Great Mosque of Gaza
Encyclopedia
The Great Mosque of Gaza (, transliteration
: Jāmaʿ Ghazza al-Kabīr) also known as the Great Omari Mosque is the largest and oldest mosque
in the Gaza Strip
, located in Gaza
's old city.
Believed to stand on the site of an ancient Philistine temple, the site was used by the Byzantine
s to erect a church in the 5th century, but after the Muslim conquest
in the 7th century, it was transformed into a mosque. Described as "beautiful" by an Arab
geographer in the 10th century, the Great Mosque's minaret
was toppled in an earthquake in 1033. In 1149, the Crusader
s built a cathedral dedicated to John the Baptist
, but it was mostly destroyed by the Ayyubids in 1187, and then rebuilt as a mosque by the Mamluk
s in the early 13th century. It was destroyed by the Mongols
in 1260, then soon restored only for it to be destroyed by an earthquake at the end of the century.
The Great Mosque was finally rebuilt by the Ottomans
roughly 300 years later. Severely damaged after British bombardment during World War I
, the mosque was restored in 1925 by the Supreme Muslim Council
. The Great Mosque is still active today, serving as a Friday mosque
.
of the Old City in Downtown Gaza at the eastern end of Omar Mukhtar Street
, southeast of Palestine Square
. Gaza's Gold Market
is located adjacent to it on the south side, while to the northeast is the Welayat Mosque
and to the east, on Wehda Street
, is a girls' school.
—the god of fertility—which Samson
toppled in the Book of Judges
. Later, a temple dedicated to Marnas—god of rain and grain—was erected. Local legend today claims that Samson is buried under the present mosque.
The present mosque was built in 406 CE as a large Byzantine
church by Empress Aelia Eudocia
, althougth it is also a possible that the church was built by Emperor Marcian
. Based on a Jewish inscription carved on the upper tie of one of the building's columns, it was suggested in the late 19th century that the upper pillars of the building were brought from a 3rd-century Jewish synagogue in Caesarea Maritima. The discovery of a 6th-century synagogue at the port of Gaza (Maiumas) in the 1960s, however, make local re-use of this column much likelier. In addition to the inscription, the column depicted a menorah, a shofar
, a lulav
and etrog
surrounded by a decorative wreath; the inscription read "Hananyah son of Jacob" in both Hebrew
and Greek
. The church appeared in the Map of Madaba mosaic, created in 600 CE.
The Byzantine church was transformed into a mosque in the 7th-century by Omar ibn al-Khattab
's Muslim
generals, in the early era of Gaza's rule by the Islamic Caliphate. The mosque is alternatively named "al-Omari" in honor of Omar ibn al-Khattab who was the caliph
when the Muslims conquered Palestine
. While under Abbasid rule, Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi
writes of the Great Mosque in 985 CE as a "beautiful mosque". On December 5, 1033, an earthquake caused the pinnacle of the mosque's minaret to fall off.
In 1149, the Crusader
s (who had conquered Gaza in 1100) built a cathedral dedicated to John the Baptist
atop the ruins of the church upon a decree by Baldwin III of Jerusalem
. In his descriptions of grand Crusader churches, William of Tyre
does not mention it, however. Of the Great Mosque's three aisles today, it is believed that portions of two of them had formed part of the Cathedral of John the Baptist.
In 1187, the Ayyubid
s under Saladin
wrested control of Gaza from the Crusaders and destroyed the cathedral. The Mamluk
s reconstructed the mosque in the 13th-century, but in 1260, the Mongols
destroyed it. It was rebuilt thereafter, but in 1294, an earthquake caused its collapse. The Mamluk governor of the city, 'Alam al-Din al-Jawli commissioned restoration of the Great Mosque sometime between 1298 and 1319. The Mamluks finally rebuilt the mosque completely in 1340. Muslim geographer Ibn Battuta
, in 1355, writes of the mosque's former existence as "a fine Friday mosque," but also says that al-Jawli's mosque was "well-built." Inscriptions on the mosque bear the signatures of the Mamluk sultans al-Nasir Muhammad
(dated 1340), Qaitbay
(dated May 1498), Qansuh al-Ghawri
(dated 1516), and the Abbasid
caliph al-Musta'in Billah
(dated 1412).
