Umm al-Nasr Mosque ( ar, مسجد أم النصر) or Beit Hanoun Mosque is the oldest
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, ...
in the
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
city of
Beit Hanoun
Beit Hanoun or Beit Hanun ( ar, بيت حانون) is a city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 32,187 in mid-2006. It is administered by the Hamas admi ...
in the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
, located in the center of the city.
History
The Umm al-Nasr Mosque was built 1239 by the
Ayyubids to commemorate their soldiers who had died in the
battle on the mosque site between them and the
Crusaders. The Ayyubids were victorious, hence the name ''Umm al-Nasr'' ("Mother of Victories"). The inscription on the wall above the mosque entrance attributes the construction to Ayyubid sultan
al-Adil II
Al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Sayf ad-Dīn Abū Bakr ibn Nāṣir ad-Dīn Muḥammad ( ar, سيف الدين الملك العادل أبو بكر بن ناصر الدين محمد, better known as al-Adil II) (c. 1221 – 9 February 1248) was the Ayyubid ...
.
The battle that is commemorated was not a major one, but in the history of later
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
it was significant.
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
historian
al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...
mentions that the battle occurred on November 13, 1239 and ended in an Egyptian (Ayyubid) victory. Crusader reports confirm al-Maqrizi's claim that
Henry the Count of Bar, together with 1,000 of his men were killed in the hostilities, and 600 were taken prisoner, most of whom were killed by their captors on the way to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
.
On November 3, 2006,
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 ...
i forces and Palestinian militants holed up inside the mosque exchanged gunfire. The mosque was virtually destroyed by Israeli shells, the only structure untouched being the southern
portico a shallow
dome in the mosque center. Nearly 40 women marching to protect the mosque were shot at by Israelis, resulting in the deaths of two. The damage to the mosque was condemned by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
.
Architecture
The original mosque consisted of one large room, with a simple dome, built from crude and worn-out stones.
[Sharon, 1999, p]
98
/ref> Nothing is left of the original mosque apart from the southern portico with its roof—which consists of fan vaults and shallow dome in the center. The prayer hall ends with a room to the east roofed with a dome supported on spherical triangles.Travel in Gaza: Nassr Mosque
MidEastTravelling. The foundation plate is inscribed in Ayyubid
nashki script.
References
Further reading
*
{{coord missing, West Bank
Mosques completed in 1239
13th-century mosques
Mosques in the Gaza Strip
Beit Hanoun