The Great Mosque of Al-Manr at Baghdd

Author(s): K. A. C. Creswell
Source: Iraq, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1934), pp. 105-111
Published by: British Institute for the Study of Iraq
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THE

GREAT

OF

MOSQUE
AT
By

AL-MANS?R

BAGHDAD1
K. A. C CRESWELL

Description.

The

only
Hat?b.2
V *

of this mosque
description
It runs as follows
:

that

we

possess

is that

given

by

al-

'Abu Ja'far al-Mans?r

had established
the principal mosque of the city of al-Mans?r,
in contact with (mul?siq) his palace called Qasr adh-Dhahab?it
is [what is now known
the
Court
Old
built
with
it
sun-dried
bricks {libn) and clay
as]
(as-sahn al-atlq)?he
its
to
ibn
'Ali
Muhammad
dimensions,
according
al-Warr?q and Ahmad ibn 'All
(fin);
were
as
follows
:
Muhammad
ibn
Halaf
of the palace
al-Muhtasib,
says : the dimensions
of al-Mans?r
were 400 cubits by 400 cubits and those of the first mosque 200 by 200 ;
and the columns of wood of the mosque?that
is to say each column?consisted
of two
bound
with
sinews
and
iron
pieces3
(mu'aqqaby
together
?aqab), glue
clamps, except
five or six columns near the minaret.
On each column were round composite
capitals, of
wood like the shaft.5
Ibn 'Arab! says: the qibla needed turning slightly towards the
Basra Gate, certainly

the qibla [of the Mosque]

1 Bibliography:
903, Ibn Rusta, 109; 915,
TabarI, hi. 322; 985, MuqaddasT, 121,1. 7; Ranking's transi., 192; 1058, al-HatIb, Salmon's ed.,
59-61; transi., 145-7; translated into German by
Herzfeld, Arch?ologische Reise, n. 135-7; H6170, Benjamin of Tudela, Travels, Asher's text,
57; transi., 97; 1233, Ibn al-Ath?r, ix. 441; Ibn
Battuta, ii. 107 ; 1604, Teixeira, Travels, Sinclair's
transi. (Hakluyt Socy.), 64-5; 1900, Le Strange,
Baghdad, 33-7; and Streck, Die alte Landschaft
Babylonien, 63-4; 1911-20, Herzfeld, Arch?ologische Reise, 1. 91, n. 1, and 11. 135-8; 1920,
Woermann (Karl), Geschichte der Kunst, 2te Aufl.,
II. 380; 1930, Diez (E.), art. 'Masdjid', in the Encyc.
of Islam, m. 381.
2 Salmon's ed.,
59-61 ; transi., 145-7; translated
into German by Herzfeld, op. cit. 11. 135-7.
Epitome in Streck, op. cit., 63-4. See also Le
Strange, Baghdad, 33-7. Mr. Rhuvon Guest has
kindly revised the translation given here.
3 Herzfeld (op. cit. 11. 135, ?. 5) remarks: 'That
is the exact meaning of the word ; 'aqab expresses the
idea of the ends of the two pieces. One must likewise understand two pieces of column, one above the
other. In Samarra we have a complete analogy in
the binding of the three lengths of marble column at
[each of] the four corners of a composite pier. The
junction is effected by means of mortising and, since
the necessary strength is not imparted by that alone,
by steel rings and cement also. The word for the
kind of binding (mu'aqqab). . . .'
4 Lane gives 'bound with
'aqab, a sinew or tendon
of which bow-strings are made'.
5 Streck
(op. cit., 63) omits this obs?ure passage.
Salmon (145-6) translates it as '. . . se composaient
de deux morceaux about?s l'un ? l'autre au moyen

of Rus?fa [the modern

Mu'azzam

Quarter]

de cordes (?) de colle et de crampons de fer, ?

