A mosque of this size and importance would have been most important given the strategic and political role of Aleppo as a starting point in the mentioned campaigns.
Until the 10th century, not much can be said about the history of the mosque, which, similar to the city, was negatively affected by different factors over long periods of time. This included the fact that Aleppo had become a provincial city of lesser importance during the Abbasid caliphs and that several periods of tumult and unrest affected both the city and the Great Mosque.
Under the Abbasid caliphs, for example, the city was at the border between Mesopotamia and Egypt and was ruled, for a large period of time, from Egypt, during the second half of the 9th century (nnnn, 1st part). Furthermore, the Abbasids are reported to have vandalized the mosque, which stood as a monument of their predecessors and rivals, the Umayyad caliphs.
The cultural revival during the Hamdanid dynasty, without a direct impact on the Great Mosque, which saw no additions to its architecture, was ended by the sack of the city by the Byzantine forces, in 962, which significantly affected urban life (some attributed to this sack the fact that the mosque's mosaics disappeared). During the three hundred years from the initial construction to the construction of the famous minaret, almost no work was undertaken at the Mosque, except for the construction of a fountain in the mosque's courtyard.
In 1090, Abu'l Hasan Muhammad, the chief Islamic judge in the city, built the minaret, 45 meters tall. The construction was achieved in 1094, under the rule of Tutush I, Seljuk ruler of Damascus. The Seljuk Turks had taken over Aleppo in 1078, but the city still continued to suffer from the wars and conflicts, particularly since from the
The mosque was also particularly affected by a great fire, despite the fact that the minaret was also built during this time. It was until the Zengid sultan Nur al-Din that the expansion and development of the city was resumed at a more accelerated pace, including through the work that Nur al-Din undertook on the Great Mosque.
In the next centuries, the mosque was subjected to severe and repeated destructions. In the 13th century, the city was conquered by an Armenian king, who destroyed the mosque, except for the minaret. It was rebuilt, but the Mongolian invasion destroyed the mosque once more in 1260. The Mamluk Sultan Qalawun rebuilt the church once more. Other Mamluk sultans, who had taken over Aleppo, added elements such as the minbar and the mihrab.
While the mosque was renovated again in 2003, it has unfortunately been a witness and direct victim of the civil war that has been ravaging Syria over the last years. In October 2012, it was severely damaged as a result of the fighting. It became an area of heavy fighting after rebel forces took over the mosque and used it as a base for military actions. With the governmental forces stationed nearby, the obvious consequence was that the minaret collapsed as a result of the exchange of fire between the two forces, on April 24, 2013.
Bibliography
1. Bacharach, Jere L. 1996. Marwanid Umayyad Building Activities: Speculations on Patronage. The Encyclopedia of Islam
2. Mitchell, George ed. 1978. Architecture…
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