Large mosque of Omeyyades

The Grande mosque of the Omeyyades of Damas (705 - 715) is a religious building Musulman built by the Caliph Omeyyade Al Walid Ier.

History of the mosque

Site

This large Mosquée was built in the Roman old city of Damas become capital of the empire omeyyade, close to the two main axes of the city: the cardo and the décumanus . It is located at the site of the old church Saint Jean the Baptist (4th century), who itself had been built on old a Roman Téménos dedicated to Jupiter. One can thus say that it was built on the place considered as holiest of the city by its inhabitants.

The Roman temple still present in the mosque in the shape of certain walls, propylées in the east and the turns to the angles is used like minarets. On the other hand, the basilica Saint-Jean-Baptist, building of small size, were destroyed to acquire place. This suppression however took place only after the church was repurchased by the Moslem capacity towards 664.

Also, the large mosque was located very close to the new palate omeyyade.

Original construction and successive restorations

It is at the request of Al-Walid Ier that the new mosque was built, between 706 and 714-715. Nevertheless, its history was at the very least tormented, and its actual position, if it seems rather well to respect the provisions original, does not contain almost anything any more omeyyade.

The mosque undergoes a series of the catastrophes indeed: a first fire in 1069, followed by a second in 1174 led the Ayyoubides to proceed to a series of restorations, then the Mongolian conquest of Tamerlan (1401) pushed with a new work of restorations by the Mamelouks on the level of the western minaret in particular. In 1759, a Earthquake put at evil the gantry around the court, before a new fire devastates the building one century and half later, in 1893, and does not destroy to it quasi totality of the mosaics.

The mosque of Omeyyades thus does not preserve much any more of original elements, but one thinks that put aside the ceilings, and undoubtedly the cupolas, it was voluntarily, during the many restorations, kept in his state first. It is thus still rained penny less than one building about style omeyyade.

The mosque in the sources

The large mosque was often mentioned in the historical sources, but very little at the beginning of its existence. Its original state thus remains still ignored. Four large Moslem historians us delivered detailed descriptions of them:

Ist' akhrî, which will be taken again by Idrisi;
Muqadasi, at the end of the 10th century, in particular for the mosaics;
Ibn Jubayr, about 1170;
Ibn Battuta at the 13th century

There exist also some photographs of the buildings going back to before the large fire from 1893.

In contemporary historiography, the mosque of Damas holds large places, in particular in the fundamental works of Creswell and Golvin. However, it is Tiersch which is the first to regard the large mosque of Damas as a work " purely musulmane".

Structure

Plan

The mosque is a typical example of the Arab plan. It falls under the limits of the Roman téménos: a large rectangle, of 157 meters out of 100. This space is divided into two parts: a court (Sahn) of 122 X 50 meters bordered of a gantry on three sides, and a room of prayer barlongue of very great dimensions divided into three naves parallel with the wall of Qibla. Three entries give access: those of the east and the west are ancient, that of north is located at the site of the Roman door but it was reorganized during construction. The fourth preislamic door, in the south, it was walled in order to have a full wall of qibla. In the court a small shelter, usually called is " trésor" and the use is very discussed by the scientists. Three minarets are high on the Roman square lathes, two with the angles of the wall of qibla, the third on in the middle of the opposite frontage.

Rise

Whereas in the riwak, one notes alternation between Pilier S of square section and columns, the mosque uses in its room of prayer only column S, which constitute for the majority of the re-employments of Roman elements and come in particular from the neighbouring streets with gantries. Those support a blind arcade which itself is surmounted by a stage of Claire-voie making it possible at the same time to raise the roof and to give to the supports more transparency. Elements of the Roman téménos were preserved for the walls external of the mosque, which however were raised, as a clear difference in equipment shows it. The wall qibli is borer in height of small arched windows which allow in the light of penetrating in the room of prayer.