l'exception de cinq ou six colonnes pr?s du minaret,
car dans chacune de celles-ci, il y avait des morceaux
ajust?s tout autour du bois de la colonne'. Le
Strange (Baghdad, 34) paraphrases it as: 'Most of
these columns were constructed of two or more
beams or baulks of timber, joined together endwise with glue, and clamped with iron bolts; but
some five or six columns, those near the minaret,
were each of a single tree-trunk. All the columns
supported round capitals, each made of a block
of wood, which was set on the shaft like a
drum.' Herzfeld (op. cit. 11. 135, ?. 6) remarks:
'It is certain that the difference in the columns
excluded consisted in the fact that they, in contrast
to the others, were composed of one piece of wood.
With the sequel ft kull ustuw?na qita'an mulajfaqa
mudauwara min hashab al-as?tin begins a new train
of ideas referring to the columns generally. The
word mulajfaqa which I translate as capital, Salmon
as ajust?s, and from which Le Strange has obviously
obtained his capitals set like a drum, is difficult to
understand. The meaning must be 'capital' : laffaqa
I and 11according to Freytag : junctis duabus partibus consult (pannum), Q?m?s and the Diwan of
Hudhail; according to Dozy: 11, consuo; from
Jubayr, 68, 1 ; a kind of ship in the Red Sea, in
Idr?s?, Klim.y 11, sect. 6: al-mar?kib al-mulaffaqa
contrasted with al-mar?kib min qita*w?hida ; agencer,
ajuster. Accordingly these capitals must have been
made of several pieces fastened together, like
modern wooden capitals in Mesopotamia and Persia.
In Mosul people call the volutes of capitals (common
technical term) dikma malfiif. I should like to be
able to write mulaffafa and translate it by 'turned'
or 'provided with volutes' '.

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io6

K. A.

C. CRESWELL

is more accurate than it is.1 [The architect was Hajj?j ibn Art?t.]2
The Great Mosque
of the City [of al-Mans?r]
remained in the same state until the time of H?r?n ar-Rash?d.
and reconstruction
H?r?n ordered its demolition
with kiln-baked
bricks and gypsum
This
was
done
and
inscribed
the
name
of
H?r?n
ar-Rash?d
on it, mention(jiss).3
they
the
order
which
he
had
its
the
name
of
the architect,
construction,
ing
given concerning
of the carpenter and the date ; this inscription
is to be seen to this day, on the outside
wall of the mosque on the side next to (yah) the Hur?s?n Gate.
Ibrahim ibn Mahlad
has handed down to us from Ism?'?l al-Hutb?:
the mosque
of Ab? Ja'far al-Mans?r
was demolished,
in [i]92, was finished
enlarged and solidly rebuilt ; the work, commenced
in [i]93 [ = 808-9].
The Friday prayer was celebrated
in the Sahn al-atiq,
which had
been the mosque before it was enlarged by taking in the D?r al-Qatt?n which had been
a D?w?n (Government
built at the order of Muflih the Turk, by
Office) of al-Mans?r,
his companion
This became a praying place for the
Qatt?n, and named after him.
being reserved for the Court] and that in the
people [the rest of the mosque apparently
Al-Mu'tadid
bill?h afterwards
added the first court,
year 260 (873/4) or 201 (874/5).
which was [part of] the Palace of al-Mans?r;
he joined it to the mosque by opening 17
arches in the partition wall between the palace and the Old Mosque (al-j?mi1 al-atiq),
of which 13 opened into the sahn and 4 into the side arcades (riw?qs).
He transported
the pulpit, the mihr?b and the maqs?ra into the new mosque.
states
Ibrahim ibn-Mahlad
on the authority of Ism?'?l ibn 'All: The Commander
of the Faithful al-Mu'tadid
bill?h
was informed that there was not sufficient room in the Congregational
Mosque on the
west side of Mad?nat as-Sal?m
[the
[ = Baghdad in general] in the City of al-Mans?r
Round City], and that this want of room compelled
the people to pray in places [i.e. the
D?r al-Qatt?n] where prayer was not permissible (taj?z). He then ordered its enlargement
at the expense of the palace of th? Commander
of the Faithful.
A mosque was built
there after the pattern of the first one, of the same size or nearly so. Then the sadr of
the old mosque was opened and joined to it, and the people found ample room there.
The completion
of the building and the first service took place in 280/
Analysis
There
of
=

and
were

al-Mans?r
10360

Reconstruction.
three
building
accordingly
of 149 (766),
a rectangle
of mud brick with wooden

m.)
endwise.

