33°30′42″N 36°18′22″E / 33.511699°N 36.30608°E
Qubbat al-Khazna ( Arabic: قبة الخزنة, romanized: Qubbat al-Khaznah, lit. 'Dome of the Treasury'), also known as the Bayt al-Mal or Beit al-Mal, [1] [2] is an old structure within the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. It is an octagonal structure decorated with mosaics, standing on eight Roman columns. [3] The dome was built under orders from the Abbasid governor of Damascus, Fadl ibn Salih, in 789. [4] [5]
The exterior walls of the structure were originally covered in colorful mosaic decoration which imitated the earlier Umayyad-era mosaics in the rest of the mosque, although they are of slightly lesser quality than the latter. [6] [1] The mosaics were restored in 13th or 14th century and then in the late 20th century they were almost entirely redone based on existing fragments. [1] [2] The Roman columns that were re-used for the structure's pillars were truncated to achieve the desired height but preserve original Roman-era capitals. [1]
The dome used to hold the mosque's large endowments. [7] Some Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Georgian old manuscripts were also housed in Qubbat al-Khazna in the past (e.g. Uncial 0126, 0144, 0145). [8] [9] The manuscripts were generally kept out of view, but were allowed to be handled briefly by German scholars when German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Damascus in 1898. [7]
33°30′42″N 36°18′22″E / 33.511699°N 36.30608°E
Qubbat al-Khazna ( Arabic: قبة الخزنة, romanized: Qubbat al-Khaznah, lit. 'Dome of the Treasury'), also known as the Bayt al-Mal or Beit al-Mal, [1] [2] is an old structure within the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. It is an octagonal structure decorated with mosaics, standing on eight Roman columns. [3] The dome was built under orders from the Abbasid governor of Damascus, Fadl ibn Salih, in 789. [4] [5]
The exterior walls of the structure were originally covered in colorful mosaic decoration which imitated the earlier Umayyad-era mosaics in the rest of the mosque, although they are of slightly lesser quality than the latter. [6] [1] The mosaics were restored in 13th or 14th century and then in the late 20th century they were almost entirely redone based on existing fragments. [1] [2] The Roman columns that were re-used for the structure's pillars were truncated to achieve the desired height but preserve original Roman-era capitals. [1]
The dome used to hold the mosque's large endowments. [7] Some Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Georgian old manuscripts were also housed in Qubbat al-Khazna in the past (e.g. Uncial 0126, 0144, 0145). [8] [9] The manuscripts were generally kept out of view, but were allowed to be handled briefly by German scholars when German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Damascus in 1898. [7]