Name of Object:

Marble panel

Location:

Damascus, Syria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Damascus

About National Museum of Damascus, Damascus

Original Owner:

Al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf bin Ayyub (Saladin) (r. AH 569–89 / AD 1174–93)

Date of Object:

Hegira 575 / AD 1179

Museum Inventory Number:

ع/13

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Engraved marble.

Dimensions:

Length 87 cm, width 60 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ayyubid

Provenance:

Damascus, Syria.

Description:

The various rulers who governed Damascus over the centuries were devoted to the care of the Umayyad Mosque, endowing it with religious, historical, political, architectural and artistic significance. The mosque has been the focal point of the city since its construction by the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid bin 'Abd al-Malik in AH 88 / AD 706.
During the Atabeg and Ayyubid periods, two fires struck the great Umayyad Mosque. The books, the woodwork, and much of the original artistic features within the mosque all perished. After the fire of AH 461 / AD 1069, Nur al-Din Mahmud bin al-Zangi took great care to restore the mosque to its former glory. Renovation after the fire of AH 569 / AD 1174 was undertaken by Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty.
This engraved marble panel commemorates the renovation work conducted by al-Malik al-Nasir, the title of Salah al-Din meaning 'the victorious king', in AH 575 / AD 1179, and was specifically concerned with restoration of the mosque's marble panelling.
The inscription in thuluth script is arranged on ten lines:
“In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate. The people who build the mosques/
of God are those who believe in God and the Day of Judgment,/
perform the prayers, give alms and/
do not fear any except God, as they/
are from the rightly guided. Renovation/
of this [sic, read these] two parts [of the mosque] took place in the days of the protector, al-Malik/
al-Nasir Abu al-Mudhaffar Yusuf bin Ayyub, Reviver of the State/
the Commander of the Faithful, may he live long/
and this in the months of the year/
five hundred and seventy-five after the hegira of the Prophet.”

The inscription on this marble panel acknowledges the renovations to the Great Umayyad Mosque during the Ayyubid reign of al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din (Saladin), in AH 575 / AD 1179.

How date and origin were established:

The date 575 (1179) is inscribed on the panel.

How Object was obtained:

Purchased in 1919.

How provenance was established:

The marble panel came from the Umayyad Mosque and was probably made in situ.

Selected bibliography:

Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus, Damascus, 1969, p.238.
Cluzan, S. et al (eds), Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation, Paris, 1994.
Delpont, E. (ed), L'Orient de Saladin: l'art des Ayyoubides, Paris, 2001, p.61; fig. 58.

Citation of this web page:

Mona al-Moadin "Marble panel" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;29;en

Prepared by: Mona Al-Moadin
Translation by: Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: SY 40