آثار العمارة الأيوبية في سورية ٥_a .. كتاب العمارة العربية الاسلامية

It consists of arches resembling niches supported by swivels (Photo No. 32). The building was restored a few years ago and is in good condition.

8 - Mashhad Al-Dakka or Sheikh Mohsen: It is located on Mount Al-Jawshan, south of Mashhad Al-Hussein. It was established by Saif al-Dawla al-Hamdani, as a shrine for al-Muhsin bin al-Hussein. It was demolished and Al-Zahir Ghazi renovated it in the year 609 AH. A plaque in the courtyard indicates this (Photo No. 44), and in this scene there is an important shrine of wood rich in decorations and inscriptions (See Photo No. 45).

9 - Rabat al-Nasiri: Today it is known as the Farafra Khanqah in reference to the locality in which it is located. Rabat is a headquarters for Sufism, established by Dhifa Khatun, the mother of King al-Nassir Saladin Yusuf (II), the grandson of al-Zahir Ghazi, in the year 1237/635. The building is important in terms of engineering and architectural elements. The door iwan is arched with muqarnas, while the prayer hall is roofed with a dome in the middle of two domes. It has a beautifully crafted mihrab in the courtyard, an octagonal pool, and a wide iwan with three wide central arches. The ribat includes a number of rooms distributed over two floors, and in the khanqah there is a small wing connected to the original building via a narrow corridor, which is said to be the women’s wing.

10 - The mihrab of the Al-Halawiyeh Mosque: We previously indicated the presence of a mihrab made of wood rich in carvings and decorations, made in the year 643 / 1245 (Photo No. 47). This means that it was added in a later era to build the school that was built during the reign of Nur al-Din. The inscription on the frame of the mihrab indicates that it was made during the reign of Al-Nasir Saladin (II).

11 - The door of the Karimiya Mosque: In the Bab Qinnasrin area, opposite the Hamam al-Jawhari mosque, most of it has been restored. Only its door remains, which was built in the year 654 AH during the reign of Saladin (II), King of Aleppo.

12 - Al-Shaz Bakhtiya Madrasa: It is known today as the Sheikh Marouf Mosque, and its location is in Souq Al-Zarb. What remained of it was its door with muqarnas and its beautiful mihrab, similar to the mihrab of Al-Firdaws School. It was built during the reign of Al-Zahir Ghazi in the year 589 AH, as indicated by the inscription on its door.

13 Al-Turba Al-Darwishi: Its location outside the wall, south of Al-Firdaws School, was transformed into a mosque covered with two domes. There was the tomb of Sultan Saladin's wife (the mother of his son al-Afdal Ali). It was built in the year 621/1224, as indicated by the inscription engraved on the western wall of the soil.

14 - Al-Dabagha Mosque: It has a square-shaped minaret dating back to the thirteenth century AD, but most of the mosque is modern.

15 - The Scientific School: in Al-Dahdila neighborhood in Bab Al-Nairab locality: a terrace covered with a dome and a door arched with muqarnas.

16 - Unknown soil: It is located in the Maqamat magazine to the east of the Mamluk soil of Shihab al-Din Ahmad. In the middle is a dome with a neck equipped with windows and shallow niches, and on either side of the dome are two iwans, one of which contains three stone graves.

C) Ayyubid buildings in Busra

1 - The Citadel: The Roman amphitheater was used from an early time as a fortress and was provided with towers and walls in the Fatimid and Seljuk eras. Then the site became a real castle during the Ayyubid era, when the wall was renewed, huge towers were erected on it, and the castle inside was provided with numerous facilities, which were demolished in recent years. It included a water tank, a mosque, warehouses, and halls, in order to reveal the features of the archaeological amphitheater (theater).

The castle wall and towers remained complete, surrounding the amphitheater and bearing the names of King Al-Adil Abu Bakr, King Al-Salih Ismail, and Al-Salih Najm Al-Din Ayoub.

2 - Abu Al-Fida School: named after the Ayyubid King Abu Al-Fida Ismail, one of the sons of the just King Saif al-Din Abi Bakr. It was built in the year 622 AH, as indicated by the inscription on its door. The school has a prayer hall with a dome and a square minaret.

3 - Yaqut Mosque: We do not know who this Yaqut is. An inscription on the door of the mosque is attributed to him for building the mosque, and its construction is dated in the year 655 AH. He is definitely not the famous Yaqut al-Hamawi, the author of dictionaries, because the latter died in the year 628/1229. The mosque includes the tomb of Shihab al-Din Yusuf bin Prince Yaqut.

4 - Al-Hajj’s Pool: It was named so because during the Ayyubid era, Busra was a stop on the Hajj route, between Damascus and Tayma. Pilgrims would draw water from its pool, before they went out into the wilderness. Ibn Shaddad, the author of Al-Alaq Al-Khazirah, narrates that the honorable King Issa was the son of Al-Malik Al-Just. It is considered one of the largest historical ponds in Syria, with a length of 155 meters and a width of 122 metres. It is still filled to this day like a large tank. It has thick walls eight meters high and is built with large, prominently carved stones and equipped with wall supports.

D) Ayyubid architecture in Homs

A - The Citadel: The Ayyubids of the family of Asad al-Din Shirkuh, Salah al-Din, were located in the Homs Citadel. But today it is dilapidated and only traces of it remain.

