The Islamic Baths of Palestine

This volume is the first full-length scholarly study ever to be published about Islamic steam baths in Palestine. The steam bath, or hammam, has been a feature of life in Islamic cities since the seventh century. It has its origins in the baths of the Roman Empire but developed in its own way under the influence of the new religion. Palestine saw the first Islamic baths built by the caliphs, and witnessed their gradual development up to the twentieth century. The volume contains photographs and plans of all the important remaining Medieval and Ottoman hammams in the area and provides a wealth of historical evidence on this traditional form of Islamic architecture.