An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
Denis Genequand
This article presents the results of preliminary investigations on a mosque that was recently
rediscovered in the centre of Palmyra. The general organization of the mosque, the way in which it
reuses a pre-existing Roman building, its situation south of the Tetrapylon and the data at hand on
the later periods in Palmyra all point to an Umayyad date for the structure. This new element of
early Islamic Palmyra will be described. This in turn will lead to some considerations on its context,
in particular in relation with the Umayyad suq already known in Palmyra and more generally on
caliphal involvements in the large scale programmes of urban development or urban creation.
Keywords: Early Islam, Mosque, Palmyra, Umayyad Caliphate and Urban Pattern
Introduction
The city of Palmyra in the Syrian steppe benefited
from the ideal position of a large oasis situated
between the Euphrates and the cities of western
Syria (Busra, Damascus, Homs/Emesa) and the
Mediterranean coast. As a caravan city Palmyra
was at the height of its fame under the Principate
during the 1st to the 3rd centuries AD. The attempt at
usurpation by Zenobia and her son Wahballat,
followed by the victorious military campaign of
Aurelianus in AD 272, marked the end of its great
prosperity and some sort of decline, but certainly not
its disappearance. If, after that, Palmyra no longer
had its former power, it nevertheless stayed an
important city. It was first and foremost a garrison
city, where the Legio I Illyricorum was based after the
provincial reorganization under the Tetrarchy
(Notitia Dignitatum, Or. XXXII, 30). It then became
a bishopric and the city sent a bishop to the council of
Nicaea in AD 325 and again in AD 351 to the council
of Chalcedon (Devreesse 1945, 206). By the 6th
century, the Episcopal group situated in the middle of
the city was pretty large and included several
churches and chapels (Gawlikowski 2005); other
churches distributed around the city bear witness to
a settlement that was still thriving. Its relative
importance is also demonstrated by the fact that in
AD 527 the emperor Justinian ordered the restoration
of the city, especially its rampart, churches and water
system (reported by Ioannes Malalas, Theophanes
and Procopius, cf. Kowalski 1997, 50–52; on the
ramparts: Seyrig 1950; Gawlikowski 1974).
During the early Islamic period Palmyra is less well
documented, but there are some textual sources and
some good archaeological evidence that needs to be
better exploited to demonstrate its continuing impor-
tance. Also, in the extensive region around Palmyra,
there are a certain number of caliphal palaces,
aristocratic mansions or residences and new urban
settlements that point indirectly to this importance.
These ‘desert castles’ have been the subject of study of
a Syrian-Swiss project since 2002 (Genequand 2004a;
2004b; 2005). During the 2006 season of this project,
a large mosque was rediscovered in Palmyra which,
as will be demonstrated below, is likely to be the
Umayyad congregational mosque. As would be
expected with such a structure, the rediscovered
mosque is also shedding new light on the early
Islamic period in the city. Only a very short time was
devoted in the field to the Palmyra mosque in 2006,
but a larger Syrian-Swiss project is currently being
organized for its detailed investigation in the coming
years. This short article is intended as a preliminary
presentation of the newly rediscovered mosque, of its
context and of its interpretation.
Early Islamic Palmyra: the Textual Sources
Since before the coming of Islam, Palmyra/Tadmur
and its region were part of the domain of Kalb, a
Yamani tribe. Palmyra and its region were conquered
in the mid-630s, perhaps even as early as H 13/AD 634
by the general Khalid b. al-Walid (al-Baladhuri,
Futuh al-Buldan, 111). After this, Palmyrena stayed in
the hands of Kalb and was incorporated in the jund of
Denis Genequand, Council for British Research in the Levant, 1 Pl.Mussard, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland, e-mail: [email protected]
� Council for British Research in the Levant 2008Published by ManeyDOI 10.1179/175638008x284143 Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1 3
Homs. According to Abu Mikhnaf, cited by al-
Tabari (Ta’rikh, II, 482), in H 64/AD 683–684 most of
the Banu Umayya were driven out of Medina, Mecca
and the Hijaz by ‘Abdallah b. al-Zubayr and went to
Palmyra. It was there that Marwan b. al-Hakam
received the oath of allegiance by the Banu Umayya
and by the people of Palmyra, before moving with an
army against al-Dahhak b. Qays at the battle of Marj
Rahit and then becoming caliph in H 65/AD 684. This
was an important political event, which marked a
shift of power from the Sufyanid to the Marwanid
branch of the Umayyad family. If it really happened
in Palmyra, it shows the political weight the city and
surrounding area had at that time.