periods:
of 200
columns,
rested

structure
(1) the original
a side
cubits
(200x0518
each ?f two trunks joined

on these columns,
directly
Ibn
Rusta.4
is expressly
mentioned
(2) The reconby
?f ^e same size and shape
struction
of H?r?n
ar-Rash?d
of 192-3
?. ?. (808-9),
on the NE.
but with walls of burnt brick and mortar,
and with an inscription
After
the return
side.
The nucleus
of this building
was the sahn al-atiq.
(3)
the
of the Khalifs
became
too small,
from
Samarra
in A.D. 892 the mosque
together
and this

roof

The

flat

roof

must

have

of teak

1 Also TabarT, hi. 322; and MuqaddasI, 121,

1. 7. Ibn al-AthTr (v. 439, 11.7-10) points out that
this inaccuracy was due to the fact that the mosque
was built against the side of the palace, after the
completion of the latter, which had no special
orientation.
2 TabarI, hi.
321 ; Y?q?t, Mu'jam, 1. 681,1. 11;
Ibn al-AthIr, v. 439, 1.7.
3 Herzfeld remarks (136, n. 1): 'Only the enclosing walls were renewed in brick and mortar, the

wooden columns remained, or were replaced by

similar ones, as follows from the express mention
of the master-carpenter.' This is not conclusive, for
he must in any case have been needed for the roof;
nevertheless, it is probable, as we shall see, that the
new mosque, like the old, had wooden columns.
4 109, 11. 3-4. He describes it as 'built of kilnbaked bricks (djurr) and gypsum (jiff), raised on
columns of teak (as?t?n as-s?j), and with a ceiling of
teak-wood decorated with lapis lazuli'.

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THE

GREAT

OF

MOSQUE

AT

AL-MANS?R

BAGHDAD

107

at Samarra
as great.1
over four times
had
being
mosque
People
of
as
a
hall
of an adjoining
To
this
unbuilding
prayer.
remedy
undertook
the enlargement
state of affairs al-Mu'tadid
canonical
of the mosque
a second
in 280 (893).
On part of the area of the ruined
was
palace
mosque
area

of the

made

use

front (the word

Herzfeld
translates
'front'
is sadr) of
it
in
to
or
so.
The
sahn
of
size
this
to
equal
mosque,
nearly
mosque,
it
that
from
of
the
was
known
old
as
as-Sahn
al-awwal
or
one,
distinguish
Connexion
was made with the old mosque
First Court.
by a series of arches,

constructed
the

the

against

old

in the

wall between
them.
as Herzfeld
Thus,
out,
partition
points
a
later
of
at Fas? in Fars, that
was
to
the
able
century
Muqaddas?
say
mosque
and between
it has two sahns like that of Mad?nat
a covered
them
al-Sal?m,
The
and maqs?ra
old mthrab,
arcade
were
transferred
to
(saqifa).2
pulpit,

pierced

was

then adds : so 'not only was the new

But Herzfeld
(masjid).
mosque
but
the
Dar
which
had been used since
260 or 261,
added,
al-Qatt?n,
of the area thus added
now incorporated
also.
is not stated'.3
The depth

We

shall

new

the
court

see

seventeen

court

had

have

there

for this
whatever
authority
as follows:
The
the plan

is no

reconstructed
were

arches

the

into

that
has

Herzfeld

four

and

seventeen

in the

made
into

statement

of which

that

the

thirteen

wall,
partition
opened
shows
that the old mosque
must
aisles,
to right and that the side aisles must have

side

the

from

aisles

addition.

left

for the reconstruction.

The
deep.
gives us something
specific
side measurement
be
divided
as
cubits
two hundred
follows
:
walls
and
up
may
=
of
towers
intervals
cubits
round
seventeen
sixteen
(2) 7-5x2;
9
153,
=
of 2 cubits
The number
of aisles of the sanccolumns
32 ; total 200 cubits.
but from the fact that the side aisles were two deep
unknown,
tuary remains
been

it

This

two

can

have

scarcely

in the
tion
of

mosque
17:5 is also
the mosque

arches
two

two

Herzfeld,
shown
(Fig.

wall

same
for

the

leads

likewise

deep.

Herzfeld
and

suggests
because
the

five,

as

one

to oppose
as the similarity
the idea, especially
in this very sentence.'4
the mosque
and its transformations
reconstructs
as

is mentioned

mosques
therefore,
1), that

was
al-awwal)
i.e.
the front,
to put the two
at the

four

than
was

square,
proporin the Mosque
of Ibn T?l?n.
'Whether
the NW. arcades
the statement
were
removed
is questionable;
that thirteen
into the court suggests
arcade
between
the
it, but the covered

south-western

the

less

which

found

opened
courts
in Fas?

of the

been

of K?fa

is to say he believes
that the mosque
was built against
of the palace
the
that
added
enclosure,
part (the Sahn
added
to the 'front',
he
means
what
which
we
should
call
by
the NE.
in the wall
seventeen
arches
side,
being
opened
side

in

and that the Dar al-Qatt?n

was added
communication,
to the qibla side, another
arches
cut in that
seventeen
being
same purpose.
It was to this addition
that the mihr?b,
maqs?ra,

time

and

were transferred.
pulpit
His reconstruction
of the

first

mosque

1
250 x167 m. ? 41,750 sq. m. against 103*6 ?
?03*6 = ??,733 nearly. Herzfeld (n. 137) hy a slip
says 'twenty-five times as great'.

is convincing,

except

2
431, 1. 7; and Herzfeld,
3 Op. cit. 11. 137.
4 Op. cit. n. 137-8.