Couvrement

The room of prayer is currently covered by a frame supporting a roof as a bâtière, i.e. with double slope. The tripartite organization of this couvrement emphasizes the internal provision at three naves. On the other hand, the fact that windows partly higher of the walls (in particular of the wall of qibla) were cut watch which the slope of the roofs had to be improved, undoubtedly at the time of the one of the rebuildings due to the fires. Indeed, the frame being out of wooden, it is this element which is most frequently destroyed at the time of fires.

A cupola also surmounts the transpet. One knows that there was already one, undoubtedly out of wood, before the fire of 1069, because it is mentioned by Nâbigha abh Shaibâni, poet of court of the caliphs Al-Walid and Al-Muqqadasi. The comparison with the dome of the Mosquée Ibn Tulun makes it possible to suppose that it was assembled on beams in the shape of cross. The current dome, known as dome of the eagle, was built only under Malik Shah (1082 - 1083)

Decoration

The most remarkable decoration in Damas is consisted the mosaics of gold bottom glass which recover the walls mainly. Nevertheless, in addition to the fact that these mosaics are for the majority of the reconstitutions, because of the damage caused by the fire of 1893, they are not by the only components of a decoration which includes/understands also much carved wood (frame, tie-beams, doors with casements, will maqsura), and of the white marble coating on the walls and the ground. Six marble grids with geometrical reasons are also preserved. It was also necessary to take into account paintings, currently diparues, and undoubtedly of the bronze contributions (glosses and layers recovering wood, as with the dome of the Rock), which do not exist either any more.

Mosaics

The mosaic extended formerly on all the high parts of the mosque, in the court and the haram, creating a cover which started just with the top of the marble panels. One currently finds it in the hall is, on a broad surface of the northern face of the transept, on the arcs of the riwaq. But the most famous panel is without question the panorama of the river Barada, put at the day at the beginning of the 20th century on the western gantry, and which is 34,5 meters long for 7 meters in height. Recopied life size by three Syrian artists at the time of his discovery, it is currently always preserved in-situ, but the copy is with the museum of Louvre.

One notes a certain naivety in the treatment, in spite of the loans with the traditional tradition in many reasons (acanthuses, vases spouting out, horns of plenty, treated trees of realistic maière), which existed already with the dome of the Rock. On the other hand the reference to the Sassanide world is non-existent here.

But according to Richard Ettinghausen, the topic dominating and new is that of architecture. One finds thus represented palates (rich architectures on floor), houses, assembled as in a single village, and construction industries, a hippodrome, a gate with open sky. This peaceful iconography (without fortification) would be used to show the extent of the Dar Al-Islam.

Another reading can be carried out, by comparison with the mosaics with eschatologic aiming of the Large Mosque of Médine, realized in the same technique and the same ones let us tons. The trees would be then a reference to the paradise as presented in the Islamic religion, like a vast garden, the pearls could be a reference to the huris. Moreover, these mosaics are marked by the Christian tradition, since they were carried out in a place with Christian mojority, and perhaps by Byzantine craftsmen. However, the trees take the place of the martyrs more or less, such as one finds them on the Christian mosaics of the rotunda of Midsummer's Day de Thessalonnique, for example. One can thus build a whole standard beam eschatologic or paradisiac starting from these decorations, references which also Muqaddasi mentions.

Others

By these dimensions (157 X 97 m), this building was then the largest building of the Muslim world and was used as model with all the other mosques of the Empire.

Decoration is a mosaic dating from VIIIe century. It is about a Byzantine work . Two topics there are read:

on the stone building, there is a representation of the pacified and Islamized world;
on the floral decorations, it is a vision omeyyade of the ideal city.

The mosque will be henceforth religious but such a political work. The Mosque of Damas was subject to Byzantine influences for work which was effecués by Byzantine architects and artists. The capitals themselves, with their abacus in truncated pyramid, were used already at the Byzantine period.

Gallery photographs

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