Umayyad Mosque

Umayyad Mosque
الْجَامِع الْأُمَوِي‎
Old Damascus Show map of Damascus Location within Syria Show map of Syria
Geographic coordinates	33°30′41″N 36°18′24″E / 33.51139°N 36.30667°E / 33.51139; 36.30667
Architecture
Type	Islamic
Style	Umayyad
Completed	715 CE
Specifications
Minaret(s)	3
Minaret height	77 m (253 ft)
Materials	Stone, marble, tile, mosaic
Arab States

The Umayyad Mosque (

.

Old City of Damascus
Damascus Citadel Umayyad Mosque Azem Palace
Location of the Mosque in Relation to the Citadel and the Azem Palace
v t e

History

Pre-Islamic period

The site of the Umayyad Mosque is attested for as a place of worship since the Iron Age. Damascus was the capital of the Aramaean state Aram-Damascus and a large temple was dedicated to Hadad-Ramman, the god of thunderstorms and rain, and was erected at the site of the present-day mosque. One stone remains from the Aramaean temple, dated to the rule of King Hazael, and is currently on display in the National Museum of Damascus.^[1]

The Temple of Hadad-Ramman continued to serve a central role in the city, and when the

Damascus was

Al-Walid personally supervised the project and had most of the cathedral, including the musalla, demolished. The construction of the mosque completely altered the layout of the building, though it preserved the outer walls of the temenos (sanctuary or inner enclosure) of the Roman-era temple.^[12][13] While the church (and the temples before it) had the main building located at the centre of the rectangular enclosure, the mosque's prayer hall is placed against its south wall. The architect recycled the columns and arcades of the church, dismantling and repositioning them in the new structure. Professor Alain George has re-examined the architecture and design of this first mosque on the site via three previously untranslated poems and the descriptions of medieval scholars.^[15] Besides its use as a large congregational mosque for the Damascenes, the new house of worship was meant as a tribute to the city.^[16][17][18]

In response to Christian protest at the move, al-Walid ordered all the other confiscated churches in the city to be returned to the Christians as compensation. The mosque was completed in 711,

The plan of the new mosque was innovative and highly influential in the history of early Islamic architecture.^[23][24] The earliest mosques before this had been relatively plain hypostyle structures (a flat-roof hall supported by columns), but the new mosque in Damascus introduced a more basilical plan with three parallel aisles and a perpendicular central nave. The central nave, which leads from the main entrance to the mihrab (niche in the qibla wall) and features a central dome, provided a new aesthetic focus which may have been designed to emphasize the area originally reserved for the caliph during prayers, near the mihrab.^[23][24] There is some uncertainty as to whether the dome was originally directly in front of the mihrab (as in many later mosques) or in its current position mid-way along the central nave.^[25] Scholars have attributed the design of the mosque's plan to the influences of Byzantine Christian basilicas in the region.^[23][26] Rafi Grafman and Myriam Rosen-Ayalon have argued that the first Umayyad Al-Aqsa Mosque built in Jerusalem, begun by Abd al-Malik (al-Walid's father) and now replaced by later constructions, had a layout very similar to the current Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and that it probably served as a model for the latter.^[27]

The mosque initially had no minaret towers, as this feature of mosque architecture was not established until later. However, at least two of the corners of the mosque's outer wall had short towers, platforms, or roof shelters which were used by the muezzin to issue the call to prayer (adhān), constituting a type of proto-minaret. These features were referred to as a mi'd͟hana ("place of the adhān") or as a ṣawma῾a ("monk's cell", due to their small size) in historical Arabic sources.^[28][29] Arabic sources indicated that they were former Roman towers which already stood at the corners of the temenos before the mosque's construction and were simply left intact and reused after construction.^[28][30]

Decoration

The mosque was richly decorated. A rich composition of marble paneling covered the lower walls, though only minor examples of the original marbles have survived today near the east gate.^[32] The walls of the prayer hall were raised above the level of the old temenos walls, which allowed for new windows to be inserted in the upper walls. The windows had ornately carved grilles that foreshadowed the styles of windows in later Islamic architecture.^[32][33]

