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Sidi Okba (mosque, minaret and mausoleum)
(سيدي عقبة جامع ومئذنة وضريح)

Title	Sidi Okba (mosque, minaret and mausoleum)
Title Original	سيدي عقبة جامع ومئذنة وضريح
Publication Date:	67 - 416 AH / 686 - 1025 AD
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Library:	Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID	monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;15;ar
Library Location	The Sidi Okba site is located approximately six kilometers south of Tehuda, and twenty kilometers east of Biskra, on the road to Khanqa Sidi Naji, Sidi Okba, Biskra, Algeria.
Date	67 - 416 AH / 686 - 1025 AD
Notes	After Uqba bin Nafi, one of the Prophet’s companions and the governor of Africa (present-day Tunisia), returned from a victorious military campaign that led him to the Atlantic Ocean, he died in a battle against Kusayla and his armies who were waiting for him near Judaea. The Sidi Uqba Mosque was built around the tomb of Uqba bin Nafi. The shrine and the mosque were very simple. All the architectural elements were covered with lime mortar, and no precious material was used in construction. The design of the mosque does not differ significantly from the design of very ancient mosques, especially the mosque built by the Prophet himself, and the organization of the naves parallel to the qibla wall attests to this. At floor level, the bases of the columns are connected to each other through a rise of more than ten centimetres, thus demarcating the space necessary for prostration in the rows of worshipers. As for the capitals molded from lime mortar, which top the columns, some of which are composed of palm trunks also covered with lime mortar, they support arches devoid of any decoration. The mihrab is distinguished by an arch decorated with plaster decorations with simple geometric elements and an irregular layout. It is surmounted by a semi-domed dome with radiating grooves. The column capitals are also arched, suggesting very simplified palm trees. Two domes emerge from the earthen embankment covering the prayer hall, one of which is above the shrine, while the other is located opposite the mihrab. In an earlier period, the famous double-leaf door made of carved cedar was moved to the opposite facade during the renovation work of the mosque that took place during the years 1969-1970, and it is the door that controls entry to the prayer hall from one of the three entrances to the side courtyard. In recent years, renovation and "integration" work has begun into a huge worship complex under the pretext of adding some elegance to the shrine and mosque, but these works have completely distorted the character of the place.
Sample Text	Ali Lafer “Sidi Okba (mosque, minaret and mausoleum)” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;15;ar

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Museum With No Frontiers

Sidi Okba (mosque, minaret and mausoleum)

(سيدي عقبة جامع ومئذنة وضريح)

Publication Date 67 - 416 AH / 686 - 1025 AD

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Library Museum With No Frontiers

Record ID monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;15;ar

Library Location The Sidi Okba site is located approximately six kilometers south of Tehuda, and twenty kilometers east of Biskra, on the road to Khanqa Sidi Naji, Sidi Okba, Biskra, Algeria.

Date 67 - 416 AH / 686 - 1025 AD

Notes After Uqba bin Nafi, one of the Prophet’s companions and the governor of Africa (present-day Tunisia), returned from a victorious military campaign that led him to the Atlantic Ocean, he died in a battle against Kusayla and his armies who were waiting for him near Judaea. The Sidi Uqba Mosque was built around the tomb of Uqba bin Nafi. The shrine and the mosque were very simple. All the architectural elements were covered with lime mortar, and no precious material was used in construction. The design of the mosque does not differ significantly from the design of very ancient mosques, especially the mosque built by the Prophet himself, and the organization of the naves parallel to the qibla wall attests to this. At floor level, the bases of the columns are connected to each other through a rise of more than ten centimetres, thus demarcating the space necessary for prostration in the rows of worshipers. As for the capitals molded from lime mortar, which top the columns, some of which are composed of palm trunks also covered with lime mortar, they support arches devoid of any decoration. The mihrab is distinguished by an arch decorated with plaster decorations with simple geometric elements and an irregular layout. It is surmounted by a semi-domed dome with radiating grooves. The column capitals are also arched, suggesting very simplified palm trees. Two domes emerge from the earthen embankment covering the prayer hall, one of which is above the shrine, while the other is located opposite the mihrab. In an earlier period, the famous double-leaf door made of carved cedar was moved to the opposite facade during the renovation work of the mosque that took place during the years 1969-1970, and it is the door that controls entry to the prayer hall from one of the three entrances to the side courtyard. In recent years, renovation and "integration" work has begun into a huge worship complex under the pretext of adding some elegance to the shrine and mosque, but these works have completely distorted the character of the place.

Sample Text Ali Lafer “Sidi Okba (mosque, minaret and mausoleum)” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;15;ar