volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

The Great Mosque of Damascus. 173
but the Turks give it the name of " Suk al-Jakmak,"
or " gun-bazar." I found most of the bazars and
khans very interesting, and saw many very beautiful
patterned silks, which I was informed were " genuine
damask."^ In the afternoon Mr. Dickson took me to see
the famous Takkiyah, or lodging-house, which Sultan
Salim built for the use of the poor in 15 16, and the
mosque of As-Sinaniyah, built in 1581, with its wonderful
minaret covered with green-glazed tiles, and the
Great Mosque. The site of the last named was probably
occupied for many centuries before Christ by temples
dedicated to pagan gods, or to the cult of stocks and
stones, and here rto doubt stood the " house of Rimmon "
mentioned by Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings v, 18). At
the end of the fourth century, the Emperor Arcadius
repaired an old temple here and turned it into a church
which, because it was believed to contain the head of
John the Baptist, was called the " Church of St. John."
In the eighth century Al-Walid, the Khalifah, managed
to gain complete possession of the church, and having
destroyed most of it began to build a magnificent
mosque.' It suffered greatly by fire in the eleventh
century and still more at the hands of Timur about
1400. Thanks to Mr. Dickson I was able to see every old
part of the mosque, and two very beautifully written
and decorated copies of the Kur'an, which were said
to date from the twelfth century, and a copy written
' Some think that the word " damask " is not derived from the
name " Damascus," but from the Latin metaxa (by metathesis) through
the Syriac.
• According to Ibn Batutah (i, 199) it was 300 cubits (450 feet)
long and 200 cubits (300 feet) wide. It was decorated with marble
mosaics and coloured glass, and its pillars were of marble brought
from all parts of the country. There was a lead cupola before the
mihrdb. The court was 100 cubits {150 feet) square, and had a colonnade
on three sides, and three cupolas. In the mosque itself was a
cupboard which contained the copy of the Kur'an which the Khalifah
'Uthman sent to Damascus. The mosque had three minarets, one
of which was built by the Christians. It was also said to contain
the tomb of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. One prayer
said in the mosque was more effective than 30,000 said elsewhere.