In H 126/AD 744 the city was apparently still well
fortified, as during the rebellion of Yazid b. al-Walid
someone proposed to al-Walid b. Yazid to take
refuge there (al-Tabari, Ta’rikh, II, 1796). The latter
finally decided to go to al-Bakhra’, 21 km south of
Palmyra, where he was killed by the soldiers of ‘Abd
al-‘Aziz b. al-Hajjaj b. ‘Abd al-Malik and buried
there (al-Tabari, Ta’rikh, II, 1795–1807; Genequand
2004b). The city, and particularly its ramparts,
subsequently suffered an amount of damage difficult
to estimate after having supported Sulayman b.
Hisham against the caliph Marwan b. Muhammad
in H 127/AD 744–745 (al-Tabari, Ta’rikh, II, 1892,
1896, 1912; Ibn al-Faqih, Kitab al-Buldan, 110;
Yaqut, Mu‘jam al-Buldan, II, 17) and again in H
132/AD 750 during the fights related to the fall of the
Umayyad dynasty (al-Tabari, Ta’rikh, III, 53–54;
al-Isfahani, Aghani, XVIII, 150).
A bishopric was maintained in Palmyra during the
Umayyad and Abbasid periods and bishops were still
ordained in, or shortly after, H 177/AD 793 (bishop
Symeon, formerly in the monastery of Mar Jacob in
Cyrrhus) and H 202/AD 818 (bishop Iohannan/John
III, formerly at the monastery of Mar Hanania)
(Michael the Syrian, vol. III, 451, 453).
By the end of the 10th century AD, the geographer
al-Muqaddasi described Palmyra as a qasaba, a word
implying a rather small town or settlement encom-
passed with some sort of enclosure (Ahsan al-
Taqasim, 156).
Early Islamic Palmyra: the Archaeology
There have been archaeological excavations in
Palmyra since the 1920s, most of them devoted to
the impressive remains of the Roman period (Fig. 1).
Until recently, with some exceptions like Seyrig’s note
on the ramparts (Seyrig 1950) or Huart’s and
Sauvaget’s studies of a handful of medieval Arabic
inscriptions (Huart 1929; Sauvaget 1931), remains
belonging to the late Antiquity and the Islamic period
were not studied, nor even mentioned in many cases.
Since the 1960s, there have more often been mentions
of later modifications or hints about the fate of some
monuments after the Principate.
Amongst the few elements that give a more precise
idea of early Islamic Palmyra, one should note several
houses excavated by the Polish mission during the
1960s in the western part of the city (area of the
Camp of Diocletian), where there is ample evidence
of an occupation that was still important during the
so-called ‘Arab’ period (Michalowski 1960, 69–81;
1962, 54–77; 1963, 41–60, 188–89 (coins); 1966, 27–
29). Nevertheless, the simplistic equation [well built 5
Byzantine / poorly built 5 late Byzantine / badly built
5 Arab] makes the precise date and evolution of the
area difficult to follow. In one of these houses, a
hoard of coins was found, dating back to the mid-7th
century and composed of Byzantine coins minted
between the reigns of Phocas (AD 602–610) and
Constans II (AD 641–668) (Michalowski 1962, 222–
36). Amongst the few sherds published with a
photograph (Michalowski 1960, fig. 87; 1962,
fig. 70), some seem to belong to the early polychrome
glazed ceramic and can be dated broadly to the first
half of the 9th century AD, providing a rough date for
the abandonment of the area.
Similarly, Syrian excavations in the Annexe of the
Agora (Basilica) brought to light ‘Byzantine’ houses
and ‘Arab-Islamic’ or ‘Ayyubid’ houses and pottery
workshops (Bounni and Saliby 1968, 101). These
were not fully published, only a rough plan of the
houses and two photographs with pottery. On these
photographs, one rounded lamp fits well with a
second half of the 8th to first half of the 9th century
AD date (Bounni and Saliby 1968, pl. X.3) and there is
no illustrated material that is later than this. One may
wonder about the precise date of these structures,
especially the ‘Arab-Islamic’ houses and workshops
for which an early Islamic date seems plausible. With
the documentation presently at hand and before an
examination of the preserved material, there is
nothing sustaining an Ayyubid date, moreover there
is no other place showing signs of an Ayyubid
occupation in this part of the city. One may also
recall that in Baysan or Jarash, Umayyad and early
Abbasid pottery workshops were located in several
places in the centre of the ancient cities, for example
in Jarash’s North Theatre/Bouleuterion facing the
former Agora (Schaefer and Falkner 1986).
