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Posted at Nov 28/2006 11:16PM:
Maggie: Amsar/Misr are sometimes translated as "garrison cities", and are defined as Islamic cities that were newly built for the empire (as opposed to pre-existing or Royal Cities). The purpose of them, as outlined by the caliph Omar I, was to keep the Muslim soldiers separate from the local populations, and generally they were built as settlements outside the boundaries of existing cities. However, the separation didn't always remain solid, as the misr became more popular settlements over time.

One of the structuring principles of the misr was the khatta (the quarter) - the division of the space into smaller common spaces and subsections that represented tribal structures or cultural identification of the society.

The amsar also usually contained some kind of central urban core of institutions, traditionally defined by the mosque, the marketplace and sometimes the palace.