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Minarets of Al-Aqsa

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The Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem has four minarets in total: three on the western flank and one on the northern flank.

The minarets are situated around the edges of the compound. In this picture, three minarets can be seen on the left and one at the top right.

Background

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Early Muslim writer Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi (d. 940 AD), in his Kitab Al-Iqd Al-Farid, describe the pre-Crusader Al-Aqsa enclave as having four minarets.[1]

After they conquered Jerusalem,[clarification needed] defeating the Crusaders, the Mamluks built or renovated eight major minarets in the Holy City.[2] Dating of the minarets in Jerusalem has been done according to the style and shape. Mamluk minarets generally have a square shape[3] and are built at various locations along the perimeter of the Haram al-Sharif.

The four minarets

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Ghawanima Minaret

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Ghawanima Minaret

The Ghawanima Minaret or Al-Ghawanima Minaret was built at the northwestern corner of the Noble Sanctuary during the reign of Sultan Lajin circa 1298, or between 1297 and 1299,[4] or circa circa 1298.[5][6] It is named after Shaykh Ghanim ibn Ali ibn Husayn, who was appointed the Shaykh of the Salahiyyah Madrasah by Saladin.[7][unreliable source]

The minaret is located near the Ghawanima Gate and is the most decorated minaret of the compound.[8] It is 38.5 meters tall, with six stories and an internal staircase of 120 steps, making it the highest minaret inside the Al-Aqsa compound.[8][9] Its design may have been influenced by the Romanesque style of older Crusader buildings in the city.[6]

The tower's main shaft is cuboid, with a square base, while its upper part, above the balcony, is octagonal. It is almost entirely made of stone, apart from a timber canopy over the muezzin's balcony. Marble columns are employed in its decoration.[10] The minaret is excavated into the naturally occurring layer of bedrock in the northwest corner of the Haram. The main part of the tower has a cuboid shape with a square base. It is partitioned into several 'stories', visually divided on the outside by stone moldings and muqarnas (stalactite) cornices. The first two stories are wider and form the base of the tower, followed by an additional four stories, including the muezzin's gallery or balcony. Above the level of the balcony is a smaller octagonal turret surmounted by a bulbous dome with a circular drum. The stairway is external on the first two floors but becomes an internal spiral structure until it reaches the muezzin's gallery, from which the call for prayer was performed.[10][11]

The western tunnel, which was dug by the Israeli state, has weakened the minaret's foundations, resulting in calls for its renovation in 2001.[12] Also, the Islamic Waqf Directorate has renovated this gate after an Israeli extremist burnt it in 1998.[8]

Bab al-Silsila Minaret (Minaret of the Chain Gate)

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Bab al-Silsila Minaret

In 1329, Tankiz, the Mamluk governor of Syria, ordered the construction of a third minaret, known as the Bab al-Silsila Minaret (Minaret of the Chain Gate), near the Chain Gate, on the western border of the al-Aqsa Mosque.[13][11] The minaret is also known as Mahkamah Minaret since the minaret is located near the Madrasa al-Tankiziyya which served as a law court during the times of Ottomans.[14]

This minaret, possibly replacing an earlier Umayyad minaret, is built in the traditional Syrian square tower type and is made entirely out of stone.[15]

Since the 16th century, it has been a tradition that the best muezzin of the adhan (the call to prayer) is assigned to this minaret because the first call to each of the five daily prayers is raised from it, giving the signal for the muezzins of mosques throughout Jerusalem to follow suit.[16][full citation needed]

It is located next to the Chain Gate on the porches to the west of Masjid al-Aqsa. It is on a square-shaped platform with four corners and has a closed balcony, which is kept standing by stone columns. It has an internal staircase with 80 steps.[8] The minaret is reached via the Madrasa al-Ashrafiyya. The height of the minaret is 35 meters.[citation needed] It was repaired by the Islamic Foundation after the Jerusalem earthquake in 1922.[8][additional citation(s) needed]

Bab al-Silsila Minaret is bordered by Al Aqsa Compound's main entrance. As stated in the inscriptions, its reconstruction was done by the Governor of Syria when Amir Tankiz was establishing the Madrasa al-Tankiziyya. It was replaced by an Ottoman-style 'pencil point' spire, which was replaced by a smooth cutout and a semicircular dome after the dome was damaged in an earthquake in the 19th century. During the restoration of 1923-4, the existing canopy and lead coating on the dome were erected.[17][18]

Today, Israeli security forces do not allow Muslims to approach or enter Bab al-Silsila Minaret, as they believe they protect praying Jews in front of the Western Wall which is near Bab al-Silsila Minaret.[8]

Fakhriyya Minaret

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Fakhriyya Minaret

The Fakhriyya Minaret[19][20] or Al-Fakhiriyya Minaret,[21] was built on the junction of the southern wall and western wall,[22] over the solid part of the wall.[23] The exact date of its original construction is not known but it was built sometime after 1345 and before 1496.[19][24] It was named after Fakhr al-Din al-Khalili, the father of Sharif al-Din Abd al-Rahman who supervised the building's construction.[citation needed] The minaret was rebuilt in 1920.[25][verification needed][full citation needed]

