فن العمارة الفاطمي وآثاره في سورية .. كتاب العمارة العربية الاسلامية

Fatimid architecture and its effects in Syria

Egypt received the attention of the Fatimids and became a prominent cultural center. The Fatimids built the city of Cairo to compete with Baghdad, and engineers and artists flocked to it, so the arts flourished and a spirit was revived in it. Nearly two centuries were built during which many palaces and buildings were built. Among its remaining monuments are the walls and gates of Cairo, Al-Azhar Mosque, Al-Hakim Mosque, Al-Aqmar Mosque, and Al-Saleh Tala’i Mosque. These buildings, in their architecture and decoration, express a tangible flourishing in the arts of architecture and decoration, which are considered an extension of the Umayyad and Abbasid arts and a development of them. During the Fatimid era in particular, the art of sculpture, especially wood carving and engraving on plaster, as well as the art of painting, was advanced, and the decorations became rich in their themes and style of implementation.

As for the Levant, the largest part of the Levant was subject to Fatimid rule, as we have seen, for nearly a century. It did not have a visible impact in terms of civilizational and architectural aspects due to strife, revolutions, and the people of the Levant’s failure to accept Fatimid rule. The hundred years of Fatimid rule passed in a lean period in which no significant facilities were built. Therefore, we find only small traces of the products of this era, almost not enough to give an idea of ​​Fatimid art. .

The sources told us about a palace for the Fatimid governors in Damascus, built by the governor Jahr ibn Falah in the year 359 / 969 in a place called Al-Dakka, which is on the Yazid River: He camped on the outside of the Damascus wall above the Yazid River, and the companions of Jaafar built residences and built walls with them, and it became like a city, and he took for himself a wonderful palace. Of stones, and made it great, towering in the air and strangely built (1)). This palace was completely demolished at the end of the Fatimid era, when the people of Damascus revolted against the governor Badr al-Jamali in the year 460/1067, burning it and destroying its timbers. It could accommodate thousands of people (1).

The sources also tell us about the construction of Gabriel’s Cave in Qasioun in Damascus in the year 370 / 883, which is known today as the Cave Mosque. It was built by a man called Abu Al-Faraj Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Al-Muallem.

There is a Sufi khanqah that was established in the year 453/1061 and was called the Samisatiya Khanqah after its creator, Abu al-Qasim al-Sumaisati, one of the most prominent leaders of Damascus. The khanqah was erected on the ruins of the house of Omar bin Abdul Aziz, located next to the northern door of the Umayyad Mosque from the east. It is being built again today.

The bath was built by Al-Aqiqi, who died in the year 378/988, and is known today as the Bath of King Al-Zahir. It was renewed during the reigns! . It is adjacent to the Al-Zahiriyya school, which was the home of the aforementioned Al-Aqiqi.

We knew a house for readers called Dar Al-Qur’an Al-Rashaiya, north of the Umayyad Mosque, on whose ruins the Ikhnaiyya school was built during the Mamluk era. It was a house, and its owner, Rasha bin Nazif, endowed it in the year (370 - 5444) for reading the Qur’an, and thus it was the first school to appear in Syria as an institution independent of mosque schools and mosques.

These installations that we enumerated in Damascus are of no use to us in studying Fatimid art because no trace of them remains.

The remains remaining to this day are limited to the following places:

1 - A mihrab in Zawiya Al-Rifai, located in the square. It is all that remains of an old mosque that was known as the Flus Mosque. This mihrab is distinguished by its plaster carvings consisting of twisted vine veins and a band of decorated Kufic script (see Photo No. 21).

2 - A memorial text engraved in Kufic script on the rock known for its saw at the knoll above the Tura River, bearing the name of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mustansir, dated 444 AH.

3 - The shrine of Lady Fatima bint Ahmad al-Sabti, who died in the year 439/1047. It is a stone coffin on which are engraved in lush Kufic script, the Ayat al-Kursi, the name of the deceased, and the date. It is one of the most beautiful examples of Kufic writing, and is considered a clear confirmation of the use of writing as a decorative element.

As for outside Damascus, we can distinguish some towers in the fortifications of Busra Castle. There is also the Fatima Mosque in Busra, and Salkhad Castle, located to the east of Busra, was built during this era. It was built in the year 466/1073 by Prince Hassan bin Mismar al-Kalbi during the days of Caliph al-Mustansir. Then Al-Zahir Baibars renewed it after it was demolished by the Tatars during the reign of Hulagu. Today, we do not see any Fatimid landmarks there.