Recent Polish excavations in and around the large
Episcopal group of Palmyra also provide ample
evidence for an occupation of that area until the
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
4 Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1
beginning of the 9th century AD. Three churches were
excavated (churches I, II and III) (Gawlikowski 1992;
1994; 1998; 1999; 2002; 2005). Church I had a
complicated history as a monument built in the 4th
century AD and abandoned by the beginning of the
7th century AD. Church II was built or at least largely
modified in the Umayyad period, while Church III
was probably built in the 5th century AD. Churches II
and III were in use until the early 9th century AD.
They both show the vitality that the Christian
community of Palmyra exhibited during the
Umayyad and early Abbasid periods. During the
excavations in the atrium of Church III, two hoards
of Sasanian silver dirhams were found, containing
respectively 757 and 18 coins (Gawlikowski 2002,
266–69). After a preliminary study, it appears that a
majority of coins were minted between AD 534 and
AD 626, from the reign of Khusraw I to the reign of
Khusraw II. But the hoard also includes pre-reform
early Islamic coins minted under Ziyad b. Abu
Sufyan (dated H 53/AD 673) and ‘Abdallah b. al-
Zubayr (dated H 63/AD 682 and H 72/AD 691). In all
likelihood, the hoard was collected during the
Sasanian occupation of Syria and buried together
with later coins during the Umayyad period after H
72/AD 691. In a neighbouring block, a very large
house was also excavated (Gawlikowski 1992; 1994).
Built in the second half of the 2nd century AD, the
house witnessed modifications to its original plan and
stayed in use until the late 8th to early 9th century AD.
Between 1977 and 1984, the Museum of Palmyra
undertook the excavation of the main Colonnaded
Street to the west of the Tetrapylon, the eastern part
having been cleared earlier during the late 1950s and
Figure 1 General plan of Palmyra (drawing, Thibaud Fournet)
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1 5
early 1960s by the Directorate General of Antiquities
and Museums. While excavating the western part of
the Colonnaded Street, the remains of a suq or
market were discovered (al-As‘ad and Stepniowski
1989). It consists of a row of at least forty-seven
shops built in the middle of the street. Shops are
aligned for over 170 m and in groups of three to
fifteen; each of the six groups represents a different
construction phase. All of them were accessible from
a passage left on their northern side, in between their
facade and the sidewalk of the Colonnaded Street.
The whole structure is built in stone and can be
considered as a substantial monumental construc-
tion. It is not known whether the suq also extended to
the east of the Tetrapylon and was removed when this
part of the Colonnaded Street was cleared, or
whether it stopped there.
This suq was first thought to be of medieval date
and of not much importance. It was thanks to the
Polish mission that two of the shops were excavated
and some soundings done elsewhere. This allowed the
precise dating of the suq (al-As‘ad and Stepniowski
1989, 210–11, 222). Three different main layers were
pointed out: a pre-suq layer dated to the Umayyad
period, a layer of occupation and use of the suq also
dated to the Umayyad period, and a secondary use
and abandonment layer dated to the Abbasid period.
The proposed date of construction of the suq is the
very late 7th or first half of the 8th century AD.
As the first structure of its kind to have been
discovered archaeologically in Bilad al-Sham, the
Umayyad suq in Palmyra was not given its real
importance when published. Since then, another
Umayyad suq was excavated in Baysan/Scythopolis
(Khamis 2001). This later structure was two-storeyed
and very different from the one in Palmyra, but it is
clearly identified by a dedication inscription of the
caliph Hisham b. ‘Abd al-Malik dated H 120/AD 738.
Another commercial structure identified as part of a
market was discovered in Rusafa/Sergiopolis, a
temporary capital city of the same caliph (Ulbert
1992). It is L-shaped and extends for over 100 m
along the main street leading from the palatial area
outside the rampart to the congregational mosque on
the northern side of the Saint Sergius sanctuary. The
markets in Palmyra, Baysan and Rusafa testify to the
importance accorded by the Umayyad caliphs to
commercial and economic development. As large
structures that can only have been commissioned by a
strong political power — this is especially clear with
the size and situation of the Palmyra suq — they also
show how much Umayyad caliphs were involved in
urban development in Bilad al-Sham.