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one

feature

op. cit. p. 137.

200 Ellen
CZD 1 Periodejn
?i i.und 2. Periode:
Mansar i49.H?rQn 193 ?ten entfernt

der

WZ? 3te Periode:

Mu'tadid&?adr283

Fig. 1. Baghdad: Great Mosque of al-Mans?r, Herzfeld's reconstruction of mosque and additions.
(From S arre and Herzfeld, Arch?ologische Reise.)

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THE

GREAT

BAGHDAD

109

pass
wall,
not sufficient
it.

pecting
e.g. the

But

Dar

immediate

in contact

wall

its

with

to justify
us in rejecting
his reconstruction,
if we examine
the matter
further
we shall
in which

al-Qatt?n,

was

prayer

but
find

and

illicit,

to

for susmerely
other anomalies,
avoid
the use of

of the mosque
was expressly
is actually
undertaken,
enlargement
as incorporated
in it, which
involves
in his reconstruction
two
piercing
in the walls
of the mosque
of one set only.
arches
of seventeen
instead
and maqs?ra,
of being
instead
to the new
the mihr?b,
transferred
pulpit,
the

which
shown
And

AT

AL-MANS?R

viz. that the mosque

is not placed
surprise,
the
with
so
as
to
enable
Khalif
the
to
palace,
qibla
into
the
a
door
the latter
in
the
from
maqs?ra
directly
through
qibla
in the first centuries
of Islam.1
as was the practice
of course,
is
This,
cause

should

which

sets

OF

MOSQUE

as al-Hat?b
are shown
as transferred
to the Dar
says they were,
mosque
Had the latter been added
made
it
is
to see why
difficult
al-Qatt?n.
(and
licit)
was
undertaken
we
are
But
nowhere
the other
enlargement
simultaneously.
was added,
for the object
of the enlargement
told that the Dar al-Qatt?n
was
its use unnecessary.
then does Herzfeld
I am conadd it?
to render
Why
to do so in order

he has felt forced

by al-Hat?b's

that

vinced

caused

theory
s?ra were

statement

that

to the new mosque.

transported
been
to the qibla side
added
have

must

have

cannot

been

to the

as added

But

backwards.

moved

of

side

to get over the obstacles

to his
old mihr?b,
and
maqpulpit,
that the new mosque
This proves
the

the

for the mihr?b

mosque,
the new mosque
shows
not have involved
would
the

the qibla, which

opposite
hence
the unwarranted
mihr?b,
&c,
Dar
the
was
that
added at the same time
al-Qatt?n
of the mihr?b,
&c.
the transfer
of the

transfer

I must

that

emphasize

the

(mul?siq)
free to choose,2
on the side opposite
the

are therefore
viz.
we

receive

recording
the main

confirmation
H?r?n

and

incredible

to the qibla

side,

assumption
to explain

al-Hat?b

with

in contact

old

Herzfeld

of

was built
merely
says that the mosque
without
on
which
side.
We
palace,
specifying
so let us place it where one would
it
to
be,
expect
qibla, and see how this fits the facts.
Incidentally

this

in

al-Hat?b's

ar-Rash?d's

reconstruction,
on the side near the

statement
which

was

that
doubtless

the

inscription
over

placed
NE.

was
Hur?s?n
entrance,
Gate, i.e.
Now
for the part added:
this was (1) built against
the front (sadr =
or farthest
from
the entrance,3
or what
we should
call
part opposite

the
the

of the mosque)
; and (2) built on part of the ruined
area, as above.
palace
in the qibla wall, as shown,
Let us cut arches
and add a duplicate
of the first
minus
the
NE. riw?q,
which
is not needed
mosque,
obviously
(Fig.
2), and

back

the mihr?b,
pulpit,
al-Hat?b's
statement.

transfer

and

with

We

to this new mosque

in accordance
maqs?ra
now have a mosque
not quite
but
as
nearly
as
the
first
al-Hat?b
in
size
or
and
large
(as
mosque
'equal
says:
nearly
so'),
from
it by a covered
arcade.
with
separated
agrees
Everything
perfectly
al-Hat?b's
account
and there
is no need
to suggest
that the Dar al-Qatt?n
1 See my Early Muslim Architecture, i.
18-19.
a Le Strange (Baghdad, 35) chooses the southeast, a view which is obviously untenable.

