Mosque al-Ḥanābila

 

The porticoed courtyard

 Also called the Mosque of the Mountain or Mosque al-Muẓaffari, after its builder, the Atabeg of Erbil, al-Ḥanābila's rises on the slopes of Mount Qāsiūn and dates back to the fist years of the thirteenth century. The edifice shares honors with another Ḥanbalite mosque in Damascus, the Mosque at-Tawba (Repentance) in the ʿUqayba quarter (*). It has borrowed certain architectural features from the Great Mosque of the ʾUmayyāds: the arrangement of the portico, the plan of the prayer-room; but with greater simplicity of construction. The exterior austerity of its courtyard with chalk-white walls and its undecorated square minaret contrasts strongly with its rich interior, with its carved decorations. Within this mosque stands the most beautiful pulpit in Damascus and several very old stained-glass windows. 

Two of the doors of the prayer-hall possess well-preserved and elegant carvings

(*) Mosque al-Ḥanābila was constructed 1202 - 1203 C.E; at-Tawba's was founded by al-ʾAšraf Mūsa and achieved in 1251, but I am not aware of a direct link to the Ḥanābila in its case.

Jacques Ghislain de Maussion de Favières. Damascus, Baghdad: Capitals and lands of the caliphs. Translation to English by Edward J. Banks. Librairie orientale (Dar el-Mashreq), Beirut, Lebanon. 1972.