User:Huldra/Maqam Sitt Sukayna
| Maqam Sitt Sukayna | |
|---|---|
 Shrine of Sitt Sukayna, in 2009 | |
| Former names | Sitti Sekîneh, Lady Sekîneh, p.n.[1] |
| Alternative names | After 1995, presented as the tomb of Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva |
| General information | |
| Type | shrine |
| Architectural style | Ottoman |
| Location | south of Tiberias, Current Israel |
| Palestine grid | 201/242 |
The shrine of Sitt Sukayna is located south of Tiberias. Sitt Sukayna was a descendant of Muhammad. According to one Islamic tradition, she escaped the Kerbala massacre and fled to Palestine.
History[edit]
Schumacher wrote that Sitt Sukayna was a daughter of Zen el-Abidin,[2] but Petersen, an archaeologist specialising in Islamic architecture, writes that she was the daughter of Husain ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib.[3]
Mamluk era[edit]
al-Harawi (d. 1215) who visited Tiberias in 1173 CE, mentioned her shrine,[4][5] as did Yaqut (d. 1229).[6]
Two later Mamluk inscriptions relates to the shrine:
Construction inscription[edit]
1st inscription, on a marble slab (0.93m x 0.56m), written in monumental naskhi script, relates to the founding of the shrine:
...."Ordered the building of this blessed shrine of the Lady Sukaina, daughter of Husein b. 'Ali b. Abi Talib, and of 'Abdallah b. al-'Abbas b. 'Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon them, the servants yearning for God the Exalted, Faris ad-din Ilbaki, the cup-bearer, (officer) of (al-Malik) al-'Adil and of (al-Malik) al-Mansur, Governor of Safad, Shaqif and the Maritime Plain. This (was done) on 1 Rajab 694 AH" (=17 May 1275 CE).[7][8]
Until mid 1990s this was embedded in the western wall of the shrine, but presently it is in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
Endowment inscription[edit]
The 2nd inscription, (1.03m x 0.90m), is 8 lines long, relates to the endowment of the waqf:
" Bismallah….These are the sites founded a waqf for the benefit of the shrine (mashad) of Sitt Sukayna following the decision of the court: two faddan of Tiberias from a total of thirty faddan in all; two pieces of land each known al-Harithiyya; the land known as al-Minbar(?); the land known as Bustan al-Qasis; the garden known as al-Qasil; two gardens in the neighbourhood of this blessed shrine; the garden Karm Dar Masur; two pieces of land, one known as al-Bir, and the other as Umm Rujm; a land known as al-Bustan; ….(the waqf) consisting of the whole of the Bustan al-Hannana, in the vicinity of the town of Tiberias and its lake…. "[9][10]
Until mid 1990s this was also embedded in the western wall of the shrine, below the previous inscription. Presently in the Bet Gordon Kibbutz Museum.
Ottoman era[edit]
In spite of the Mamluk inscriptions, the building seems to be of Ottoman origin, according to Petersen. The time of the rebuilding is not known, but it might have been after the earthquake of 1837.[3]
In 1861, it was noted as Sitt Skene on a map made by Zimmerman that year.[11]
Post 1948[edit]
Before 1948, the shrine was well maintained, however, when Petersen visited in 1991 it was falling down, and the site was used for dumping rubbish.[3]
After 1995, it har been renovated and is presently operated as the tomb of Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva.[12][13][4]
References[edit]
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 134
- ^ Schumacher, 1890, p. 65
- ^ a b c Petersen, 2001, p. 303
- ^ a b Jacobs, 2014, pp. 115-116
- ^ al-Harawi, pp. 27-28
- ^ Jacut, 1868 III, p. 512ff
- ^ Mayer, 1932, pp. 38–39
- ^ Mayer, 1932, plate XXXI
- ^ Mayer, 1932, pp. 39–41
- ^ Mayer, 1932, plate XXXII
- ^ Grootkerk, 2000, p. 254
- ^ Gonen, 1999,
- ^ Benvenisti, 2000, pp. 280- 281
Bibliography[edit]
- Benveniśtî, Mêrôn (2000). Sacred landscape: the buried history of the Holy Land since 1948 (Illustrated ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21154-5.
- Frei, Adolf (1886). "Beobachtungen von See Genezareth". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 9: 81–145. (p. 88)
- Gonen, Rivka, 1999, “How Is a New Saint's Tomb Created? The Case of the Tomb of Rachel, Wife of Rabbi Akiva,” in To the tombs of the Righteous: Pilgrimage in Contemporary Israel.
- Grootkerk, Salomon E. (2000). Ancient sites in Galilee: a toponymic gazetteer (Illustrated ed.). BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-11535-4.
- Jacobs, Martin (2014). Reorienting the East: Jewish Travelers to the Medieval Muslim World. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812246225.
- Jacut (1868). Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (ed.). Geographisches Wörterbuch (in Arabic and German). Vol. 3. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus.
- Kasteren, van, J. B. (1889). "Nachträge und Correspondenzen". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 12: 129-131. (p. 130)
- Mayer, L. A. (1932). "Tiberias, Sitti Sekineh". Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine. 1: 38–42.
- Palmer, E. H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Petersen, Andrew (2001). A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology). Vol. I. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-727011-0.
- Schumacher, G. (1890). "Von Tiberias zum Hüle-See". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 13: 65–75.
External links[edit]
- "Judization of Sitt Sukyana Bin Al-Hussein's shrine in Tiberias". 13 March 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2018. (In Arabic)
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons
