Sheikh Ali al-Bakka Mosque or Shaykh Ali al-Baka Mosque ( ar, مسجد الشيخ علي بكاء) is a 13th-century mosque in the northwestern section of the Old City of Hebron in the southern West Bank. It is situated in the Harat ash-Sheikh (or Sheik Ali al-Bakka) quarter, one of the Old City's quarters, which is named after the mosque. The mosque was founded by the Husam ad-Din Turuntay in 1282 during the reign of

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

sultan

al-Mansur Qalawun ( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). Biography and rise to power Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turk ...

. Turuntay was the representative of the sultan in Jerusalem. The sanctuary is named after Sheikh Ali al-Bakka, a renowned Sufi religious leader from Iraq who lived in Hebron.Dandis, Wala
History of Hebron
2011-11-07. Retrieved on 2012-03-02. The minaret was erected by the viceroy and practical strongman of the sultanate,

Sayf al-Din Salar Sayf al-Dīn Salār al-Manṣūrī (–September or October 1310) was the viceroy of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad during the latter's second reign (1299–1310). As a boy he was taken captive at the Battle of Elbistan in 1277 and became a ma ...

(d. 1310).Sharon 1999, p. 60. The original mosque was mostly demolished, however 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 ...

still stands and is viewed as an exemplary work of Mamluk architecture. Sitting on a rectangular base, its shaft has a hexagonal shape. The minaret base has an arched corridor which leads to the courtyard. In 1978 a new mosque was built on the site, but preserved the remains of the original mosque.

References

Further reading