Ǧāmiʿ al-Ǧarrāḥ: Plan

 

The mosque is in decent condition and seems to be entirely the work of one period, that of 648 (1250 CE). The roof may have been renewed in 974 (1566-1567 CE). Antique window slabs of basalt have been reused. The miḥrāb itself is old, and the columns must have been added or renewed long before 974 by the pious lady Bilqīs.

The building is characterized by great sobriety. The square courtyard, featuring a central pool and surrounded on each side by a portico with three arches and octagonal pillars, provides access—via three openings—to a single-aisled, rectangular prayer hall.

Though reduced to a miniature (750 square meters), the type is still that of the ʾUmayyād Mosque.

Ernst Herzfeld. Damascus, Studies in Architecture IV. Ars Islamica XIII-XIV 1948 (p. 118-138). 

Gérard Degeorge. Damas: Des Origines aux Mamluks. L'Harmattan 1997 (p. 236).