Minarets of the Temple Mount

The Temple Mount has four minarets in total: three on the western flank and one on the northern flank.

The minarets are situated around the edges of the compound. In this picture, three minarets can be seen on the left and one at the top.

Four Minarets

Al-Fakhariyya Minaret

About half a year after they conquered Jerusalem (Al-Quds), defeating the Crusaders, the Mamluks built or renovated eight major minarets in the Holy City.[1] The first minaret, known as Al-Fakhariyya Minaret, was one of the Mamluk minarets. It was built in 1278, on the junction of the southern wall and western wall[2] at the orders of the Mamluk sultan Lajin. The minaret was built on the solid part of the wall.[3] It was named after Fakhr al-Din al-Khalili, the father of Sharif al-Din Abd al-Rahman who supervised the building's construction. The minaret was rebuilt during the Ottoman period in 1920.[4]

Dating of the minarets in Jerusalem has been done according to the style and shape. Mamluk minarets generally have a square shape[5] and surround the Haram al-Sharif. Al-Fakhariyya Minaret was built in the traditional Syrian style, with a square-shaped base and shaft, divided by moldings into three floors above which two lines of muqarnas decorate the muezzin's balcony. The niche is surrounded by a square chamber that ends in a lead-covered stone dome.[6] After the minaret was damaged in the Jerusalem earthquake, the minaret's dome was covered with lead.[7]

Al-Ghawanimah Minaret (Bani Ghanim Minaret)

The second minaret, known as the Ghawanima Minaret, was built at the northwestern corner of the Noble Sanctuary in 1297–98 by architect Qadi Sharaf al-Din al-Khalili, on the orders of Sultan Lajin. Six stories high, it is the tallest minaret of the Noble Sanctuary.[8] The tower is almost entirely made of stone, apart from a timber canopy over the muezzin's balcony. Because of its firm structure, the Ghawanima Minaret has been nearly untouched by earthquakes. The minaret is divided into several stories by stone molding and stalactite galleries. The first two stories are wider and form the base of the tower. The additional four stories are surmounted by a cylindrical drum and a bulbous dome. The stairway is externally located on the first two floors but becomes an internal spiral structure from the third floor until it reaches the muezzin's balcony.[9]

According to travelers and early historians, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan built the Al-Ghawanimah (Bani Ghanim) Minaret. Ibn Al-Faqih al-Hamadani (3-4 AH/9-10th century AD) in his Mukhtasar Kitab and Al-Buldan and Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi (3-4 AH/9-10th century AD) in his Kitab Al-Iqd Al-Farid describe the pre-Crusader Al-Aqsa enclave as having four minarets.[10]

It has been inferred that the Ayyubids rebuilt the minaret after the Crusaders destroyed it. The Ayoubi judge Sharaf AdDin bin Abdul Rahman Bin AsSahib rebuilt the Bani Ghanim Gate Minaret in 677 AH/1278 AC during the reign of Sultan Hussam Ad-Din Lajeen. It is named after Shaykh Ghanim ibn Ali ibn Husayn, who was appointed the Shaykh of the Salahiyyah Madrasah by Salahuddin Ayyubi.[11]

It is a square-shaped minaret located near Bani Ghanim's Gate and is considered the most decorated of Al-Aqsa's minarets. With a height of 38.5 meters, it is the highest minaret inside Al-Aqsa and has a staircase of 120 steps. The western tunnel, which was dug by the Israeli Occupation Forces, has weakened the minaret's foundations, resulting in calls for its renovation in 1422/2001.[12]

The Ghawanima minaret, almost entirely built of stone apart from a timber canopy over the muezzin's gallery, is one of the sturdiest and highest constructions in the old city of Bayt al-Maqdis. Its firm structure has left it nearly untouched by earthquakes, while its varied decoration has lent it a certain elegance as a counterpoint to its solidity.

