Mosque Name: Volubilis Mosque
Country: Morocco
City: Walīla
Year of construction (AD): 800 - 899
GPS: 34.072221 -5.555805
Gibson Classification: Unknown
Description:
The name of Volubilis is known both from the ancient texts and from the epigraphy of the town. It probably derives from the Berber word ‘Oualili’, the name of the Oleander plant, a flower that grows in abundance near the oued Khoumane. In Arab sources and on the early Arab coinage of the site the name was changed back to ‘Walila’. From the nineteenth century onwards the ruins were known as ‘Ksar Faraoun’, the castle of the Pharaohs. A possible mosque has been found, but since no mihrab was evident, there was hesitation to call it a mosque.
Sketch of the city. Note the Arab quarter on the left (west side)
References:
Eustache, Daniel, 1956. “Monnaies musulmanes trouvées a Volubilis”, Hespéris 25: 133-197, p. 134 and footnote 2. http://www.hesperis-tamuda.com/fr/index.php/archives/archives-1959-1950/131-hesperis-tamuda-1956
Fenwick, Corisande, 2013. “From Africa to Ifrīqiya: Settlement and Society in Early Medieval North Africa (650-800)”, al-Masāq 25(1): 9-33.
Fentress, Elizabeth, Fenwick, Corisande, and Hassan Limane, no date. “Walila: From the Awraba to the Merinids. UCL-INSAP Volubilis Project 2018-2019”, https://www.sitedevolubilis.org/www/english/about/currentresearch.htm.
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