Sidi Yahya Mosque

Sidi Yahya Mosque
جامع سيدي يحيى
Mosquée Sidi Yahya
Religion
AffiliationIslam
Location
LocationTimbuktu, Tombouctou, Mali
Sidi Yahya Mosque is located in Mali
Sidi Yahya Mosque
Shown within Mali
Geographic coordinates16°46′20″N 3°00′26″W / 16.77224°N 3.00713°W / 16.77224; -3.00713
Architecture
StyleSudano-Sahelian
Completed1440
Specifications
Minaret(s)1
MaterialsBanco, Ronnier wood
The main sacred gate
Sketch of the Oratory of Sidi Yahya from Felix Dubois during his exploration of western Africa.[1]

The Sidi Yahya Mosque (Arabic: جامع سيدي يحيى; French: Mosquée Sidi Yahya), also known as the Mosque of Muhammad-n-Allah,[2][3] is a mosque and madrasa of Timbuktu in Mali. The construction of the mosque began in 1400 under the leadership of Sheikh el-Mokhtar Hamalla of Timbuktu and was finished in 1440.[4][5]

The mosque was named after its first imam, Sidi Yahya al-Tadelsi.[2] It is part of the University of Timbuktu, which includes the madrasas of Sidi Yahya, Djinguereber and Sankore. The mosque is a typical example of earthen Sudano-Sahelian architecture but also exhibits distinctive forms of plan and ornament. Parts of the Mosque of Sidi Yahya were destroyed by Ansar Dine jihadists on 2 July 2012, following the Battle of Gao.[6] These elements were later reconstructed under the direction of UNESCO team.[6]

  1. ^ Dubois, Félix (1896). Timbuctoo the mysterious, by Felix Dubois; translated from the French by Diana White. London: New York, Longmans, Green and Co. p. 311.
  2. ^ a b Gomez, Michael A. (2019-08-27), "Early Gao", African Dominion, Princeton University Press, pp. 19–29, doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691196824.003.0003, ISBN 978-0-691-19682-4, S2CID 242519352
  3. ^ "Sidi Yahia Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali · Highlights from the Digital Content Library". dcl.dash.umn.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  4. ^ "Timbuktu". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  5. ^ Kane, Ousmane (2016-12-31), Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa, Harvard University Press, p. 264, doi:10.4159/9780674969377-011, ISBN 978-0-674-96935-3, retrieved 2020-12-08
  6. ^ a b "UNESCO World Heritage Centre - State of Conservation (SOC)". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2020-12-08.