Qubbat al-Khazna

33°30′42″N 36°18′22″E / 33.511699°N 36.30608°E / 33.511699; 36.30608

Qubbat al-Khazna (Arabic: قبة الخزنة, romanized: Qubbat al-Khaznah, lit. 'Dome of the Treasury'), also known as the Bayt al-Mal or Beit al-Mal,[1][2] is an old structure within the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. It is an octagonal structure decorated with mosaics, standing on eight Roman columns.[3] The dome was built under orders from the Abbasid governor of Damascus, Fadl ibn Salih, in 789.[4][5]

The exterior walls of the structure were originally covered in colorful mosaic decoration which imitated the earlier Umayyad-era mosaics in the rest of the mosque, although they are of slightly lesser quality than the latter.[6][1] The mosaics were restored in 13th or 14th century and then in the late 20th century they were almost entirely redone based on existing fragments.[1][2] The Roman columns that were re-used for the structure's pillars were truncated to achieve the desired height but preserve original Roman-era capitals.[1]

The dome used to hold the mosque's large endowments.[7] Some Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Georgian old manuscripts were also housed in Qubbat al-Khazna in the past (e.g. Uncial 0126, 0144, 0145).[8][9] The manuscripts were generally kept out of view, but were allowed to be handled briefly by German scholars when German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Damascus in 1898.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d Burns, Ross (2007). Damascus: A History. Routledge. pp. 132, 286 (note 9). ISBN 9781134488506.
  2. ^ a b Hattstein, Markus; Delius, Peter, eds. (2011). Islam: Art and Architecture. h.f.ullmann. p. 69. ISBN 9783848003808.
  3. ^ Syria. Damascus. Omayyad Mosque. The Dome of the Treasury Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ *Cobb, Paul M. (2001). White banners: contention in ʻAbbāsid Syria, 750-880. SUNY Press. p. 151. ISBN 0-7914-4880-0.
  5. ^ Burns, Ross (2007). Damascus: A History. Routledge. p. 132. ISBN 9781134488506.
  6. ^ Walker, Bethany J. (Mar 2004). "Commemorating the Sacred Spaces of the Past: The Mamluks and the Umayyad Mosque at Damascus". Near Eastern Archaeology. 67 (1). The American Schools of Oriental Research: 26–39. doi:10.2307/4149989. JSTOR 4149989. S2CID 164031578.
  7. ^ a b Margoliouth, David S. (2010). Cairo, Jerusalem & Damascus: Three Chief Cities of the Egyptian Sultans. Cosimo, Inc. p. 400. ISBN 978-1-61640-065-1.
  8. ^ Pasquale Orsini, P. Radiciotti-A.D'Ottone, I frammenti della Qubbat al-khazna di Damasco. A proposito di una scoperta sottovalutata, "Nea Rhome" 5 (2008), pp. 45-74
  9. ^ Arianna D'Ottone, I frammenti della Qubbat al-khazna di Damasco. A proposito di una scoperta sottovalutata