Great Mosque of Kairouan (Mosque of Uqba), Kairouan, Tunisia

Spolia Ionic Capital and Carved Impost Block, Great Mosque of Kairouan

2137

Capital: Roman-Byzantine, 2nd–6th century CE; integrated during Aghlabid reconstruction, c. 836–866 CE

A classic spolia Ionic column capital crowned with a heavily decorated flat-faced architectural impost block (pulvin), maintained in situ within the hypostyle prayer hall or courtyard porticos of the Great Mosque of Kairouan. The capital itself was originally carved in the Roman-Byzantine period (c. 2nd–6th century CE) and later redeployed and integrated during the Aghlabid reconstruction of the mosque, c. 836–866 CE. The Ionic capital features classic symmetrical volutes (scrolls) flanking a central Echinus decorated with egg-and-dart or scaled motifs, while the lateral bolsters display fish-scale or imbricated patterns; the volutes roll inward with grooved concentric spirals. Resting directly above is a projecting rectangular impost block with a continuous horizontal frieze of stylized palmettes, rosettes, and scrolling vine motifs, executed in Aghlabid flat chip-carving. The combination of classical Ionic geometry below and Islamic surface ornament above exemplifies the spolia practice — the deliberate reuse of Roman and Byzantine architectural fragments — that characterizes the Great Mosque of Kairouan’s interior.