Apart from Palmyra itself, the whole area called
Palmyrena shows good evidence of its importance
during the Umayyad period. There are a good
number of caliphal palaces, aristocratic mansions or
residences and new urban settlements dotted all
around Palmyra (Genequand 2004a). The most
famous are Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi (Schlumberger
1986) and Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi (Grabar et al. 1978;
Genequand 2005), both built by the caliph Hisham b.
‘Abd al-Malik respectively in H 109/AD 727 and H 110/
AD 728–729; amongst the others, one should mention
Nu‘man b. Bashir’s qasr in al-Bakhra’ (Genequand
2004b) or Qudaym, another large aristocratic
mansion of an unknown owner (Genequand 2004a,
11–12).
The Mosque
Situation
The mosque is situated on the main east-west
Colonnaded Street, to the south of the Tetrapylon,
directly to the north-west of the Theatre and some-
what north-east of the Agora (Fig. 2). It is the centre
of the Roman city. The mosque is built on top of and
reusing parts of a large Roman structure that was
tentatively interpreted as the temple of the imperial
cult (Caesareum). Depending on the original extent of
the Umayyad suq, the mosque is situated either at its
eastern extremity or in the middle of it.
The mosque and the underlying Roman building
were excavated in 1962 by a team from the
Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of
Syria led by Adnan Bounni (Bounni 1963). The
excavation was apparently done without any record-
ing of the stratigraphy. Antoni Ostraz, when planning
the eastern part of the Colonnaded Street, produced
an architectural plan, but it includes only the Roman
remains (Ostraz 1969) (Fig. 3). It is possible now to
do more work on the standing remains, but it is
difficult to know how much of the two structures
were removed during the excavations, particularly for
the later one.
Roman Building
The pre-existing Roman building measures 42.50 633 m externally (Figs 3 and 5). It is oriented north-
east to south-west, but for convenience will be
described as if oriented north to south. It is entered
by a monumental tripartite door situated in the
middle of its northern facade and flanked by a series
of shops opening into the Colonnaded Street. After
the door, a corridor leads to a large paved courtyard
with a peristyle. Five out of six columns of the
southern row are well preserved and still have some
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
6 Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1
pieces of architraves on top (Fig. 4). They are fluted
columns and capitals belonging to the Corinthian
order. These columns open into a hypostyle room,
where only fragments of bases or negatives indicate
the positions of columns. Their exact insertion in the
structure needs to be better defined as it is not
completely clear whether they all belong to the
original monument. Another point that needs to be
better understood is the presence on Ostraz’s plan
(1969) of two side rooms at both ends of the
hypostyle room. They are no longer visible (founda-
tions preserved at a lower level?), but the general plan
of the structure would make more sense if they had
really existed. The street facade, the peristyle and the
courtyard pavement were built with finely dressed or
carved ashlars, shafts, bases or capitals of hard
yellow limestone, while most of the side and internal
walls, which would have been covered with a coat of
plaster, were made out of regular ashlars of brown
limestone.
The southern wall of the building is interrupted by
a different piece of masonry that represents what
seem to be the remains of an exedra. It has a diameter
of about 3.60 m and is paved with flagstones made of
yellow limestone (Fig. 10). It is not clear whether this
belongs to the Roman period or if it belongs to later
rebuilding activities; this point will be discussed later.
The eastern part of the building is composed of
another row of shops opening into a smaller
colonnaded street leading to the Agora and bordered
by the semicircular plaza around the Theatre. The
axis of the street oriented towards the Agora involved
an oblique facade for the shops and means that the
southernmost ones are especially small.
The function of the building is not clear. Its central
position and the apparent absence of any other
rooms mean that it is unlikely to have been a house.
The interpretation that it was the temple of the
imperial cult (Caesareum) is based solely on the find
of an inscription mentioning an autocrator Caesar
Figure 2 Plan of the central sector of Palmyra, including the Agora, the Theatre, the Tetrapylon, part of the Colonnaded
Street and the Roman building/mosque. The Umayyad suq was extending to the west of the Tetrapylon (draw-
ing, Thibaud Fournet)
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1 7
Figure 3 Tetrapylon, Colonnaded Street and Roman building planned in the 1960s by Antoni Ostraz (after Ostraz 1969)
Figure 4 The courtyard and columns of the Roman building seen from the south-east; the Tetrapylon is in the back-
ground (photo, Denis Genequand)
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
8 Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1
divus (Bounni 1995, 17), which was clearly not in its
original place and therefore not really indicative of
the building’s function. Temples of the imperial cult
do not necessarily follow defined plans and a
hypostyle hall with an exedra could be a solution.