In the 16th-century the mosque was restored after apparent damage in the previous century; the Ottoman
s commissioned its restoration and also built six other mosques in the city. They had been in control of Palestine since 1517. The interior bears an inscription of the name of the Ottoman governor of Gaza, Musa Pasha, dating from 1663.
while attacking the Ottoman positions in Gaza during World War I
. The British claimed the there were Ottoman munitions stored in the mosque and its destruction was caused when the munitions were ignited by the bombardment. Under the supervision of former Gaza mayor Said al-Shawa
, it was restored by the Supreme Muslim Council
in 1926-27.
In 1928, the Supreme Muslim Council held a mass demonstration involving both local Muslim
s and Christians at the Great Mosque in order to rally support for boycotting elections and participation in the Legislative Assembly of the British Mandate of Palestine government. To increase the number of people in the rally, they ordered all the mosques in one of Gaza's quarters to temporarily close.
The ancient bas-relief inscriptions of Jewish religious symbols were allegedly chiseled away intentionally at some stage between 1987 and 1993. During the Battle of Gaza
between the Palestinian
organizations of Hamas
and Fatah
, the mosque's pro-Hamas imam
Mohammed al-Rafati was shot dead by Fatah gunmen on June 12, 2007, in retaliation for the killing of an official of Mahmoud Abbas
's presidential guard by Hamas earlier that day. The mosque is still active and serves as a base of emotional and physical support for Gaza's residents, being a focal point of Palestinian pride.
known as kurkar. The mosque forms a large sahn
("courtyard") surrounded by rounded arch
es. The Mamluks, and later the Ottomans, had the south and southeastern sides of the building expanded.
Over the door of the mosque is an inscription containing the name of Mamluk sultan Qalawun
and there are also inscriptions containing the names of the sultans Lajin
and Barquq.
with its arched entrance is a typical piece of Crusader ecclesiastical architecture, and column
s within the mosque compound still retain their Italian
Gothic style
. Some of the columns have been identified as elements of an ancient synagogue, reused as construction material in the Crusader era and still forming part of the mosque. Internally, the wall surfaces are plastered and painted. Marble
is used for the western door and the dome's oculus
. The floors are covered with glazed tiles. The columns are also marble and their capitals are built in Corinth
ian style.
The central nave
is groin-vaulted
, each bay
being separated from one another by pointed transverse arches with rectangular profiles. The nave arcades are carried on cruciform piers with an engaged column
on each face, sitting on a raised plinth
. The two aisles of the mosque are also groin-vaulted. Ibn Battuta
noted that the Great Mosque had a white marble minbar
("pulpit"); it still exists today. There is a small mihrab
in the mosque with an inscription dating from 1663, containing the name of Musa Pasha, a governor of Gaza during Ottoman rule.
, which is square-shaped in its lower half and octagonal in its upper half, typical of Mamluk architectural style. The minaret is constructed of stone from the base to the upper, hanging balcony, including the four-tiered upper half. The pinnacle is mostly made of woodwork and tiles, and is frequently renewed. A simple cupola
springs from the octagonal stone drum and is of light construction similar to most mosques in the Levant
. The minaret stands on what was the end of the eastern bay of the Crusader church. Its three semicircular apses were transformed into the base of the minaret.
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
: Jāmaʿ Ghazza al-Kabīr) also known as the Great Omari Mosque is the largest and oldest mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, located in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
's old city.
Believed to stand on the site of an ancient Philistine temple, the site was used by the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
s to erect a church in the 5th century, but after the Muslim conquest
Muslim conquest of Syria
The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria...
in the 7th century, it was transformed into a mosque. Described as "beautiful" by an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographer in the 10th century, the Great Mosque's minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
was toppled in an earthquake in 1033. In 1149, the Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s built a cathedral dedicated to John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, but it was mostly destroyed by the Ayyubids in 1187, and then rebuilt as a mosque by the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s in the early 13th century. It was destroyed by the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
in 1260, then soon restored only for it to be destroyed by an earthquake at the end of the century.
The Great Mosque was finally rebuilt by the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
roughly 300 years later. Severely damaged after British bombardment during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the mosque was restored in 1925 by the Supreme Muslim Council
Supreme Muslim Council
The Supreme Muslim Council was the highest body in charge of Muslim community affairs in Mandate Palestine under British control. It was established to create an advisory body composed of Muslims and Christians with whom the High Commissioner could consult...
