Great Mosque of Nablus
Great Mosque of Nablus | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Islam |
District | Old City |
Province | West Bank |
Region | Levant |
Year consecrated | 1187 |
Location | |
Location | Nablus |
Architecture | |
Type | Mosque |
Style | Early Arab, Ayyubid |
Completed | Tenth century CE |
Specifications | |
Dome(s) | 1 |
Minaret(s) | 1 |
Great Mosque of Nablus (Arabic: جامع نابلس الكبير Jami' Nablus al-Kebir) is the oldest and largest mosque in the Palestinian city of Nablus.[1] It was originally built as a Byzantine church and was converted into a mosque during the early Islamic era. The Crusaders transformed it into a church in the 11th century, but it was reconsecrated as a mosque by the Ayyubids in the 12th century. The mosque is located at the intersection of the main streets of the Old City, along the district's eastern edges.[2] It has a long, narrow, rectangular floor plan and a silver dome.[3]
History
Local legend in Nablus claims that mosque was the site where Jacob's sons handed Jacob the blood-stained coat of their brother Joseph as evidence that his favorite son was dead.[1] This tradition is more associated with the nearby al-Khadra Mosque, however.
The site of the Great Mosque was originally a basilica built during the reign of Philip the Arab in 244-249 CE.[3] The Byzantines later constructed a cathedral on the basilica's ruins and this cathedral is depicted in the mosaic Map of Madaba in 600 CE.[4] It was likely damaged or destroyed by the Samaritans during their raids in 484 and 529, but Emperor Justinian I (reigned from 483-565) had the cathedral restored.[5]
The cathedral was transformed into the Great Mosque of Nablus in the early period of Islamic Arab rule in Palestine, in the 10th-century.[6] Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi wrote that the Great Mosque was in the “midst” of Nablus, and “is very finely paved.”[7] The Crusaders converted the mosque into a church, but made only few alterations including the construction of an apse. In 1187, the Ayyubids led by Saladin reconsecrated the building as a mosque. The Knights Templar of the Crusaders burnt it in a raid in 1242.[5]
The mosque had apparently been repaired by the 14th-century evidenced by Arab chronicler al-Dimashqi who, in 1300, mentions the Great Mosque as “a fine mosque, in which is prayer is said, and the Qur'an recited day and night, men being appointed thereto.”[8] In 1335, Western traveler James of Verona recorded that the mosque had been “a church of the Christians but now is a mosque of the Saracens.”[5] Twenty years later, Ibn Batuta visited it and noted that in the middle of the mosque was a “tank of sweet water.”[9]
In 1641, the Great Mosque's minaret was rebuilt,[10] but the mosque compound had remained virtually untouched throughout most of its later existence until a severe earthquake struck Palestine, especially Nablus in 1927. The mosque's dome and minaret were destroyed as a result, but were restored in 1935.[3]
References
- ^ a b Dumper, Stanley and Abu-Lughod, 2007, p.267.
- ^ Places to Visit General Mission of Palestine-Tokyo.
- ^ a b c Semplici, Andrea and Boccia, Mario. - Nablus, At the Foot of the Holy Mountain Med Cooperation, pp.15-16.
- ^ Pringle, 1993, p.97.
- ^ a b c Pringle, 1993, p.98.
- ^ Dumper, Stanley and Abu-Lughod, 2007, p.266.
- ^ al-Muqaddasi quoted in le Strange, 1890, p.511.
- ^ al-Dimashqi quoted in le Strange, 1890, p.513.
- ^ Ibn Batuta quoted in le Strange, 1890, p.514.
- ^ Nablus Nablus Guide.
Bibliography
- Dumper, Michael (2007), Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 1-57607-919-8
- Pringle, Denys (1993), The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A-K (excluding Acre and Jerusalem), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-39036-1
- Pringle, Denys (1998), The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: L-Z (exluding Tyre), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-39037-0
- le Strange, Guy (1890), Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500, Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, ISBN 0-404-56288-4, London,