Ruins in the basement of Danyal's mosque

The Mousoleum of Danyal ( tr, Danyal Makamı) is a small complex in Tarsus,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, consisting 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, ...

and a tomb, which is believed to be that of the biblical figure

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

. Two arches of a

Roman bridge The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges. Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants, but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and ke ...

were found in the basement of the mosque-tomb complex during a renovation project.

Geography

Tarsus is an old city and is known as the birthplace of

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. The Mausoleum of Danyal, the mosque and the arches of the Roman bridge, are located in a neighborhood of the city which is full of historical buildings such as the

Grand Mosque of Tarsus Tarsus Grand Mosque ( tr, Tarsus Ulu Cami) is a mosque in Tarsus, Mersin Province, Turkey. Geography The mosque is at the center of Tarsus in ''Camii Nur'' neighbourhood. It is the biggest mosque of Tarsus. It is close to St Paul's Church, ...

, the

Tarsus Old Mosque Tarsus Old Mosque ( tr, Eski camii) is a mosque converted from a historic church located in Tarsus, Mersin, Tarsus ilçe of Mersin Province, southern Turkey. Geography The mosque is in the urban fabric of Tarsus. It is on the main road of Tarsus. ...

and Saint Paul's Church. It is at . The mosque is to the north and the tomb as well as the arches of the bridge are situated to the south of the complex. Its distance to

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

is .

Legend of Daniel

Although Danyal in Islam is not included in the list of the 25

Islamic Prophets 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 ...

, he is considered to be a holy figure. According to legend, during a famine period Danyal was invited to Tarsus and brought prosperity to the city. When he died he was buried in Tarsus. In 1857, a small mosque was built next to the place where his body was thought to lie, even before his tomb was unearthed. Subsequently, the mosque was named after him. According to a source which refers to an 11th-century

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

source, Tarsus was captured by the

Rashidun caliph , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of t ...

Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

. A subordinate of Umar found a large coffin and a ring on the finger of the deceased. There was a figure of two lions and a boy on the ring and Umar predicted that the deceased was Danyal. In order to protect the coffin, Umar buried the coffin under the river.

History of the bridge

The arches are part of a large

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

bridge constructed in the 1st century AD.Ministry of Culture: ''Müze Çalışmaları, Kurtarma Çalışmaları Sempozyumu'' ("The Symposium of Museums and rescue excavations") pp.32–46 Before the 6th century, the course of the

Berdan River The Berdan (also Baradān or Baradā), the ancient Cydnus ( el, Κύδνος), is a river in Mersin Province, south Turkey. The historical city of Tarsus is on the river and it is therefore sometimes called the Tarsus River. Originally the water ...

lay within the city, and the city suffered from the irregular flow rate and the seasonal floods. The

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Justinianus I (reigned 527–565) had an alternative course to the east of the city constructed to reduce the risk of floods.Researcher Şakin Özkan in Yumuktepe page
/ref> The Roman bridge had spanned the river's former course and had lost its function after the river was diverted. When the city was captured by the Arabs (ca. 7th–9th centuries) they found the useless bridge, and it seems they used a part of the bridge as a tomb. However, because of the floods in the following centuries, the ground level of Tarsus was slowly rising and the former bridge was buried under the ground. The long-forgotten bridge might have been unearthed in 1946 during a city sewage project when a part of the arch was found. But unconscious of its historical value, the constructor partially damaged it while laying water pipes. It was only recently that the two arches were rediscovered. In 2002, during the renewal of Danyal's Mosque to add a ''abdestlik'' ("

wudu Wuḍūʾ ( ar, الوضوء ' ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The 4 Fardh (Mandatory) acts of ''Wudu'' consists of washing the face, arms, then wiping the head and the feet ...

place"), the constructor unearthed a part of a big arch several meters underground. After a rescue excavation by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2006, the arch of a drop-vault bridge and an accompanying small building, which houses an Islamic tomb, were unearthed. Although there was no inscription on the tomb, it was popularly taken to be the tomb of Danyal in accordance with the popular belief.Mersin Governorship: ''Mersin Ören Yerleri Kaleleri Müzeleri'' ("Mersin Ruins, castles and museums"), pp.84–85

Archaeology

Judging from the size of the arch, there must be more arches of the former bridge. The other arches are still buried under the urban fabric, including other valuable historical buildings, and presently they have not been excavated. The size of the main underground compartment of the two arches is and the dimension of the adjacent compartment of the tomb to the northeast is . The depth of the foundation of the arch is and the depth of the highest point is with respect to ground level. For structural performance, the

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

s were jointed with lead-coated iron fittings. On the wall adjacent to the tomb, a hectogram had been carved. There are some small finds, which are thought to belong to a yet unearthed bath, and four coins of the

Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...

References

External links