2 - Turbah of the Mujahid King: He is Asad al-Din Shirkuh (the second), the grandson of the aforementioned Shirkuh I. He was king of Homs. He died in the year 637 / 1229 and was buried in Turbah that still exists in the Al-Siba’i neighborhood, with an Ayyubid dome on it.

e) Ayyubid architecture in Maarat

1 - The Grand Mosque: an old mosque. The most important thing is its Ayyubid minaret. It is well built, and its architecture and decorations are similar to the minaret of the Great Mosque in Aleppo (Photo No. 38), square in shape and very high. It was built in the year 595 / 1198 during the reign of Al-Mansur Nasir Al-Din Muhammad (I), King of Hama from the family of Shahenshah bin Ayyub, Saladin’s uncle. It has an inscription dating its construction and mentioning the name of the architect.

3 - The Shafi’i School: It was also built by the aforementioned Al-Mansour, in the same year in which the minaret of the Grand Mosque was built. It has a well-built gate equipped with inscriptions and inscriptions, and it contains a sanctuary with a stone dome in the middle, and soil.

4 - Prophet Joshua Mosque: Renovated in the Ayyubid era, during the reign of Al-Zahir Ghazi, son of Saladin, King of Aleppo, as indicated by the inscription above the door and its date / 604 / AH. Above the door is an octagonal minaret, which we believe is a newer era of construction.

f) Ayyubid buildings in Salkhad

A - The Citadel: It was built by Prince Hassan bin Mismar Al-Kalbi in the year 466 / 1073, then it was renewed by the Ayyubids, as attested by the inscriptions engraved on its stones that chronicle their work. Then the citadel was spared during the reign of al-Zahir Baybars due to the Tatars’ demolition of it at the end of the Ayyubid era.

2 - The mosque: The most important thing is its hexagonal minaret, surrounded by an inscription in Thuluth script dating its construction during the reign of the great King Issa bin Al-Adil Abi Bakr in the year 630 / 1232.

g) Ayyubid buildings in Salamiyah

1 - Shmemis Castle: It is located near Salamiya on a high plateau. It was built by the Ayyubid King of Homs, Asad al-Din Shirkuh (II), and its condition today is bad. Only a few traces of its wall and towers remain.

2 - Salamiyah Bath: An old bath that appears from the style of its architecture, especially its domes, to be from the Ayyubid era. The Mashlah dome is equipped with shell-shaped corner curves, a common shape in Ayyubid domes.

h) Ayyubid buildings in various places

1 - Khan Al-Arous: It is located near the town of Al-Qatifah on the caravan route between Damascus and Homs. It is considered the only Ayyubid khan remaining to date, and it is in good condition. A hotel was built during the reign of Sultan Saladin in the year 577 / 1181 AD, as stated in the text engraved above the door of the caravanserai. The stone plaque bearing the inscription fell down a few years ago, so I was renewed with a similar one, engraved with a similar text.

2 - Maskanah Minaret: It is one of the few minarets built of brick in Syria, built on the Pals Mosque (the old Arabic name for Maskanah). Then it was moved to its current location a few years ago to save it from drowning when the Tabqa Dam was built on the Euphrates River.

It was built by the just King Abu Bakr bin Ayyub, as mentioned in the inscription engraved in Naskhi script (Thuluth) around the minaret. Its shape is a polygon composed of four alternating large and small sides, and it is surrounded by Kufic inscriptions (see photo No. (37). Its height, along with its square base, is 22 meters. .

3 - Najm Castle: It is located on the right bank of the Euphrates River, to the east. It was established by Nur al-Din Mahmoud bin Zengi and renewed by al-Zahir Ghazi bin Saladin, King of Aleppo, between the years 605 and 612 AH. Most of its buildings today date back to his reign. It was built of carved limestone, of good quality. Town, Manbij Building.

4 - Al-Rahba Castle: It is located near the town of Al-Mayadeen, located on the right bank of the Euphrates River, approximately five kilometers away to the south. We previously mentioned that Al-Rahba Al-Qadeema was an Arab city established by Malik ibn Tawk during the Caliphate of Al-Ma’mun, and its location, as we believe, is in the town of Al-Mayadeen, exactly on the shore of the Euphrates. As for the modern Al-Rahba, it was established by the Ayyubid King of Homs, Asad al-Din Shirkuh (II). It was demolished shortly after the Mongol invasions and remained standing on a rocky hill, surrounded by a moat, and built of brick and stone.

5 - Shaizar Castle: An ancient castle ruled by the Banu Munqidh dynasty in the fifth and sixth centuries until it was demolished by earthquakes in the year 552/1157. The most important thing about it today is its southern tower overlooking a moat filled by the Orontes River. It was renewed in the Ayyubid era. It has to be written. On its facade, its construction is attributed to King Al-Aziz Muhammad bin Al-Zahir Ghazi in the year 630 AH / 1232. The second tower is the tower of the castle gate. It was renewed in the Ayyubid era, then it underwent a simple restoration in the Mamluk era. An inscription was engraved on it attributing its renovation to Sultan Qalawun, and it appears that... (689/1290).

6 - Salah al-Din Citadel (formerly Zion) contains a bathroom with a magnificently built gate and a mosque with a square minaret. It was built after the liberation of the castle by Saladin.

7 - There are other castles to which the Ayyubids contributed to the renovation, such as Al-Madiq Castle, some of whose towers were built during the reign of Al-Zahir Ghazi in the year 602 AH, and some of them during the reign of his grandson Saladin Yusuf (II) in the year 654 AH. Like the Sabiba Castle, which today is called the Nimrod Castle, it is located on the Golan Heights overlooking Baniyas and the Hula Plain.