But recent research on the imperial cult in Palmyra
tends to show that the temple is more likely to have
been located elsewhere. Further investigations on the
building will therefore be necessary in order to really
understand its function.
Architecture of the Mosque
For the description of the mosque, one should bear in
mind that it is based on the standing and visible
remains and that some of the later walls may have
been removed during the excavations. The mosque is
built on top of the Roman structure (Fig. 5). It reuses
the eastern Roman wall without modification, while
the western wall is rebuilt on the same alignment with
reused architectural elements (columns shafts, archi-
traves, etc.) and ashlars. The qibla wall is built anew
with the correct orientation to the south of the
Roman building. Because of this orientation towards
Mecca, it is set obliquely, departing from the eastern
Roman wall and linked to the western one by another
oblique wall. The qibla wall and the linking wall are
also built with reused architectural elements and
ashlars. The northern wall is more difficult to assess
for the moment. A quick look at it gives the
impression that the Roman wall was reused appar-
ently without modifications, like the eastern wall,
conserving its facade with shops in front of the
Tetrapylon. But, in the original Roman doorway,
massive and isolated monolithic jambs of another
door set obliquely, approximately on the same
orientation as the qibla wall, may indicate that it
was rebuilt or at least modified (Fig. 7). The jambs
rest directly on the Roman threshold.
The internal arrangement of the structure seems
quite clear given the standing pre-existing remains.
The peristyle becomes the courtyard. The still
standing southern row of columns of the peristyle
marks the limit between the courtyard and the prayer
hall. It was perhaps closed by wooden elements
placed between the columns or even by stone
masonries. The prayer hall corresponds more or less
to the former hypostyle room and its ceiling was
probably partly supported by the same row of
disappeared columns (Fig. 6). As previously stated,
it is nevertheless not impossible that the rather
irregular remains of this inner colonnade belong in
parts to the mosque phase. In the western half of the
prayer hall, there was certainly another row of
columns, the width being otherwise too large for its
ceiling. This second row of columns was perhaps in
line with the southern wall of the former Roman
Figure 5 Plan of the currently standing remains of the mosque and former Roman building (survey by Marie-Cecile
Bosert and Denis Genequand; drawing, Marie-Cecile Bosert and Marion Berti)
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1 9
building. Because of the obliqueness of the qibla wall,
there is definitely no need for this second row in the
eastern part. Of course, the two possible side rooms
of the Roman structure no longer existed. Before
further work is done in the field and with the elements
presently at hand, it therefore seems possible to
reconstruct a prayer hall with three bays, respectively
two bays to the east, and nine aisles. As for the
courtyard, it cannot be known from standing remains
whether there were side porticoes or not, but given
the general plan, it is more likely to have been the
case.
The mosque as a whole is a rather large structure
with an outside width of 41 m (south) to 42.50 m
(north) and a length of 26 m (east) to 42.50 m (west).
The inside dimensions of the courtyard are at least 41
6 15.45 m (not including the former shops, the
preservation of which is unknown at that time) and
the prayer hall measures internally 39.50 (south)/41
(north) 6 18 (west)/1.40 (east) m. The oblique
position of the qibla wall explains these rather odd
dimensions.
Of course, the qibla wall is the best element for
identifying the structure and, indeed, it is amongst
Figure 6 View of the prayer hall of the mosque (photo, Denis Genequand)
Figure 7 Standing door jambs inside the original Roman doorways (photo, Denis Genequand)
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
10 Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1
the best preserved elements. It contains a central
semicircular niche, a mihrab indicating the direction
of Mecca, backed by a trapezoidal salient projecting
outside (Figs 8 and 9). This mihrab is rather small,
having a width of 0.90 m for a depth of 1.30 m, and
bordered by two vertical rectangular monolithic
piers. Inside it, the lime mortar floor is well preserved
and gives an indication of the level of the original
floor of the mosque (i.e. all the remains visible now in
the prayer hall were below the floor). There is a small
niche 2 m to the east of the mihrab. Only one course
high and situated just above the floor level, it is not
sure whether it was intended to be a small lateral
mihrab, or if it is only due to the reuse of former
architectural fragments and was supposed to be
covered with plaster. Further investigations are
needed.