The most celebrated decorative element of all was the revetment of mosaics, which originally covered much of the courtyard and the interior hall. The best-preserved remains are still visible in the courtyard today.^[a]

By some estimates, the original mosque had the largest area of gold mosaics in the world, covering approximately 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft).^[24] The mosaics depict landscapes and buildings in a characteristic late Roman style.^[36][37] They reflected a wide variety of artistic styles used by mosaicists and painters since the 1st century CE, but the combined use of all these different styles in the same place was innovative at the time.^[38] Similar to the Dome of the Rock, built earlier by Abd al-Malik, vegetation and plants were the most common motif, but those of the Damascus mosque are more naturalistic.^[38] In addition to the large landscape depictions, a mosaic frieze with an intricate vine motif (referred to as the karma in Arabic historical sources) once ran around the walls of the prayer hall, above the level of the mihrab.^[39] The only notable omission is the absence of human and animal figures, which was likely a new restriction imposed by the Muslim patron.^[38]

Historical Arabic sources, often written in later centuries, suggest that both the craftsmen and the materials employed to create the mosque's mosaics were imported from the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.^[41][42][43] The 12th-century historian Ibn Asakir claimed that al-Walid pressured the Byzantine emperor into sending him 200 craftsmen by threatening to destroy all churches inside Umayyad territory if he refused.^[44][45] Many scholars, based on such evidence from Arabic sources, have accepted a Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) origin for the mosaics,^[46][47] while some, such as Creswell, have interpreted the story as a later embellishment of Muslim historians with a symbolic political significance.^[48]

Art historian Finbarr Barry Flood notes that historical sources report many other apparent gifts of artisans and materials from the Byzantine emperors to the Umayyad caliphs and other rulers, probably reflecting a widespread admiration for Byzantine craftsmanship that continued in the early Islamic period.

Scholars have long debated the meaning of the mosaic imagery. Some historical Muslim writers and some modern scholars have interpreted them as a topographical representation of all the cities in the known world (or within the Umayyad world), some have interpreted them as a representation of Damascus itself and the

In this interpretation, the lack of human figures in these scenes possibly represents a Paradise that stands empty until the arrival of its human inhabitants at the end of time.[54] Other motifs in the mosaics have been cited to support a paradisal meaning and the imagery has been compared with both the descriptions of Paradise in the Qur'an and the earlier iconography of paradisal imagery in Late Antique art.^[57] According to Judith McKenzie, there is a similarity between certain architectural elements depicted in the Umayyad mosaics and those shown in Pompeian frescoes (such as broken pediments and tholoi with tented roofs and Corinthian columns), as well as some early Christian and Byzantine art, which are most likely depictions of the architecture of Hellenistic Alexandria.^[58] In Roman and Late Antique art, Alexandrian and Egyptian landscapes had a paradisal connotation.^[59] McKenzie argues that the Umayyad mosaics, extending these traditions, can thus be understood as a depiction of Paradise.^[60] The possibility also remains that the mosaic scenes combine more than one of these meanings at the same time; for example, by using paradisal imagery to represent Damascus or the Umayyad realm as an idealized, earthly paradise.^[38][52]

The mihrab

The original mihrab was one of the first concave mihrabs in the Islamic world, the second one known to exist after the one created in 706–707 during al-Walid's reconstruction of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.^[61][23] The exact appearance of the mosque's original main mihrab is uncertain, due to the multiple repairs and restorations that took place over the centuries. Ibn Jubayr, who visited the mosque in 1184, described the inside of the mihrab as filled with miniature blind arcades whose arches resembled "small mihrabs", each filled with inlaid mother-of-pearl mosaics and framed by spiral columns of marble.^[62] This mihrab was famed across the Islamic world for its beauty, as noted by other writers of the era.^[62]

