Hayr al Sharqi Mosque

Mosque Name: Hayr al Sharqi Mosque

Country: Syria

City: Desert Castle

Year of construction (AH): 110 AH

Year of construction (AD): 728 AD

GPS: 35° 4’25.52”N 39° 4’14.92”E

ArchNet: http://archnet.org/sites/4137

Gibson Classification: Between

Rebuilt facing Mecca: Never

For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here

Description:

Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi in Syria is approximately 97 km northeast of Palmyra and 64 km to the south of Rusafa. It was originally constructed in 728-9 under Caliph Hisham to be used as a retreat for the Umayyad caliphs. After Umayyad decline in regional authority, the site was absorbed and embellished by the Abbasids under caliph Harun al-Rashid and remained functional until the 14th century. The Qasr and the external mosque both have the same Qibla, facing a Between position.

References:

Genequand, Denis, 2009. “The New Urban Settlement at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi: Components and Development in the Early Islamic Period”, in: Karin Bartl and Abd al-Razzaq Moaz (eds.), Residences, Castles, Settlements, Orient-Archäologie 24, Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf, 261-285.

Genequand, Denis, 2012. Les établissements des élites omeyyades en Palmyrène et au Proche-Orient, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 200, Beirut: IFPO, 102-106. https://www.ifporient.org/978-2-35159-380-6/

Grabar, Oleg, Holod, Renata, Knustad, James, and William Trousdale, 1978. City in the Desert: Qasr al-Hayr East, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 46-51.