The minaret is excavated into the naturally occurring layer of bedrock in the northwest corner of the Haram. It is partitioned into several 'stories' by stone molding and muqarnas (stalactite) galleries. The first two stories are wider and directly about the rock, forming the base of the tower. An additional four stories, including the muezzin's gallery, are surmounted by a circular drum and bulbous dome. The stairway is external on the first two floors but becomes an internal spiral structure until it reaches the muezzin's gallery, from which the call for prayer was performed.[13]

Bab al Silsila Minaret

In 1329, Tankiz—the Mamluk governor of Syria—ordered the construction of a third minaret called the Bab al-Silsila Minaret, located on the western border of the al-Aqsa Mosque. This minaret, possibly replacing an earlier Umayyad minaret, is built in the traditional Syrian square tower type and is made entirely out of stone.[14] Since the 16th century, it has been a tradition that the best muezzin ("reciter") of the adhan (the call to prayer) is assigned to this minaret because the first call to each of the five daily prayers is raised from it, giving the signal for the muezzins of mosques throughout Jerusalem to follow suit.[15]

It is located next to the Zincirli (Silsile) Gate on the porches to the west of Masjid al-Aqsa. It is on a square-shaped platform with four corners and has a closed balcony, which is kept standing by stone columns. It has a ladder with 80 steps. The minaret is reached by Eşrefiye Madrasa. It was repaired by the Islamic Foundation after the Jerusalem earthquake in h.1340 / m.1922.

Bab El-Silsila Minaret is bordered by Haram's main entrance. As stated in the inscriptions, its reconstruction was done by the Governor of Syria when Amir Tankiz was establishing the madrasa el-Tankiziyya. It was replaced by an Ottoman-style 'pencil point' spire, which was replaced by a smooth cutout and a semicircular dome after the dome was damaged in an earthquake in the 19th century. During the restoration of 1923-4, the existing canopy and lead coating on the dome were erected.[16][17]

al-Asbat Minaret

The last and most notable minaret was built in 1367 and is known as al-Asbat Minaret. It is composed of a cylindrical stone shaft (built later by the Ottomans), which springs up from a rectangular Mamluk-built base on top of a triangular transition zone.[18] The shaft narrows above the muezzin's balcony and is dotted with circular windows, ending with a bulbous dome. The dome was reconstructed after the 1927 earthquake.[18]

Proposed fifth minaret

There are no minarets in the eastern portion of the mosque. However, in 2006, King Abdullah II of Jordan announced his intention to build a fifth minaret overlooking the Mount of Olives. The King Hussein Minaret is planned to be the tallest structure in the Old City of Jerusalem.[19][20]

  • al-Fakhariyya Minaret is the first of four minarets of Al-Aqsa Mosque, constructed in 1278.
  • Bab al-Silsila Minaret
  • Al-Asbat Minaret
  • The Ghawanima Minaret, 1900

References
  1. Smith, Andrew C. (2013). "Mamluk Jerusalem: Architecturally Challenging Narratives". LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University. 3: 1–15.
  2. Patel, Ismail Adam (2006). Virtues of Jerusalem and islamic perspective. United Kingdom: al-Aqsa Publisher. p. 100.
  3. Kapolony, Andreas (2010). The Ḥaram of Jerusalem (324-1099): Temple, Friday Mosque, Area of Spiritual Power. Freiburger Islamstudien. p. 281.
  4. Passia (2013). "Mesjid Aksa Rehberi (Haram-i Serif)". TIKA: 3–66.
  5. Zohar, Mohti (2015). "Why is the Minaret So Short? Evidence for Earthquake Damage on Mt Zion". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 147 (3): 230–246. doi:10.1179/1743130114Y.0000000016. S2CID 162811314.
  6. Menashe, 2004, p.334.
  7. Passia (2013). "Mesjid Aksa Rehberi (Haram-i Serif)". TIKA: 3–66.
  8. Brooke, Steven. Views of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Rizzoli, 2003. ISBN 0-8478-2511-6
  9. Ghawanima Minaret Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Archnet Digital Library.
  10. Al-Smadi, Dr. Taleb Abdallah, 2001. “Bait Al-Maqdis Within a Historical and Archaeological Until the End of Umayyad Period”, Department of Archaeology and Tourism, Faculty of Arts, Mu'tah University, Jordan.
  11. "Minarets".
  12. Hadi, Mahdi Abdul, 2013. “Al-Aqsa Mosque Al-Haram Ash-Sharif.” Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, PASSIA. Supported by TİKA.
  13. Burgoyne, Michael Hamilton, 1987. Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study, 178. Jerusalem: British School of Archeology in Jerusalem.
  14. Bab al-Silsila Minaret Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Archnet Digital Library.
  15. Jacobs, 2009, p.106.
  16. "Mi'dhanat Bab al-Silsila". Archnet. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  17. "Mescidi Aksa Rehberi" (PDF).
  18. Bab al-Asbat Minaret Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine Archnet Digital Library.
  19. Farrell, Stephen (14 October 2006). "Minaret that can't rise above politics". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  20. Klein, Aaron (4 February 2007). "Israel allows minaret over Temple Mount". YNet. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
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