Its appearance may have been imitated by other surviving mihrabs built under the

Following the

Mamluk era

See also: Mamluk Sultanate

The Mongols, under the leadership of the

Hulagu Khan had returned to the Mongol Empire for other business. Bohemond VI of Antioch, one of the Western Christian generals in the invasion, ordered Catholic Mass to be performed in the Umayyad Mosque.^[87] However, the Muslim Mamluks of Egypt, led by Sultan Qutuz and Baybars, wrested control of the city from the Mongols later in the same year, killing Kitbuqa in the Battle of Ain Jalut, and the purpose of the Mosque was returned from Christian to its original Islamic function. In 1270, Baybars, by now sultan, ordered extensive restorations to the mosque, particularly its marble, mosaics and gildings. According to Baybars' biographer, Ibn Shaddad, the restorations cost the sultan 20,000 dinars. Among the largest mosaic fragments restored was a 34.5 by 7.3 metres (113 by 24 ft) segment in the western portico called the "Barada panel".^[88] The mosaics that decorated the mosque were a specific target of the restoration project and they had a major influence on Mamluk architecture in Syria and Egypt.^[89]

In 1285, the

Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya started teaching Qur'an exegesis in the mosque. When the Ilkhanid Mongols under Ghazan invaded the city in 1300, Ibn Taymiyya preached jihad, urging the citizens of Damascus to resist their occupation. The Mamluks under Sultan Qalawun drove out the Mongols later that year.^[90] When Qalawun's forces entered the city, the Mongols attempted to station several catapults in the Umayyad Mosque because the Mamluks had started fires around the citadel to prevent Mongol access to it. The attempt failed as the Mamluks burned the catapults before they were placed in the mosque.^[91]

The Mamluk viceroy of Syria, Tankiz, carried out restoration work in the mosque in 1326–1328. He reassembled the mosaics on the qibla wall and replaced all the marble tiles in the prayer hall. Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad also undertook major restoration work for the mosque in 1328. He demolished and completely rebuilt the unstable qibla wall and moved the Bab al-Ziyadah gate to the east.^[88] Much of that work was damaged during a fire that burned the mosque in 1339.^[89] Islamic art expert, Finbarr Barry Flood, describes the Bahri Mamluks' attitude towards the mosque as an "obsessive interest" and their efforts at maintaining, repairing, and restoring the mosque were unparalleled in any other period of Muslim rule.^[92] The Arab astronomer Ibn al-Shatir worked as the chief muwaqqit ('religious timekeeper') and the chief muezzin at the Umayyad Mosque from 1332 until he died in 1376.^[93] He erected a large sundial on the mosque's northern minaret in 1371, now lost. A replica was installed in its place in the modern period.^[94][95] The Minaret of Jesus was burnt down in a fire in 1392.^[96]

The Mongol conqueror

Qaytbay (r. 1468–1496).^[98]

Ottoman era

See also: Ottoman Syria and Ottoman Empire

Damascus was

ulema (Muslim scholars).^[101] Although the awqaf (plural of "waqf") were taxed, the waqf of the Umayyad Mosque was exempted from taxation.^[102] In 1518, the Ottoman governor of Damascus and supervisor of the mosque's waqf, Janbirdi al-Ghazali, had the mosque repaired and redecorated as part of his architectural reconstruction program for the city.^[103]

The prominent

Sufi scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi taught regularly at the Umayyad Mosque starting in 1661.^[104]

The

Hanafi mufti and the naqib al-ashraf. He served as a link between the imperial government in Constantinople and the elites of Damascus and was a key shaper of public opinion in the city. By 1650 members of the mercantile and scholarly Mahasini family held the position, retaining it for much of the 18th and early and mid-19th centuries, partly due to their links with the Shaykh al-Islam in the imperial capital. In the late 19th century, another Damascene family with connections in Constantinople, the Khatibs, vied for the position. After the death of the Mahasini preacher in 1869, a member of the Khatibs succeeded him.^[105]

The mosque's prayer hall was once again ravaged and partly destroyed by fire in 1893.

nargila (water pipe).^[107] The fire destroyed the inner fabric of the prayer hall and caused the collapse of the mosque's central dome. The Ottomans fully restored the mosque, largely maintaining the original layout.^[108] The restoration process, which lasted nine years, did not attempt to reproduce the original decoration.^[107] The central mihrab was replaced and the dome was rebuilt in a contemporary Ottoman style. The rubble and damaged elements from the fire, including some of the original pillars and mosaic remains, were simply disposed of.^{[107][39][24]}

Until 1899 the mosque's library included the "very old" Qubbat al-Khazna collection;

Wilhelm II and only a few pieces kept for the National Archives in Damascus."^[110]

It is the burial place of the first three officers of the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons who died on mission, in this case the Istanbul-Cairo expedition in 1914. They were Navy Lieutenant Fethi Bey and his navigator, Artillery First Lieutenant Sadık Bey and Artillery Second Lieutenant Nuri Bey.

