The Mosque of Ibn Tulun is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt as well as the whole of Africa surviving in its full original form, and is the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area. It is built around an open square courtyard which allows natural light to travel through. Ibn Tulun Mosque features ancient architecture styles of Egypt, its decorations being created from carved stucco and wood. This mosque is a popular tourist attraction.
Construction history
The mosque was commissioned by the Tulunid dynasty ruler Ahmad ibn Tulun, the Abbasid governor of Egypt from 868–884 whose rule was characterized by de facto independence. It was designed by the prominent Egyptian architect, Saiid Ibn Kateb Al-Farghany (Arabic: سعيد بن كاتب الفرغاني), who was an Orthodox Christian, the same engineer who designed the Nilometer. The historian al-Maqrizi lists the mosque's construction start date as 876 AD, and the mosque's original inscription slab identifies the date of completion as AH 265 (878/879). The mosque was constructed on a small hill called Gebel Yashkur, "The Hill of Thanksgiving." One local legend says that it is here that Noah's Ark came to rest after the Deluge, rather than at Mount Ararat. The mosque has been used for several purposes. One such purpose is it was used as a shelter for pilgrims from North Africa to the Hijaz in the 12th century. The grand congregational mosque was intended to be the focal point of Ibn Tulun's capital, al-Qata'i, which served as the center of administration for the Tulunid dynasty.
Originally the mosque backed onto Ibn Tulun's palace, and a door next to the minbar allowed him direct entry to the mosque. Al-Qata'i was razed in the early 10th century AD, and the mosque is the only surviving structure. The mosque was constructed in the Samarran style common with Abbasid constructions. It is constructed around a courtyard, with one covered hall on each of the four sides, the largest being on the side of the qibla, or direction of Mecca. The original mosque had a fountain (fauwara) in the middle of the sahn, covered a gilt dome supported by ten marble columns, and round it were 16 marble columns and a marble pavement. Under the dome, there was a great basin of marble 4 cubits in diameter with a jet of marble in the centre. A distinctive sabil with a high drum dome was added in the central courtyard at the end of the thirteenth century by Mamluk Sultan Lajin instead of the "fauwara". (see also Chahartaq (architecture)).
Interior
The interior ceiling of Ibn Tulun mosque is composed of sycamore wood. The interior arched windows provide natural light against the hollow dome. Each pointed arch has a window and is designed with plain geometric design.
Minaret
It is modeled after the minarets of Samarra, with a spiral staircase around the outside. There is significant controversy over the date of construction of the minaret, which features a helical outer staircase. It is also told that using these stairs one can climb up on a horse. Legend has it that Ibn Tulun himself was accidentally responsible for the design of the structure: supposedly while sitting with his officials, he absentmindedly wound a piece of parchment around his finger. When someone asked him what he was doing, he responded, embarrassed, that he was designing his minaret. Many of the architectural features, however, point to a later construction, in particular, the way in which the minaret does not connect well with the main mosque structure, something that would have been averted had the minaret and mosque been built at the same time. Architectural historian Doris Behrens-Abouseif asserts that Sultan Lajin, who restored the mosque in 1296, was responsible for the construction of the current minaret. The minaret shows influences from both the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the famous minaret in Samarra. Main mihrab of Ibn Tulun mosque in the centre of qibla wall. Made of marble, stucco, brick, and different colored mosaics. The muslim profession of faith is inscripted in Kufic calligraphy. The columns are made of gray marble. It is built entirely of well-fired red brick, plaster, and carved stucco. Stucco is cement-based plaster that is mixed on-site and applied wet which hardens to a very dense solid. The mosque is also built from this material. The staircase extends up to the tower 170 feet in height.
Courtesy : Wikipedia
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