. The Great Mosque is still active today, serving as a Friday mosque
Friday Mosque
Friday Mosque is the English translation of the Arabic term masjid al-jumʿa or Jama Masjid . This term is applied as a proper name to many mosques worldwide...
.
Location
The Great Mosque is situated in the Daraj QuarterAl-Daraj
Al-Daraj or Haraat al-Daraj is the densely populated northern quarter of Gaza's old city. Its name translates as "Quarter of the Steps." Situated on an oblong hill about above sea level and higher than any other area in the city, al-Daraj likely received its name either from stairs that once led...
of the Old City in Downtown Gaza at the eastern end of Omar Mukhtar Street
Omar Mukhtar Street
Omar Mukhtar Street is Gaza City's main street, running from Palestine Square to the Port of Gaza in the Rimal district, separating the Old City's al-Daraj and Zaytoun quarters. Gaza's hotel strip is a part of Omar Mukhtar Street and most of Gaza's most important buildings are located along the...
, southeast of Palestine Square
Palestine Square
Palestine Square or Midan Falasteen is a city square in central Gaza in between Jamal Abdel Nasser Street and Omar Mukhtar Street. It is the location of a bus station, a taxi station, a fruit market, a hospital, and dozens of small shops and vendors. Gaza's municipal headquarters is also located in...
. Gaza's Gold Market
Gold Market
The Gold Market is a narrow covered passageway located in the old quarter of Gaza; it is both a center for trading and buying gold, and location for foreign exchange. The Market lies along the southern edge of the Great Mosque of Gaza, beside the main Omar Mukhtar Street...
is located adjacent to it on the south side, while to the northeast is the Welayat Mosque
Welayat Mosque
Welayat Mosque or Kateb al-Welaya Mosque is a small historic mosque located along Omar Mukhtar Street in Gaza City in the Zaytoun Quarter of the old city. The mosque was built by the Mamluks in 1432, however, the structure could date as far back as 1344...
and to the east, on Wehda Street
Wehda Street
Wehda Street also spelled Wihda Street is a thoroughfare that runs through central Gaza City, more or less parallel with Omar Mukhtar Street. It branches off west of the main Salah ad-Din Road which runs north-south through the Gaza Strip and opens into Nasser Street just before it ends at...
, is a girls' school.
Philistine and Byzantine era
According to tradition, the mosque stands on the site of the Philistine temple dedicated to DagonDagon
Dagon was originally an Assyro-Babylonian fertility god who evolved into a major northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain and fish and/or fishing...
—the god of fertility—which Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
toppled in the Book of Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
. Later, a temple dedicated to Marnas—god of rain and grain—was erected. Local legend today claims that Samson is buried under the present mosque.
The present mosque was built in 406 CE as a large Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
church by Empress Aelia Eudocia
Aelia Eudocia
Aelia Eudocia Augusta was the wife of Theodosius II, and a prominent historical figure in understanding the rise of Christianity during the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. Eudocia lived in a world where Greek paganism and Christianity were still coming together...
, althougth it is also a possible that the church was built by Emperor Marcian
Marcian
Marcian was Byzantine Emperor from 450 to 457. Marcian's rule marked a recovery of the Eastern Empire, which the Emperor protected from external menaces and reformed economically and financially...
. Based on a Jewish inscription carved on the upper tie of one of the building's columns, it was suggested in the late 19th century that the upper pillars of the building were brought from a 3rd-century Jewish synagogue in Caesarea Maritima. The discovery of a 6th-century synagogue at the port of Gaza (Maiumas) in the 1960s, however, make local re-use of this column much likelier. In addition to the inscription, the column depicted a menorah, a shofar
Shofar
A shofar is a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Shofar come in a variety of sizes.- Bible and rabbinic literature :...
, a lulav
Lulav
The Lulav is a closed frond of the date palm tree. It is one of the arba'ah minim used in the morning prayer services during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot...
and etrog
Etrog
Etrog refers to the yellow citron or Citrus medica used by Jews on the week-long holiday of Sukkot.While in modern Hebrew this is the name for any variety of citron, its English usage applies to those varieties and specimens used as one of the Four Species...
surrounded by a decorative wreath; the inscription read "Hananyah son of Jacob" in both Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. The church appeared in the Map of Madaba mosaic, created in 600 CE.
