Publication Date
797/ 5-1394
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;sy;Mon01;17;ar
Library Location
Al-Midan neighborhood, Damascus, Syria
Date
797/ 5-1394
Notes
Al-Tinbiyyah is located in the Al-Midan Al-Fawqani neighborhood, south of Damascus. The square was originally an open field area on the borders of the city used for military training, and housing expanded to it due to the pilgrimage and trade route in southern Damascus. This is an incident witnessed by the medieval historian Ibn Asakir, who died in AH 571 / AD 1176, who states that the first settlement in the suburb of Al-Midan took place during the Zengid period. Thus, this section of the trade and pilgrimage route that headed to the Holy Lands of the Hijaz via the fertile Hauran plains began to gradually integrate into the urban fabric of Damascus. Since this region was promising, many princes, including Saladin, wanted to be buried there in order to receive the invitations of their pilgrims on their way on Hajj. During the Mamluk period in the 8th/14th century, urban development accelerated, and the number of religious, social, and economic facilities such as mosques, baths, and khans increased. The terraces are considered the most distinctive buildings on both sides of the main axis of the square, and their multi-colored facades and painted domes give a cheerful appearance to the suburb. The Tinbiyah Dome is one of more than 20 tombs built in the Mamluk period. The main exterior facade of the Tinbiyah Dome faces the eastern side, and the building is symmetrical and built of alternating white and black stone courses, i.e. ablaq. The entrance, located in the center of the facade, is part of an elaborate niche covered by a fluted semi-dome, surmounted by a muqarnas arch. Above the niche is a prominent horizontal upper part, and below the muqarnas appears a complex square containing the Mamluk coat of arms, consisting of three sections, the upper part of which is empty, the middle one bearing the shape of a cup, and a smaller cup in the lower section, and between two rhombuses there is the shape of a handkerchief. The cup denotes the cupbearer, and it is one of the symbols widely used in Mamluk heraldry, especially since the reign of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, who ruled three times: 3-694/3-1294; 698-708/1299-1309; 9-741/10-1341, then the handkerchief, which is the symbol of the “safarji”. It is also difficult to determine the officer's actual function, and the use of mounted codes was often a symbol of public status. Above the two windows on either side of the entrance niche, intricate stone decorations appear. The building has two rooms covered with domes, the southern one is the prayer sanctuary, while the northern one includes the tomb, where the founder’s wife was buried in 798 / 1396, and Tinbek was also buried there later in 802 / 1400.
Sample Text
Verena Daiber “The Dome of Al-Tinbek Al-Hasani” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;sy;Mon01;17;ar
