| Great Mosque of Nablus | |
| Native Name: | جامع نابلس الكبير |
| Native Name Lang: | ar |
| Map Type: | West Bank |
| Map Size: | 220px |
| Religious Affiliation: | Islam |
| Location: | Nablus, West Bank, Palestine |
| Tradition: | Sunni |
| Festivals: | --> |
| Consecration Year: | 1187 |
| Organizational Status: | --> |
| Architecture Type: | Mosque |
| Architecture Style: | Early Arab, Ayyubid |
| Year Completed: | 10th century |
| Date Destroyed: | --> |
| Dome Quantity: | 1 |
| Minaret Quantity: | 1 |
| Elevation Ft: | --> |
Great Mosque of Nablus (Arabic: جامع نابلس الكبير Jami' Nablus al-Kebir) is the oldest and largest mosque in the Palestinian city of Nablus.[1] It was originally built as a Byzantine church and was converted into a mosque during the early Islamic era. The Crusaders transformed it into a church in the 11th century, but it was reconsecrated as a mosque by the Ayyubids in the 12th century. The mosque is located at the intersection of the main streets of the Old City, along the district's eastern edges.[2] It has a long, narrow, rectangular floor plan and a silver dome.[3]
Local legend in Nablus claims that mosque was the site where Jacob's sons handed Jacob the blood-stained coat of their brother Joseph as evidence that his favorite son was dead.[1] This tradition is more associated with the nearby al-Khadra Mosque, however.
The site of the Great Mosque was originally a basilica built during the reign of Philip the Arab in 244-249 CE.[3] The Byzantines later constructed a cathedral on the basilica's ruins and this cathedral is depicted in the mosaic Map of Madaba in 600 CE.[4] It was likely damaged or destroyed by the Samaritans during their raids in 484 and 529, but Emperor Justinian I (reigned from 483-565) had the cathedral restored.[5]
The cathedral was transformed into the Great Mosque of Nablus in the early period of Islamic Arab rule in Palestine, in the 10th-century.[6] Arab geographer Al-Maqdisi wrote that the Great Mosque was in the “midst” of Nablus, and “is very finely paved.”[7] The Crusaders reconverted the mosque into a church, but made only few alterations including the construction of an apse. In 1187, the Ayyubids led by Saladin converted the building to a mosque again. The building was burned down by the Knights Templar in the sack of the city of 30 October 1242.[5]
A new building was present by the end of the 13th century, as evidenced by Arab chronicler al-Dimashqi who, in 1300, mentions the Great Mosque as “a fine mosque, in which prayer is performed, and the Qur'an is recited day and night, men being appointed thereto.”[8] In 1335, Western traveler James of Verona recorded that the mosque had been “a church of the Christians but now is a mosque of the Saracens.”[5] Twenty years later, Ibn Batuta visited it and noted that in the middle of the mosque was a “tank of sweet water.”[9]
In 1641, the Great Mosque's minaret was rebuilt,[10] but the mosque compound had remained virtually untouched throughout most of its later existence until a severe earthquake struck Palestine, especially Nablus in 1927. The mosque's dome and minaret were destroyed as a result, but were restored in 1935.[3]
. Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau. [ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane]. 1. 1899. Palestine Exploration Fund. London. (p. 26)
. Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau. [ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane]. 2. 1896. Palestine Exploration Fund. London. (pp. 311-312)
. Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Guy Le Strange. 1890. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. 0-404-56288-4. London.