Islamic era
Umar
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death....
's Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
generals, in the early era of Gaza's rule by the Islamic Caliphate. The mosque is alternatively named "al-Omari" in honor of Omar ibn al-Khattab who was the caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
when the Muslims conquered Palestine
Muslim conquest of Syria
The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria...
. While under Abbasid rule, Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi
Al-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...
writes of the Great Mosque in 985 CE as a "beautiful mosque". On December 5, 1033, an earthquake caused the pinnacle of the mosque's minaret to fall off.
In 1149, the Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s (who had conquered Gaza in 1100) built a cathedral dedicated to John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
atop the ruins of the church upon a decree by Baldwin III of Jerusalem
Baldwin III of Jerusalem
Baldwin III was king of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. He was the eldest son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem, and the grandson of Baldwin II of Jerusalem.-Succession:...
. In his descriptions of grand Crusader churches, William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
does not mention it, however. Of the Great Mosque's three aisles today, it is believed that portions of two of them had formed part of the Cathedral of John the Baptist.
In 1187, the Ayyubid
Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt. The dynasty ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they...
s under Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
wrested control of Gaza from the Crusaders and destroyed the cathedral. The Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s reconstructed the mosque in the 13th-century, but in 1260, the Mongols
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
destroyed it. It was rebuilt thereafter, but in 1294, an earthquake caused its collapse. The Mamluk governor of the city, 'Alam al-Din al-Jawli commissioned restoration of the Great Mosque sometime between 1298 and 1319. The Mamluks finally rebuilt the mosque completely in 1340. Muslim geographer Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
, in 1355, writes of the mosque's former existence as "a fine Friday mosque," but also says that al-Jawli's mosque was "well-built." Inscriptions on the mosque bear the signatures of the Mamluk sultans al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad b. Cairo 1285, d...
(dated 1340), Qaitbay
Qaitbay
Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872-901 A.H. . He was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by the ninth sultan Barsbay before being freed by the eleventh sultan Jaqmaq...
(dated May 1498), Qansuh al-Ghawri
Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri
Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri was the second last of the Mamluk Sultans. One of the last of the Burji dynasty, he reigned from 1501 to 1516.On the disappearance of Sultan Al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Tuman bay I, it was not till after some days that the choice of the Emirs and Mamluks fell upon Al-Ashraf...
(dated 1516), and the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
caliph al-Musta'in Billah
Al-Musta'in (Cairo)
Al-Musta'in Billah was the tenth Abbasid "shadow" caliph of Cairo, reigning under the tutelage of the Mamluk sultans from 1406 to 1414. He was the only Cairo-based Abbasid caliph to hold political power as Sultan of Egypt, albeit for only six months in 1412...
(dated 1412).
In the 16th-century the mosque was restored after apparent damage in the previous century; the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
s commissioned its restoration and also built six other mosques in the city. They had been in control of Palestine since 1517. The interior bears an inscription of the name of the Ottoman governor of Gaza, Musa Pasha, dating from 1663.
Modern era
Some Western travelers in the late 19th-century reported that the Great Mosque was the only structure in Gaza worthy of historical or architectural note. The Great Mosque was severely damaged by Allied forcesAllies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
while attacking the Ottoman positions in Gaza during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The British claimed the there were Ottoman munitions stored in the mosque and its destruction was caused when the munitions were ignited by the bombardment. Under the supervision of former Gaza mayor Said al-Shawa
Said al-Shawa
Said al-Shawa was a Palestinian Arab politician and the first mayor of Gaza, reigning from 1906 to 1917. He was also one of the most influential members of the Supreme Muslim Council from 1921 until his death...
, it was restored by the Supreme Muslim Council
Supreme Muslim Council
The Supreme Muslim Council was the highest body in charge of Muslim community affairs in Mandate Palestine under British control. It was established to create an advisory body composed of Muslims and Christians with whom the High Commissioner could consult...
in 1926-27.