The Fakhriyya Minaret was built in the traditional Syrian style, with a square-shaped base and shaft, divided by moldings into three floors above which two lines of muqarnas decorate the muezzin's balcony. The niche is surrounded by a square chamber that ends in a lead-covered stone dome.[26][full citation needed] After the minaret was damaged in the Jerusalem earthquake, the minaret's dome was covered with lead.[25]

Bab al-Asbat Minaret (Minaret of the Tribes' Gate)

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Bab al-Asbat Minaret
Main article: Bab al-Asbat Minaret

The last and most notable minaret was built in 1367: the Bāb al-ʾAsbāṭ Minaret, near the Tribes' Gate (al-ʾAsbāṭ Gate). It is composed of a cylindrical stone shaft (built later by the Ottomans), which springs up from a rectangular Mamluk-built base on top of a triangular transition zone.[27] The shaft narrows above the muezzin's balcony and is dotted with circular windows, ending with a bulbous dome. The dome was reconstructed after the 1927 earthquake.[27]

Proposed fifth minaret

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There are no minarets in the eastern portion of the mosque. However, in 2006, King Abdullah II of Jordan announced his intention to build a fifth minaret overlooking the Mount of Olives. The King Hussein Minaret is planned to be the tallest structure in the Old City of Jerusalem.[28][29]

References

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  1. ^ Al Smadi, Tarek Abdallah (2001). "Bait Al-Maqdis Within a Historical and Archaeological Until the End of Umayyad Period". Journal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Department of Archaeology and Tourism, Faculty of Arts, Mu'tah University, Jordan: 40–41.
  2. ^ Smith, Andrew C. (2013). "Mamluk Jerusalem: Architecturally Challenging Narratives". LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University. 3: 1–15.
  3. ^ Zohar, Mohti (2015). "Why is the Minaret So Short? Evidence for Earthquake Damage on Mt Zion". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 147 (3): 230–246. doi:10.1179/1743130114Y.0000000016. S2CID 162811314.
  4. ^ Grabar, Oleg; Ḳedar, Benjamin Z. (2009). Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade. University of Texas Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-292-72272-9.
  5. ^ Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008). The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. Oxford University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4.
  6. ^ a b Cytryn-Silverman, K (2008). "Three Mamluk Minarets in Ramla". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 35: 379–432.
  7. ^ "Minarets". MasjidAlAqsa.net.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Al-Aqsa Mosque al-Haram ash-Sharif" (PDF). TİKA.
  9. ^ Brooke, Steven. Views of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Rizzoli, 2003. ISBN 0-8478-2511-6
  10. ^ a b Burgoyne, Michael Hamilton; Richards, Donald Sidney (1987). Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by the World of Islam Festival Trust. ISBN 978-0-905035-33-8.
  11. ^ a b Galor, Katharina; Bloedhorn, Hanswulf (2013-11-26). The Archaeology of Jerusalem: From the Origins to the Ottomans. Yale University Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-300-11195-8.
  12. ^ Hadi, Mahdi Abdul, 2013. “Al-Aqsa Mosque Al-Haram Ash-Sharif.” Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, PASSIA. Supported by TİKA.
  13. ^ Burgoyne, Michael Hamilton; Richards, Donald Sidney (1987). Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by the World of Islam Festival Trust. pp. 77, 244. ISBN 978-0-905035-33-8.
  14. ^ Ghushah, M.H. (2005). Guide to the Masjid al-Aqsa. Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs.
  15. ^ Bab al-Silsila Minaret Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Archnet Digital Library.
  16. ^ Jacobs, 2009, p.106.
  17. ^ "Mi'dhanat Bab al-Silsila". Archnet. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  18. ^ "Mescidi Aksa Rehberi" (PDF).
  19. ^ a b Burgoyne, Michael Hamilton; Richards, Donald Sidney (1987). Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by the World of Islam Festival Trust. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-905035-33-8.
  20. ^ Armstrong, Karen (2011). Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. Random House Publishing Group. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-307-79859-6.
  21. ^ Grabar, Oleg (2006). The Dome of the Rock. Harvard University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-674-02313-0.
  22. ^ Patel, Ismail Adam (2006). Virtues of Jerusalem and islamic perspective. United Kingdom: al-Aqsa Publisher. p. 100.
  23. ^ Kapolony, Andreas (2010). The Ḥaram of Jerusalem (324-1099): Temple, Friday Mosque, Area of Spiritual Power. Freiburger Islamstudien. p. 281.
  24. ^ Kedar, Benjamin Z. (2017). "Vestiges of Templar presence in the Aqsa Mosque". In Borchardt, Karl; Döring, Karoline; Josserand, Philippe; Nicholson, Helen J. (eds.). The Templars and their Sources. Routledge. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-315-47527-1.
  25. ^ a b Passia (2013). "Mesjid Aksa Rehberi (Haram-i Serif)". TIKA: 3–66.
  26. ^ Menashe, 2004, p.334.
  27. ^ a b Bab al-Asbat Minaret Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine Archnet Digital Library.
  28. ^ Farrell, Stephen (14 October 2006). "Minaret that can't rise above politics". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  29. ^ Klein, Aaron (4 February 2007). "Israel allows minaret over Temple Mount". YNet. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
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