3 Lane says : 'The upper, or highest,

part (or end)
of a sitting-room or sitting-place', citing the T?j
al-Ar?s.

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200
i CUBIT5
i
METRES
Fig. 2. Baghdad : Great Mosque of al-Mans?r, proposed reconstruction of mosque and addition.
Scale ? : iooo.

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GREAT

THE

OF

MOSQUE

AL-MANS?R

AT

BAGHDAD

the very thing the enlargement

used for prayer,
was
any longer
to render
unnecessary.
was decorated
Ibn Rusta
with lapis lazuli.1
says that the mosque

was

course,
was older

to the

refer

must
than

the

time

he saw

in A.D. 903,

no part

intended
of
This,
of which

ar-Rash?d.

of the Mosque.

History

Subsequent

mosque
of H?r?n

which

in

This

is mentioned
times
several
in subsequent
centuries,
mosque
e.g. by
of Tudela
in c. 1160, who says that the Khalif
Benjamin
only left the palace
he went in state to the Metropolitan
once a year, when
at the Basra
Mosque
also
Ibn
in
It
to
have
the
Gate,2
by
1184.3
Jubayr
appears
passed
through
of the Mongol
and
horrors
sack
in
its
for
name
does not
siege
656 (1258),
of mosques
and shrines
which
were burnt
and subsequently
of
it
is
mentioned
moreover,
by
H?l?g?;4
expressly
by Ibn
in 727 (1327)
Battuta
in his description
of the W. bank,
as the mosque
of
Abu Ja'far al-Mans?r,
in the quarter
of the Basra Gate.5
Le Strange
suggests
occur

in the

restored

list

order

as T?m?r
took the city in 795 (1393),
and a year afterwards
ordered
the
it may have disappeared
in the process,6
but Pedro
Teixeira
city to be rebuilt,
in 1604 says: 'There
are visible
in Baghdad
ruins of fine buildings
of Persian
as
the
such
called
the
and
others
over
the
a
times,
Cal?fah's,
mosque
river,
which
madrasa
was a hospital,'
Sec.7
The
former
would
to be our
appear

that

as his reference
to 'others
over the river',
such
as 'the
a hospital'
madrasa
a
contained
(the Mustansir?ya
hospital),
that the mosque
in question
was on the W. side, which
is precisely
implies
the Round
where
The
end probably
came
City
lay.
later,
years
twenty
for Murtad?
Nazm?-Zada
the capture
of Baghdad
says that 'after
by the
in 1033 h. (1623/4),
Persians
*he town
was half demolished,
the madrasas
mosque,
madrasa

especially
which was

and

the mosques,
into
transformed
Niebuhr,

in

of

souvenirs
stables

1765,

does

the

'Abbasid

Khalif

s, fell

into

ruin

or were

. . ?8
not

mention

IOQ,1. 4.
ivy,
2 Asher's transi., i,
<)6-j.
3 Wright's ed., 227 and 230; de Goeje's
ed.,
Schiaparelli's transi., 214 and 217.
4 Le Strange,
op. cit., 37.
5 11.107.
6
Op. cit., 37.
7 Sinclair's transi.,
Hakluyt Socy., 64-5. It
would also appear to be referred to in the expression
*. . . vne grande Mosqu?e ruin?e vis ? vis de l'autre

it in his

account

of Baghdad.9

cost? de la riui?re'?in the Relation d*vn Voyage de

Perse faict es ann?es 1598 ?? I599, par vn gentilhomme de la suite du Seigneur Seier ley Ambassadeur
du Roy d*Angleterre, on p. 111 of Caesar Lambert's
Relation (Paris, 1651).
8
Gulshan-i-ffulafd (Constantinople, 1143 ff.),
fol. 73 b, 11. 4-7, translated by Huart, Histoire de
Baghdad dans les temps modernes, 59.
9
Voyage en Arabie (Amsterdam ?d.) il. 239 ff.

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