The Shrine of the Báb is a structure on the slopes of
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...
in
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, where the remains of the
Báb
The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...
, founder of the
Bábí Faith and forerunner of
Baháʼu'lláh
Baháʼu'lláh (born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Persia, and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábí Faith. In 1863, in I ...
in the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
, are buried; it is considered to be the second holiest place on Earth for Baháʼís, after the
Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh
The Mansion of Bahjí ( ar, قصر بهجي, Qasr Bahjī, ''mansion of delight'') is a summer house in Acre, Israel where Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, died in 1892. He was buried in an adjacent house, which became the Shri ...
in
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
. Its precise location on Mount Carmel was designated by Baháʼu'lláh himself to his eldest son,
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian language, Persian: , 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later C ...
, in 1891. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá planned the structure, which was designed and completed several years later by his grandson,
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that over ...
.
Crowning the design, as anticipated by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, is a dome, which is set on an 18-windowed drum. That, in turn, is mounted on an octagon, a feature suggested by Shoghi Effendi. An arcade surrounds the stone edifice. A restoration project of the exterior and interior of the shrine started in 2008 and was completed in April 2011.
History
First mausoleum
Bahá'u'lláh arrived in the Haifa-Akka region as a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire in the same year as the first
German Templer colony in Palestine was founded in Haifa. Years later, after his release from strict confinement, he visited the
Templer Colony on Mount Carmel several times and wrote a letter to
Georg David Hardegg, the co-founder of the Templer movement. He subsequently asked his son, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, to build, on the alignment of the Templer Colony road (Carmel Avenue) with the shrine to the forerunner of the religion, known as "the Bab," halfway up the mountain. The conjunction of the Templer buildings and the Shrine have become the most significant landmark in the modern city of Haifa.
The remains of the Báb were buried on March 21, 1909 in a six-room
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 consid ...
made of local stone. In a separate room, the
remains of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá were buried in November 1921. In 1929 three rooms were added to the mausoleum.
Final shrine
In 1949 the first threshold stone of the superstructure was laid by Shoghi Effendi. The construction was completed over the mausoleum in 1953 and was entirely paid for by Baháʼís around the world.
The
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
was
William Sutherland Maxwell
William Sutherland Maxwell (November 14, 1874 – March 25, 1952) was a well-known Canadian architect and a Hand of the Cause in the Baháʼí Faith. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to parents Edward John Maxwell and Johan MacBean.
Lif ...
, a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Baháʼí who was a
Beaux-Arts architect and the father-in-law of Shoghi Effendi. Shoghi Effendi provided overall guidance, including in the use of Western and Eastern styles, but left the artistic details to Maxwell. Maxwell's design of the
Baveno
Baveno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, part of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is on the west shore of Lago Maggiore, northwest of Arona by rail.
To the north-west are the famous red granite quarries, which have s ...
rose
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
colonnade, Oriental-style
Chiampo
Chiampo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean ...
stone arches, and golden dome is meant to harmonize Eastern and Western proportions and style. Maxwell died in 1952, and Shoghi Effendi named the southern door of the Shrine after him. Some remaining aspects of the dome's structural engineering were designed by Professor H. Neumann of Haifa's
Technion University.
[
In 1952, ]Leroy Ioas
Leroy C Ioas (15 February 1896, Wilmington, Illinois - 22 July 1965, Haifa, Israel) was a Hand of the Cause of the Baháʼí Faith. His parents declared themselves Baháʼís in 1898 and took Ioas to meet ʻAbdu'l-Bahá during the latter's travel ...
, an American Baháʼí who had been closely associated with the construction of the Baháʼí House of Worship
A Baháʼí House of Worship or Baháʼí temple is a place of worship of the Baháʼí Faith. It is also referred to by the name ''Mashriqu'l-Adhkár'', which is Arabic for "Dawning-place of the remembrance of God". Baháʼí Houses of Worshi ...
in Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
helped Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that over ...
in the construction process. Ioas employed his administrative skills and practical mind to supervise the building of the drum and dome, a task done without the availability of sophisticated machinery. Shoghi Effendi named the door on the octagon after him.[
Because of the scarcity of building materials in the area after World War II, most of the stones for the Shrine of the Báb were carved in ]Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
with the assistance of Ugo Giachery
Ugo Giachery (May 13, 1896 – July 5, 1989) was a prominent Italian Baháʼí from an aristocratic family from Palermo. At an anniversary of the founding of the spiritual assembly of Perugia Giachery told the story of how, as a young wounde ...
and then shipped to Haifa. One of the doors of the Shrine was named after Giachery. The superstructure was said to be at the time the largest prefabricated building to move from Europe to any point in the world.[
]
Design and composition
Dome
The dome is composed of 12,000 fish-scale tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
s - in the original version of the 1950s, a Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
company created a special technology, baking the clay tiles three times, twice with different glazes, and lastly with a 15% gold solution.
