Editing Sudano-Sahelian architecture (section)

== General ==
[[File:مسجد شنقيط التاريخي.jpg|thumb|[[Chinguetti Mosque]] in [[Mauritania]] (13th century), built of [[sandstone]] with a flat wooden roof{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=|pp=37, 53–55}}|left]]
While the architecture of this region shares a certain style, a wide variety of materials and local styles are evident across this wide geographic range.<ref name=":2423" />{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=306–308}} In the more arid western Sahara and northern Sahel regions, stone predominates as a building material and is often associated with Berber cultures. In the southern Sahel and [[Savanna|savannah]] regions mudbrick and [[rammed earth]] are the main material and is now associated with the most monumental examples of West African Islamic architecture. In some places, like Timbuktu and [[Oualata]], both building materials are used together, with stone constructions either covered or bound with a mud plaster.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=306–307}}

[[File:Old Towns of Djenné-107952.jpg|thumb|Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali (c. 1907), a large mud-brick building in "Neo-Sudanese" style,<ref name=":242323">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Mali, Republic of''}}</ref> with the towers over the ''[[mihrab]]'' wall visible]]
In the [[earthen architecture]] of the region, scholar Andrew Petersen distinguishes two general styles: a "western" style that may have its roots in [[Djenné]] (present-day Mali), and an "eastern" style associated with [[Hausa architecture]] that may have its roots in [[Kano (city)|Kano]] (present-day [[Nigeria]]).{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} The eastern or Hausa style is generally more plain on the exterior of buildings, but is characterized by diverse interior decoration and the much greater use of wood.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} Mosques often have prayer halls with pillars supporting flat or slightly domed roofs of wood and mud.<ref name=":24232" />{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=84}} An exceptional example is the 19th-century Great Mosque of [[Zaria]] (present-day Nigeria), which has [[Parabolic arch|parabolic]] arches and a roof of shallow domes.<ref name=":24232" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Archnet > Site > Friday Mosque at Zaria |url=https://www.archnet.org/sites/4180 |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=www.archnet.org}}</ref> The western or "Sudan" style is characterized by more elaborate and decorated exterior façades whose compositions emphasize verticality. They have tapering buttresses with cone-shaped summits, mosques have a large tower over the ''[[mihrab]]'', and wooden stakes (''toron'') are often embedded in the walls ''–'' used for scaffolding but possibly also for some symbolic purpose.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}}