Modern era

The Umayyad Mosque underwent major restorations in 1929 during the

Syrian Republic.^[111]

In the 1980s and in the early 1990s, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad ordered a wide-scale renovation of the mosque.^[112] The methods and concepts of Assad's restoration project were heavily criticized by UNESCO,^{[clarification needed]} but the general approach in Syria was that the mosque was more of a symbolic monument rather than a historical one and thus, its renovation could only enhance the mosque's symbolism.^[113]

In 1990s, Mohammed Burhanuddin constructed a zarih of the martyrs of the Battle of Karbala,^[114] whose heads were brought to the Mosque after their defeat at the hands of the then Umayyad caliph, Yazid I.

In 2001, Pope

John Paul II visited the mosque, primarily to visit the relics of John the Baptist. It was the first time a pope paid a visit to a mosque.^[115]

On March 15, 2011, the first significant protests related to the

Friday prayers to prevent large-scale demonstrations.^[116][117]

Architecture

The ground plan of the Umayyad Mosque is rectangular in shape and measures 97 meters (318 ft) by 156 meters (512 ft).[118] A large courtyard occupies the northern part of the mosque complex, while the prayer hall or haram ('sanctuary') covers the southern part. The mosque is enclosed by four exterior walls which were part of the temenos of the original Roman temple.^[119]

Sanctuary

Three arcades make up the interior space of the sanctuary. They are parallel to the direction of prayer which is towards Mecca. The arcades are supported by two rows of stone Corinthian columns. Each of the arcades contain two levels. The first level consists of large semi-circular arches, while the second level is made up of double arches. This pattern is the same repeated by the arcades of the courtyard. The three interior arcades intersect in the center of the sanctuary with a larger, higher arcade that is perpendicular to the qibla wall and faces the mihrab and the minbar.^[118] The central transept divides the arcades into two halves each with eleven arches. The entire sanctuary measures 136 meters (446 ft) by 37 meters (121 ft) and takes up the southern half of the mosque complex.^[120]

Four mihrabs line the sanctuary's rear wall, the main one being the Great Mihrab which is located roughly at the center of the wall. The Mihrab of the Sahaba, named after the

Musa ibn Shakir, the latter mihrab was built during the mosque's initial construction and it became the third niche-formed mihrab in Islam's history.^[120]

The central dome of the mosque is known as the 'Dome of the Eagle' (Qubbat an-Nisr) and located atop the center of the prayer hall.[121] The original wooden dome was replaced by one built of stone following the 1893 fire. It receives its name because it is thought to resemble an eagle, with the dome itself being the eagle's head while the eastern and western flanks of the prayer hall represent the wings.^[122] With a height of 36 meters (118 ft), the dome rests on an octagonal substructure with two arched windows on each of its sides. It is supported by the central interior arcade and has openings along its parameter.^[118]

Panoramic view of the prayer hall, with the mihrab in the center (looking south) and the Shrine of John the Baptist visible to the left

Courtyard

In the courtyard (sahn), the level of the stone pavement had become uneven over time due to several repairs throughout the mosque's history. Recent work on the courtyard has restored it to its consistent Umayyad-era levels.^[118] Arcades (riwaq) surround the courtyard supported by alternating stone columns and piers. There is one pier in between every two columns. Because the northern part of the courtyard had been destroyed in an earthquake in 1759, the arcade is not consistent; when the northern wall was rebuilt the columns that were supporting it were not.^[118] The courtyard and its arcades contain the largest preserved remnants of the mosque's Umayyad-era mosaic decoration.^[34]

