Mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs (Cairo)
The mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs ( Arabic جامع عمرو بن العاص, DMG Ǧāmiʿ ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ ; MMC 319) was created in the year 642/643 (22 AH ) in the north of the fortress Babylon in the area of the newly founded city al-Fustat in the south of today's Cairo by the general ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs . It is the first mosque to be built in Egypt and in all of Africa . The mosque was built on the site of the general's tent during the siege of Babylon. In the same year ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs had another mosque built in Damiette . Today's appearance no longer corresponds to the original structure: the current mosque dates from 1796.
Location and history of origin
On behalf of the caliph ʿUmar ibn al-Chaṭṭāb , the general ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, coming from Syria , attacked 639 what was then Byzantine Egypt . He captured the Pelusium fortress in northern Sinai and won the battle of Heliopolis . Alexandria was able to assert itself for the time being. After ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ was able to gain control of Alexandria - he guaranteed the Christians freedom of religion - he set up his field camp al-Fustat in 643 (22 AH) north of the fortress Babylon / Qaṣr asch-Shamʿ , which gradually expanded into a city has been. Al-Fustat is the first Arab city to be founded on Egyptian soil. The camp or the city was located directly on the Nile, which at that time ran further east.
The center of al-Fustat was already the mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, which was built in 643, with its market district (Sūq).
Architectural history of the mosque
Initially there was a brick building measuring 50 by 30 cubits (29 by 17 meters). The mosque had six gates on three sides, but no inner courtyard. At that time it probably already had a prayer pulpit, a minbar . In 667 it was transformed into a court mosque . 673 (55 AH) it was completely redesigned under the Umayyad caliph Muʿāwiya I and received a minaret . In 711 (92 AH) the mosque was expanded to include a concave prayer niche . 827 (212 AH) it already had the current dimensions, seven naves were laid in front of the prayer niche. The four minarets at the corners that she owned at the time are no longer preserved. The mosque was destroyed in the fire in al-Fustat in 1169 (564 AH), but rebuilt four years later under Sultan Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn (Saladin).
In the 18th century the mosque fell into disrepair. The Mamlukenführer Murad Bey demolished the remains and 1796 construct a new building in its place. Since then, the mosque has only had six of the original seven rows of columns. Further restorations were carried out during the reigns of Muḥammad ʿAlī and ʿAbbās Hilmī II and around 2000.
Description of the modern mosque
The mosque is 108 × 116 meters in size, its three entrances and the 32-meter high minaret are on the west side. A large courtyard ( Ṣaḥn ) is enclosed on the sides by multi-aisled arcade halls ( rivāqs ). In the middle of the courtyard is the well house , which according to legend is said to be associated with the sacred well Zamzam (Zemzem) in Mecca .
The main mihrab (prayer niche) is kept rather simple.
In the southeastern Ivan there is a marble column with the inscriptions of Allah, Muhammad and the Sultan Sulayman. According to legend, Sultan Umar is said to have moved the column here from Mecca with a blow of the prophet's whip. In the northwest corner is the tomb of Sheikh ʿAbd Alāh (612–684), the first son of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs.
literature
The essays that follow deal mainly with the reconstruction of the earliest mosque.
- KAC Creswell: Early Muslim Architecture; 2: Early ʿ Abbāsids, Umayyads of Cordova, Aghlabids, Ṭūlūnids, and Samānids, AD 751-905 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1940, p. 171-196 (Reprinted from Hacker Art Books, New York 1979, ISBN 0-87817-176-2 ).
- Doris Behrens-Abouseif: Islamic architecture in Cairo: an Introduction . 2nd Edition. American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 1996, ISBN 977-424-203-3 , pp. 47-50 .
Web links
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- ^ Eyewitness Travel: Egypt. Dorlin Kindersley Limited, London, 2007. p. 124. (English) ISBN 978-0-7566-2875-8 .
- ^ Georg Ebers (1879): Egypt Volume 1 , page 237
Coordinates: 30 ° 0 ′ 36.5 ″ N , 31 ° 13 ′ 59.4 ″ E