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Hala Sultan Tekke or the Mosque of Umm Haram ( el, Τεκές Χαλά Σουλτάνας ''Tekés Chalá Soultánas''; tr, Hala Sultan Tekkesi) is a
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
and tekke complex on the west bank of
Larnaca Salt Lake Larnaca Salt Lake ( el, Αλυκή Λάρνακας, tr, Larnaka Tuz Gölü) is a complex network of four salt lakes (3 of them interconnected) of different sizes to the west of the city of Larnaca. The largest is lake ''Aliki'', followed by lake ...
, in
Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of ...
, Cyprus.
Umm Haram Umm Hiram bint Milhan (; tr, Hala Sultan, Aunt Sultan), was the maternal aunt ( ar, خالة) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and one of his companions . She was also one of the Ansar of Medina. Life She was the sister of Umm Sulaim an ...
( tr, Hala Sultan) was the wife of Ubada bin al-Samit, a companion of the
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets ar ...
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
, and foster sister of Muhammad’s mother, Aminah bint Wahb. Hala Sultan Tekke complex is composed of a
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
,
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...
,
minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
,
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...
, and living quarters for men and women. The term tekke (
convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...
) applies to a building designed specifically for gatherings of a
Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
brotherhood, or
tariqa A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking '' haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth". ...
, and may have referred to an earlier feature of the location. The present-day complex lies on the shores of the
Larnaca Salt Lake Larnaca Salt Lake ( el, Αλυκή Λάρνακας, tr, Larnaka Tuz Gölü) is a complex network of four salt lakes (3 of them interconnected) of different sizes to the west of the city of Larnaca. The largest is lake ''Aliki'', followed by lake ...
, an important site in
prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...
. Hala Sultan Tekke is a listed Ancient Monument.


History


Antiquity

During the second half of the second millennium B.C, the area of the Hala Sultan Tekke was used as a cemetery by the people who lived in an archaeological site known as Dromolaxia ''Vizatzia'',New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2010
/ref> a large Late Bronze Age town a few hundred metres to the West. Originally identified as an archaeological site following looting in the 1890s, numerous tombs of Late Bronze Age date (around 1650-1100 BC) with rich contents were excavated by the British Museum in 1897-1898 directed by Henry Beauchamp Walters and then
John Winter Crowfoot John Winter Crowfoot CBE (28 July 1873 – 6 December 1959) was a British educational administrator and archaeologist. He worked for 25 years in Egypt and Sudan, serving from 1914 to 1926 as Director of Education in the Sudan, before accepting an ...
; the finds were divided between the British Museum and the Cyprus Museum. The contemporary settlement was identified by Swedish archaeologist Arne Furumark in 1947 and some preliminary excavations conducted by the Department of Antiquities. A part of this town was excavated from the 1970s onward by a
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
archaeological mission led by Professor Paul Åström, and proved to be a major urban centre of
Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
Cyprus The most recent excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke, The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition have been carried out by Professor Peter M. Fischer from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2010-2012- ...); se
www.fischerarchaeology.se
The results of the excavations have been published annually in the journal ''Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome''. In 2018, Fischer uncovered several tombs at the site that are being explored carefully. The tombs date to 1500 and 1350 BC and contained artifacts of the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
that demonstrate the extensive trade of goods existing at the time. Radar surveys (2010-2012) have demonstrated that the city was one of the largest in the Late Bronze Age (roughly 1600-1100 BC), maybe as large as 50 ha. Another archaeological investigation conducted by the Department of Antiquities under the women's quarter of Hala Sultan Tekke have revealed building remains dated to the late Archaic, Classical, and
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
periods (sixth - first century BC). Several finds indicate that the site might have been used as a sanctuary but the limited scale of the investigations precludes definite conclusions about its use.


Ottoman era

Most accounts establish a connection between the site and the death of
Umm Haram Umm Hiram bint Milhan (; tr, Hala Sultan, Aunt Sultan), was the maternal aunt ( ar, خالة) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and one of his companions . She was also one of the Ansar of Medina. Life She was the sister of Umm Sulaim an ...
during the first Arab conquest of Cyprus under the
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Muawiyah between 647 and 649, which were later pursued throughout the
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
and the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
periods. According to these accounts, Umm Haram, being of very old age, had fallen from her mule and had died during a siege of Larnaca. She was later buried where she died. According to
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
belief, her grave lies within
Jannatul Baqi ''Jannat al-Baqīʿ'' ( ar, ٱلْبَقِيْع, "The Baqi'") is the oldest and the first Islamic cemetery of Medina in the Hejazi region of present-day Saudi Arabia. It is located to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, which contains the gr ...
cemetery in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. During the Ottoman administration of Cyprus, a mosque complex was built in stages around the tomb. The tomb was discovered in the 18th century by the
dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...
called Sheikh Hasan, who also built the first structure here. Dervish Hasan managed to convince the administrative and religious authorities of the site's sacred nature and with the permission he received, he built the shrine around the tomb in 1760 and had it decorated. The wooden fences around the tomb would have been built by the 19th-century Ottoman governor in Cyprus, Seyyid Elhac Mehmed Agha, which were replaced by fences in
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...
and two doors by his successor Acem Ali Agha. In another account, Giovanni Mariti, who visited Cyprus between 1760–1767, wrote that the shrine was built by the Cyprus governor he names as Ali Agha. According to Mariti, until 1760 they used the stones of a standing church in a ruined village nearby as construction materials. In another source, it is mentioned that the construction of the mosque was initiated by the Cyprus governor Seyyid Mehmed Emin Efendi in classical Ottoman style, and it was completed in November 1817. The ancillary buildings have been repaired in 2004, and the mosque and the minaret are currently being restored. Both of these initiatives have been carried out with support from the Bi-communal Development Programme, which is funded from USAID and UNDP, and implemented through UNOPS.