After over 50 years of exposure the old tiles were badly broken and damaged, and the new tiles, first uncovered in 2011, are of more than 120 different shapes and sizes, and were made in Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
by employing an innovative process involving porcelain being repeatedly fire-glazed, covered in gold solution, and sealed with an extremely durable coating.
Octagon and drum
The main body of the building, centered around the tomb of the Báb, is octagon
In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon.
A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
al.[
The cylindrical ]drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
set between the octagon and the dome rises 11 meters and rests on a circular steel-reinforced-concrete ring on the top of the octagon.[
]
Decorations
The Shrine is decorated with emerald green and scarlet mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s on the balustrade
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
above, a fire-gilded bronze symbol of the Greatest Name
Greatest may refer to:
* ''Greatest!'', a 1959 album by Johnny Cash
* ''Bee Gees Greatest'', a 1979 album by Bee Gees
* Greatest (The Go-Go's album), ''Greatest'' (The Go-Go's album), 1990
* Greatest (Duran Duran album), ''Greatest'' (Duran Duran ...
of the Baháʼí Faith at the four corners, and a multitude of intricate decorations and motifs.
Interior
The Shrine is a place for quiet prayer and meditation where no ceremonies or religious services are held. A special prayer used by Baháʼís when visiting the Shrine, known as the Tablet of Visitation, is hung on the wall in both the original Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, 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 ...
and an English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
translation.
Titles
Shoghi Effendi, in a message dated 19 August 1953, has described the Shrine in the following poetic way: ''"...Queen of Carmel enthroned on God's Mountain, crowned in glowing gold, robed in shimmering white, girdled in emerald green, enchanting every eye from air, sea, plain and hill."'' He has also called the Shrine the Kúh-i-Núr (Mountain of Light), facing and overshadowed by the Daryá-yi-Núr (Ocean of Light, the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh
The Mansion of Bahjí ( ar, قصر بهجي, Qasr Bahjī, ''mansion of delight'') is a summer house in Acre, Israel where Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, died in 1892. He was buried in an adjacent house, which became the Shri ...
).
UNESCO World Heritage site
On July 8, 2008, the Shrine of the Báb, along with several other Baháʼí holy sites in Haifa and the nearby city of Acre (Akko), were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The Baháʼí shrines "are the first sites connected with a relatively new religious tradition to be recognized by the World Heritage List." The UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Committee considers the sites to be "of outstanding universal value nd..inscribed for the testimony they provide to the Baháʼí's strong tradition of pilgrimage and for their profound meaning for the faith."
"We welcome the UNESCO recognition, which highlights the importance of the holy places of a religion that in 150 years has gone from a small group found only in the Middle East to a worldwide community with followers in virtually every country," said Albert Lincoln, secretary-general of the Baha'i International Community.
Terraced gardens
Surrounded by terraced gardens, the Shrine is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Haifa and has attracted millions of visitors. The Shrine is enhanced by 19 garden terraces that stretch one kilometre from the base of Mount Carmel to its summit, and both the terraces and the Shrine are illuminated at night. The Baháʼís consider the Shrine of the Báb and the surrounding gardens to be a "gift to humanity."
See also
* Religious significance of the Syrian region
Syria (Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔒂𔒠 ''Sura/i''; gr, Συρία) or Sham ( ar, ٱلشَّام, ash-Shām) is the name of a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in Western Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. Other s ...
References
Further reading
*
* Day, Michael V. (2017).
Journey To A Mountain - The Story of the Shrine of the Báb (Volume 1: 1850-1921).
'. George Ronald, UK. .
* Day, Michael V. (2018).
Coronation on Carmel - The Story of the Shrine of the Báb (Volume II: 1922–1963).
'. George Ronald, UK. .
* Day, Michael V. (2019).
Sacred Stairway - The Story of the Shrine of the Báb (Volume III: 1963–2001).
'. George Ronald, UK. .
*
*
External links
The Baháʼí Gardens - Official Website
Baháʼí Pilgrimage - Shrine of the Báb
More pictures of Shrine of the Báb
Baha'i World News Service: Golden tile from Baha'i shrine goes on display in museum
Photos - The Baháʼí Gardens in Haifa: the Shrine of the Bab Terraces & Gardens
Haifa's Majestic Bahai Gardens - A UNESCO World Heritage Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrine of the Bab
1953 establishments in Israel
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1953
Bahá'í pilgrimages
Bahá'í shrines in Israel
World Heritage Sites in Israel
Religious buildings and structures in Haifa
Mount Carmel