In 1928, the Supreme Muslim Council held a mass demonstration involving both local Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and Christians at the Great Mosque in order to rally support for boycotting elections and participation in the Legislative Assembly of the British Mandate of Palestine government. To increase the number of people in the rally, they ordered all the mosques in one of Gaza's quarters to temporarily close.
The ancient bas-relief inscriptions of Jewish religious symbols were allegedly chiseled away intentionally at some stage between 1987 and 1993. During the Battle of Gaza
Battle of Gaza (2007)
The Battle of Gaza was a military conflict between Hamas and Fatah that took place between June 7 and 15, 2007 in the Gaza Strip. After winning Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinan authority national unity government in 2007, headed by Ismail Haniya. In...
between the Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
organizations of Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
, the mosque's pro-Hamas imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
Mohammed al-Rafati was shot dead by Fatah gunmen on June 12, 2007, in retaliation for the killing of an official of Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
's presidential guard by Hamas earlier that day. The mosque is still active and serves as a base of emotional and physical support for Gaza's residents, being a focal point of Palestinian pride.
Architecture
The Great Mosque has an area of 4100 square metres (4,903.6 sq yd). Most of the general structure is constructed from local marine sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
known as kurkar. The mosque forms a large sahn
Sahn
A sahn , in Islamic architecture, is a courtyard. As per the traditional Islamic architectural style, almost every mosque has a sahn, which is surrounded by an arcade from all sides. In Persian architecture, the sahn usually contains a howz, a symmetrical pool, where ablutions are performed...
("courtyard") surrounded by rounded arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
es. The Mamluks, and later the Ottomans, had the south and southeastern sides of the building expanded.
Over the door of the mosque is an inscription containing the name of Mamluk sultan Qalawun
Qalawun
Saif ad-Dīn Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Mamluk sultan of Egypt...
and there are also inscriptions containing the names of the sultans Lajin
Lajin
Lachin royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri (Arabic: الملك المنصور حسام الدين لاجين المنصورى (d....
and Barquq.
Interior
When the building was transformed into a mosque from a cathedral, most of the previous Crusader construction was completely replaced, but the mosque's facadeFacade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
with its arched entrance is a typical piece of Crusader ecclesiastical architecture, and column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s within the mosque compound still retain their Italian
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
Gothic style
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
. Some of the columns have been identified as elements of an ancient synagogue, reused as construction material in the Crusader era and still forming part of the mosque. Internally, the wall surfaces are plastered and painted. Marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
is used for the western door and the dome's oculus
Oculus
An Oculus, circular window, or rain-hole is a feature of Classical architecture since the 16th century. They are often denoted by their French name, oeil de boeuf, or "bull's-eye". Such circular or oval windows express the presence of a mezzanine on a building's façade without competing for...
. The floors are covered with glazed tiles. The columns are also marble and their capitals are built in Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
ian style.
The central nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
is groin-vaulted
Groin vault
A groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. ribbed vault. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round...
, each bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
being separated from one another by pointed transverse arches with rectangular profiles. The nave arcades are carried on cruciform piers with an engaged column
Engaged column
In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi or three-quarter detached...
on each face, sitting on a raised plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
. The two aisles of the mosque are also groin-vaulted. Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
noted that the Great Mosque had a white marble minbar
Minbar
A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation...
("pulpit"); it still exists today. There is a small mihrab
Mihrab
A mihrab is semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
in the mosque with an inscription dating from 1663, containing the name of Musa Pasha, a governor of Gaza during Ottoman rule.
Minaret
The mosque is well-known for its minaretMinaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
, which is square-shaped in its lower half and octagonal in its upper half, typical of Mamluk architectural style. The minaret is constructed of stone from the base to the upper, hanging balcony, including the four-tiered upper half. The pinnacle is mostly made of woodwork and tiles, and is frequently renewed. A simple cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
springs from the octagonal stone drum and is of light construction similar to most mosques in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
. The minaret stands on what was the end of the eastern bay of the Crusader church. Its three semicircular apses were transformed into the base of the minaret.
External links
- Palestinians pray in the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza Ma'an News AgencyMa'an News AgencyMa'an News Agency is a large wire service created in 2005 in the Palestinian Territories. It is part of the Ma'an Network, a non-governmental organisation media network created in 2002 in the Palestinian Territories among independent journalists throughout the West Bank and Gaza and including...
.