The eastern half of the qibla wall presents several
phases, modifications and additions that will not be
described in detail here, some more fieldwork also
being necessary. Suffice it to say now that a
rectangular room was added to the south of the qibla
wall (Fig. 5), the walls of which are preserved much
higher than for the rest of the mosque and are also
made of reused ashlars and architectural elements. It
can only be hypothesized that it was the base for a
structure higher than the mosque, perhaps a tower.
Figure 8 Central part of the qibla wall with the mihrab and a lateral niche (photo, Denis Genequand)
Figure 9 The mihrab (photo, Denis Genequand)
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1 11
Fortunately, it has not been completely excavated
and will in the future provide some stratified levels
and valuable information about its architecture,
phasing and insertion into the mosque.
The last point that needs to be made in relation to
the qibla wall is the possibility — I say the possibility,
because it is only an hypothesis that needs to be
verified — of a first qibla being on the same alignment
as the southern wall of the Roman building. It was
noted above that the southern Roman wall is
interrupted by some masonry apparently related to
some sort of exedra (Fig. 10). The exact phasing of
the exedra, whether original or much later, is not yet
known. When planning the building shortly after its
excavation, when it was presumably cleaned for
detailed observations, Ostraz (1969) considered it as
a later addition and left a blank space on the plan. It
could therefore be hypothesized that it belongs to a
first mosque that fully reused the rest of the plan of
the Roman building. In this case, it would have been
a rather large mihrab, like those of Jarash (Walmsley
and Damgaard 2005) or ‘Amman Citadel (Almagro
and Jimenez 2000). Such a possibility, with two
different phases of mosque, would explain better
certain oddities in the plan, especially in the
south-west corner, where secondary masonries are
not all bounded together. After a first mosque quickly
set in the centre of Palmyra, its Muslim community
would have felt the need of a qibla properly oriented
towards Mecca and modified the monument.
Finally, there are several elements related to the
mosque in front of the northern facade, including a
cistern built on top of former canalizations. It could
have been used for ritual ablutions before entering
the mosque or to bring water inside the courtyard for
the same purpose.
Dating of the Mosque
The mosque was not excavated with modern archae-
ological methods and nothing is known about the
stratigraphy or other dating elements from the
excavations. The only way for this to be done now
would be by excavating south of the qibla wall,
especially in the rectangular room abutted to it.
Nevertheless, before further investigations in the
field, the context and setting of the mosque strongly
suggest a likely date.
First, it is set in the centre of the former Roman
city in clear relation to the Umayyad suq, a well-
dated structure. Secondly, when the mosque was
Figure 10 Remains of the exedra in the southern wall of the Roman building; it is possible that it was a first mihrab
(photo, Denis Genequand)
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
12 Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1
built, the Roman topography of the city was still
predominant, the streets still in use, parts of the
Roman monuments still standing and the floor levels
not much elevated (as shown by the reuse of the
original Roman paved courtyard, by the reuse of
the Roman threshold of the door and by the floor in
the mihrab only slightly higher); all this indicates the
absence of a long period of abandonment and
involves a date still close in time to late Antiquity.
Thirdly, from what is known about the evolution and
stratigraphy of excavated areas in Palmyra, the centre
of the city does not present layers or phases that are
dated later than the first half of the 9th century AD
(see above), the exceptions being the temple of Bel,
where the occupation seems to concentrate from the
9th–10th century AD onwards and which was
refortified in H 527/AD 1132–1133 (Sauvaget 1931,
143), and the late 12th to early 13th century AD
fortress dominating the city (Bylinski 1999). By the
middle of the 9th century AD, most of the Roman city
was abandoned.
From what precedes, the most likely date for the
mosque is the early Islamic period and more precisely
the Umayyad period. On the one hand, a later date of
the Ayyubid or Mamluk period seems impossible
given the absence of other contemporary remains in
the central part of the city. And even if there were
some, the large size of the mosque would make it an
unlikely candidate for a small occupation. On the
other hand, the Umayyad period is a very good
candidate, having a lot of evidence for a still thriving
occupation and, not least, evidence of large-scale
modifications of urbanism with the nearby suq. For
the moment and before more data are obtained about
the stratigraphy, it is difficult and unreliable to
propose a more precise date within the Umayyad
period. Let us only say that the first half of the 8th
century is the more likely given the general trends
established by archaeologists for Umayyad mosque
building activities in Bilad al-Sham.
