Illustration 1. Plan of the Alhambra. Courtesy of the author. The Alhambra is a walled complex of palaces built on the fortified Sabīka hilltop overlooking the city of Granada, which was the seat of power of the Naṣrids (r. 629-897/1232-1492), the last Muslim dynasty in al-Andalus. The site had been settled and a fortress built by the Umayyads and, more significantly, the Zīrids (r. in al-Andalus 403-83/1013-90). The Alhambra (al-Ḥamrāʾ, "the red," a reference to the reddish colour of its walls)