Several domed pavilions stand in the courtyard. The Dome of the Treasury is an octagonal structure decorated with mosaics, standing on eight Roman columns in the western part of the courtyard. Its 8th-century mosaics were largely remade in the late 20th-century restoration.^[123][124] In a mirror position on the other side of the courtyard is the Dome of the Clock, another octagonal domed pavilion.^[67] Near the middle of the courtyard, sheltering an ablutions fountain at ground level, is a rectangular pavilion which is a modern reconstruction of a late Ottoman pavilion.^[125]

Courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque, view from east (left) towards west (right). Notable structures: Dome of the Clock (far left),^[126] and the Minaret of Isa (Jesus).^[127]

Minarets

Within the Umayyad Mosque complex are three minarets. The Minaret of Isa on the southeast corner, the Minaret of Qaytbay (also called Madhanat al-Gharbiyya) on the southwest corner, and the Minaret of the Bride located along the northern wall.^[128]

Minaret of the Bride

The Minaret of the Bride was the first one built and is located on the mosque's northern wall. The exact year of the minaret's original construction is unknown.^[66] The bottom part of the minaret most likely dates back to the Abbasid era in the 9th century.^[66][129] While it is possible that the Umayyads built it, there is no indication that a minaret on the northern wall was a part of al-Walid I's initial concept. Al-Muqaddasi visited the minaret in 985 when Damascus was under Abbasid control and described it as "recently built". The upper segment was constructed in 1174.^[66] This minaret is used by the muezzin for the call to prayer (adhan) and there is a spiral staircase of 160 stone steps that lead to the muezzin's calling position.^[130] The Minaret of the Bride is divided into two sections; the main tower and the spire which are separated by a lead roof. The oldest part of the minaret, or the main tower, is square in shape, has four galleries,^[130] and consists of two different forms of masonry; the base consists of large blocks, while the upper section is built of dressed stone. There are two light openings near the top of the main tower, before the roof, with horseshoe arches and cubical capitals enclosed in a single arch. A smaller arched corbel is located below these openings.^[131] According to local legend, the minaret is named after the daughter of the merchant who provided the lead for the minaret's roof who was married to Syria's ruler at the time. Attached to the Minaret of the Bride is the 18th-century replica of the 14th-century sundial built by Ibn al-Shatir.^[129]

Minaret of Isa

The Minaret of Isa is around 77 meters (253 ft) in height and the tallest of the three minarets.

Antichrist. According to local Damascene tradition, relating from hadith,^[127] Isa will reach earth via the Minaret of Isa, hence its name.^[133] Ibn Kathir, a prominent 14th-century Muslim scholar, backed this notion.^[134]

Minaret of Qaytbay

The Minaret of Qaytbay, or the Western Minaret, was built by Qaytbay in 1488.^[129] He also commissioned its renovation due to the 1479 fire. The minaret displays strong Islamic-era Egyptian architectural influence typical of the Mamluk period.^[133] It is octagonal in shape and built in receding sections with three galleries.^[130] It is generally believed that both the Minaret of Jesus and the Western Minaret were built on the foundation of ancient Roman towers. ^[133]

Influence on mosque architecture

The Umayyad Mosque is one of the few early mosques in the world to have maintained the same general structure and architectural features since its initial construction in the early 8th century. Its Umayyad character has not been significantly altered. Since its establishment, the mosque has served as a model for congregational mosque architecture in Syria as well as globally. According to Flood, "the construction of the Damascus mosque not only irrevocably altered the urban landscape of the city, inscribing upon it a permanent affirmation of Muslim hegemony, but by giving the Syrian congregational mosque its definitive form it also transformed the subsequent history of the mosque in general."

Bursa Grand Mosque and the Selimiye Mosque in Turkey.^[136]

Religious significance

For an important cemetery in Old Damascus, see

Bab al-Saghir § Cemetery

.

Left: The location where Husayn's head was kept for display. Right: Zareeh-e-Ras al-Husayn, where Husayn's head was buried.