Discussion
Early Islamic congregational mosques were certainly
numerous in Bilad al-Sham, as reflected by textual
sources, by mosques with Umayyad origins that are
still in use and by archaeology. Nevertheless,
mosques that are still in use are often difficult to
consider with an archaeological perspective because
the exact extent of what is really Umayyad has, in
most cases, never been properly assessed.
Archaeology has contributed quite a lot to the
knowledge of Umayyad mosques, but most of
them are small structures related to princely and
aristocratic residences, leaving only a handful of
Umayyad congregational mosques that are well
known and can provide good comparative evidence.
In respect to the theme dealt with here, i.e. a con-
gregational mosque in a former antique and late
antique city, the relevant structures are ‘Amman
Downtown (Northedge 1992, 63–69), ‘Amman Citadel
(Almagro and Jimenez 2000), Jarash (Walmsley and
Damgaard 2005), ‘Anjar (Hillenbrand 1999), Qasr
al-Hayr al-Sharqi (Grabar et al. 1978, 46–51) and
Rusafa (Sack 1996).
The plan consisting of a hypostyle hall and a
courtyard is found everywhere for a congregational
mosque. Of course the rather irregular plan of the
Palmyra prayer hall is entirely due to the partial reuse
of a more ancient building combined with the
necessity of having a qibla wall properly oriented
towards Mecca. It would not have parallels else-
where. As hypothesized before, the prayer hall seems
to have been divided into three bays to the west,
respectively two to the east, and nine aisles. All the
other mosques cited before have three bays and it
seems to be the custom for urban congregational
mosques. Nine aisles are found in Jarash, Rusafa and
‘Anjar, while the two mosques in ‘Amman and Qasr
al-Hayr al-Sharqi have only seven aisles. It is not yet
known if there were porticoes in the courtyard in
Palmyra, but one can expect that they existed as in
every other congregational mosque, or that they were
at least planned, but not necessarily built, as in
Rusafa. For the moment, the closest architectural
parallels are ‘Amman Downtown, Jarash, Qasr al-
Hayr al-Sharqi and Rusafa. The hypothesis of two
different phases for the qibla wall needs more
research and, if confirmed, would prove to be very
interesting. It would be the first archaeological
attestation of such an evolution for an Umayyad
mosque in Bilad al-Sham.
The overall dimensions of the mosque (41 642.50 m, considering the width of the qibla wall and
the longest side) correspond roughly to the dimen-
sions of the Jarash mosque (38.90 6 44.50 m) or of
the Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi mosque (38 6 48.50 m).
That makes the structure one of the smallest of the
Umayyad congregational mosques built in Bilad al-
Sham. But the dimensions and proportions of the
Palmyra mosque fits well with a trend that prevailed
during the reign of Hisham b. ‘Abd al-Malik (H 105–
125/AD 724–743), as recently demonstrated by
Walmsley and Damgaard (2005, 375).
The situation of the Palmyra mosque in the centre
of the ancient city, precisely at the main crossroads
and at the end of a market street, is also strongly
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1 13
reminiscent of other antique urban centres modified
by the Umayyads or new Umayyad urban settle-
ments. Of course, the closest parallel is offered by
Jarash, with its congregational mosque situated to the
south-west of the South Tetrakonia, at the intersec-
tion of the Cardo and South Decumanus. As in
Palmyra, shops bordered the eastern side of the
Jarash mosque and a larger Umayyad market area or
suq was identified around the plaza of the South
Tetrakonia and perhaps along the western part of the
South Decumanus (Walmsley 2003, 112–13). In
Rusafa, an L-shaped market or suq street led to the
congregational mosque situated north of the Saint
Sergius basilica. In ‘Anjar and at the ‘Amman citadel,
two new urban settlements, a large colonnaded street,
respectively a colonnaded plaza, bordered by many
shops are the main accesses to the centrally placed
congregational mosques.
All the previously cited examples of urban centres,
whether new (‘Amman Citadel, ‘Anjar and Qasr al-
Hayr al-Sharqi) or antique (‘Amman Downtown,
Baysan, Jarash and Rusafa, to which should be
added Damascus, Jerusalem, Homs, Busra or
Aleppo) testify to the involvement of the Umayyad
Marwanid caliphs in large-scale urban development
or refurbishment. Only a strong political power was
able to impose this kind of modification to the urban
core of large cities or to create new ones, and was able
to make the necessary investments. Mosques were
linked to the affirmation of a new religion and a new
political power. Markets were linked to economic
development. Nevertheless, one may wonder if these
latter should be interpreted as proof of a still thriving
and continuous economic life in Bilad al-Sham or as
an attempt by the new rulers to revitalize a declining
economy. This is, of course, a very large debate that
cannot be properly addressed within the parameters
of this paper.