Layout

Above the entry gate to Tekke garden is an Ottoman inscription dated 4 March 1813. Sultan
Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
's
monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series ...
appears on both sides of the inscription and reads, "Hala Sultan Tekke was built by God's beloved great Ottoman Cyprus governor". The garden itself was designed by a
pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignita ...
and came to be known as "Pasha garden". The complex of buildings adjacent to the Tekke was known as "Gülşen-Feyz" (''the rose garden of plenitude'' or of ''enlightenment''). To the north (left) of the entrance there used to be a guesthouse for men. On the right side of the entrance, there was another guesthouse of which one block was reserved for men ( Selamlik) and the other for women ( Haremlik). It was a custom for visitors to take the oath of dedication to serve the Hala Sultan Tekke if their wishes were realized. The
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
d mosque is square-shaped with a
balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony ...
and was built in yellow stone blocks. The
minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
was repaired in 1959. Umm Haram's tomb is located behind the mosque wall of the
qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the ...
(in the direction of
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...
). A further inscription dated 1760 is found here. Aside her, there are four other tombs, two of them former sheikhs. Another important tomb is a two-leveled marble
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...
, carrying the date 12 July 1929. The tomb belongs to Adile Hüseyin Ali, who was the Turkish wife of the
Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after procl ...
of the Hashemite House, himself a grandson of the Ottoman
grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
Koca Mustafa Reşid Pasha Koca (a Turkish word meaning "great" or "large") may refer to: People Epithet * Koca Ragıp Pasha (1698–1763), Ottoman statesman * Koča Andjelković (1755–1789), Serbian rebel * Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha (1769–1855), Ottoman admiral * ...
and a descendant of
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
. At the eastern corner of the mosque and the Tekke, there is a cemetery, which was closed to burials at around 1899. A number of past Turkish administrators are buried here. Opposite the mosque, there is an octagonal fountain, which was built around 1796-1797 by the then governor of Cyprus Silahtar Kaptanbaşı Mustafa Agha. The information on the construction is recorded on the marble inscription located on the fountain. On another inscription dated 1895, which was recently discovered in the Tekke's garden, it is written that the infrastructure for bringing in the water was built upon the instructions of the
Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...
Abdülhamid II.


Significance

While being acknowledged as a holy site for Turkish Cypriot Muslims, the mosque has also been described by contemporary sources as revered by all Muslims. In an assessment of the environmental and cultural assets of
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
, Professor George E. Bowen, a senior
Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...
at the
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th sta ...
, described Hala Sultan Tekke as the third holiest place for Muslims in the world. This view has been echoed by other sources including the
United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
in Cyprus and the Cypriot administration's Department of Antiquities. Others describe the site as fourth most important in the Islamic world, after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. As a result of the site being located in the Greek non-Muslim sector of the divided island, pilgrimage visits to the site are infrequent. In addition to interventions at the imperial level and by high-ranking administrators for the maintenance and development of the complex, during the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, Ottoman-flagged ships would hang their flags at half mast when off the shores of Larnaca, and salute Hala Sultan with
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
shots.


Gallery

File:Larnaca 01-2017 img30 Salt Lake.jpg, Hala Sultan Tekke with Larnaca Salt Lake in the foreground File:LarnacaSaltLake.jpg, Aerial photo of the
Larnaca Salt Lake Larnaca Salt Lake ( el, Αλυκή Λάρνακας, tr, Larnaka Tuz Gölü) is a complex network of four salt lakes (3 of them interconnected) of different sizes to the west of the city of Larnaca. The largest is lake ''Aliki'', followed by lake ...
(in winter) with Hala Sultan Tekke File:Hala Sultan Tekke.jpg, The Hala Sultan Tekke. File:Hala Sultan Tekke Larnaca 7.JPG, Inside the Hala Sultan Tekke


See also

*
List of mosques in Cyprus This is a list of mosques in Cyprus. See also * Islam in Cyprus References External links Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot Religious buildings Built before 1974Whatson North Cyprus {{List of mosques Mosques Cyprus ...
*
Islam in Cyprus Islam in Cyprus is the island's second largest religion and the predominant faith of Northern Cyprus. Islam was introduced to Cyprus when the island finally fell to Umayyad conquerors during the Arab-Byzantine wars. Prior to this, the Mu ...


References


External links


Ancient Cyprus in the British Museum

Rehabilitation of the Hala Sultan Tekke Complex

MP3 and PDF audio guides
by the Cyprus Tourism Organization. {{Authority control Mosques in Cyprus Ziyarat Ottoman architecture in Cyprus Religious buildings and structures completed in 1817