The mosque is the fourth holiest site of Islam.^{[137][138][139]} A Christian tradition dating to the 6th century developed an association between the former cathedral structure and John the Baptist. Legend had it that his head was buried there.^[8] Ibn al-Faqih relays that during the construction of the mosque, workers found a cave-chapel which had a box containing the head of John the Baptist, known as Yahya ibn Zakariya by Muslims. Upon learning of that and examining it, al-Walid I ordered the head buried under a specific pillar in the mosque that was later inlaid with marble.^[140]

It holds great significance to

Shia and Sunni Muslims, as this was the destination of the ladies and children of the family of Muhammad, made to walk here from Iraq, following the Battle of Karbala.^[141] Furthermore, it was the place where they were imprisoned for 60 days.^[142] Two shrines commemorating the Islamic prophet Muhammad's grandson Husayn ibn Ali, whose martyrdom is frequently compared to that of John the Baptist,^[143] and Jesus,^[144] exist within the building premises.^[145]

According to one hadith reported by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj,^[146] the Great Mosque of Damascus is the site where Jesus will descend from heaven at his Second Coming, appearing on a "white minaret".^[147][148] Most Muslim theologians interpret this passage as symbolic rather than literal.^[147] In a study of Muslim sources, William Richard Oakes suggests that some aspects of this hadith could date from the late Umayyad period, when the mosque was built, rather than from Muhammad's time, when Damascus had not yet been conquered by Muslims.^[148]

The following are some of the structures within the mosque that bear religious importance:

West Side:

• The entrance gate (known as Bāb as-Sā'at) — The door marks the location where the prisoners of Karbalā were made to stand for 72 hours before being brought inside. During this time, Yazīd I had the town and his palace decorated for their arrival.^{[149][unreliable source?]}

South Wing (main hall):

• Shrine of John the Baptist
• A white pulpit — Marks the place where
  Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin addressed the court of Yazīd after being brought from Karbalā.^[150]
• Raised floor (in front of the pulpit) — Marks the location where all the ladies and children (the household of Muhammad) were made to stand in the presence of Yazīd.^[citation needed]
• Wooden balcony (directly opposite the raised floor) – Marks the location where Yazīd sat in the court.^{[citation needed]}

East Wing:

• A prayer rug and mihrāb encased in a glass cubicle — Marks the place where Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin used to pray while imprisoned in the castle after the Battle of Karbala.^{[citation needed]}
• A metallic, cuboidal indentation in the wall — Marks the place where the head of Husayn ibn Ali was kept for display by Yazīd.^{[citation needed]}
• A
  those who fell in Karbalā were kept within the mosque.^{[citation needed}
  ]

See also

• Ablaq
• Great Mosque of Aleppo
• List of the oldest mosques in the world
• Religious significance of the Syrian region
• Timeline of Islamic history
• History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes

Notes

1. ^ The best-preserved sections of the mosaics today are located on the inner and outer facades of the western portico (arches) of the courtyard, as well as in the vestibule of the western entrance. Restitutions carried out to other sections after 1963 have been heavily criticized for their inauthenticity. Areas of original mosaic work generally appear darker today than areas of new (restored) mosaics. A large stretch of mosaics along the inner wall of the western portico, sometimes known as the "Barada panel", contains original Umayyad fragments, late 13th-century fragments from the time of the Mamluk sultan Baybars, and post-1963 restorations. The outer façade of the prayer hall's main entrance contains only limited fragments of original mosaic (in darker shades), with the rest restored after 1963. Some damaged remains of mosaics on the interior façade of this entrance, inside the prayer hall, date from a late 11th-century Seljuk-era restoration.^[34][35]

References

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14. ^ Elisséeff 1965, p. 800.
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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Umayyad Mosque.

• Christian Sahner, "A Glistening Crossroads," The Wall Street Journal, 17 July 2010 Archived 30 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
• For freely downloadable, high-resolution photographs of the Umayyad Mosque (for teaching, research, cultural heritage work, and publication) by archaeologists, visit Manar al-Athar Archived 2020-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
• Umayyad Mosque – Discover Islamic Art – Virtual Museum