Palmyra, with its Umayyad mosque and suq,
become fully integrated in this urban development
phenomenon. The city and its territory — the latter
including several important caliphal and aristocratic
residences or new urban settlements — are strong
indications of the vitality of the region. Palmyra was
still a significant regional centre. Nevertheless, unlike
other urban centres, Palmyra did not seem to have
had an important administrative role. Rusafa was
temporarily Hisham b. ‘Abd al-Malik’s capital.
‘Amman was the seat of the governor of al-Balqa’,
a sub-governorship of the jund Dimashq, and also had
a garrison and a mint (Northedge 1992, 49). Jarash
and Baysan were administrative centres, capitals of
districts (kura) of the jund al-Urdunn, and both had a
mint (Walmsley 2003, 111–12). Therefore, there
should be another reason for the important develop-
ment and vitality of Palmyra and Palmyrena under
the Umayyads and it can be hypothesized that it was
their political role. As mentioned at the beginning of
this contribution, they were the core area of settle-
ment of Kalb, one of the leading tribal groups in
terms of support to the Umayyad caliphate. This
support, shown for example at the time of the coming
of the Marwanid branch, was certainly as important
to the caliphs as the governorship of regional
subdivisions of the ajnad and would justify the
development of central Palmyra and the different
investments in Palmyrena. Both were the scenes
where the caliphs were exercising their political
power.
Conclusion
The rediscovery of a large mosque in central Palmyra,
which can very likely be attributed to the Umayyad
period, increases the knowledge of the ancient city
during the early Islamic period and allows its
importance to be reassessed in comparison with other
Umayyad urban centres. Yet, if the general organiza-
tion of the mosque and of the pre-existing building is
quite clear, there remains much to do to gain a
detailed understanding of them. This is also the case
for a more precise date of the mosque. Given the
architecture of the structure and the present state of
research about Palmyra, the Umayyad period seems
to be the most satisfactory date, but it is not definitely
proven. Therefore, more fieldwork needs to be done
on both the Roman building and the early Islamic
mosque. This will be done by a new Syrian-Swiss
project currently being organized by the author. It
will include a complete architectural analysis of both
structures and a reassessment of their stratigraphy by
a few soundings in sectors that were not excavated
before. This project should make possible a better
knowledge of the function and evolution of the
Roman building. It should enable the date of the
mosque to be assured and provide an understanding
as to precisely how it was inserted into the previous
building. It should also afford the detailed study of
the architecture of one of the few early Islamic
congregational mosques known archaeologically in
Bilad al-Sham. Finally, it will shed new light on the
transition from late Antiquity to early Islam in
Palmyra.
Acknowledgements
The preliminary investigations on the Palmyra
mosque were done in April 2006 by Marie-Cecile
Genequand An Early Islamic Mosque in Palmyra
14 Levant 2008 VOL 40 NO 1
Bosert (surveyor, Paris), Hugo Amoroso (archaeolo-
gist, Lausanne) and Denis Genequand, with the help
of Walid al-As‘ad (director of the Palmyra office of
the DGAMS), during the 2006 season of the Syrian-
Swiss archaeological mission at Qasr al-Hayr al-
Sharqi. I wish to thank the Directorate General of
Antiquities and Museums of Syria, its General
Director, Dr Bassam Jamous, and the Director for
Excavations and Archaeological Studies, Dr Michel
al-Maqdissi, for welcoming us, for help and support,
and for allowing us to work on Umayyad settlements
in Syria. It is also the occasion to thank again the
Swiss-Liechtenstein Foundation for Archaeological
Research Abroad (SLFA, Zurich) for their support
and for funding the project at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi.
I am grateful to Isabelle Ruben (Amman) for
correcting the English text and to Marion Berti
(SCA, Geneva) for producing the final version of
Figure 5. I also wish to thank Jean-Baptiste Yon and
Thibaud Fournet (CNRS, Lyon) for answering some
questions and inquiries and for providing the plans
for Figures 1 and 2, plans that were first published in
their Inscriptions de Palmyre. Promenade epigraphique
dans la ville antique de Palmyre (IFAPO: Beyrouth-
Damas-Amman, 2001), and Michel Gawlikowski for
giving some indications on the date of abandonment
of the area he is studying in central Palmyra.
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