Summary report
A Survey of the Great Mosque-Palace Complex of Kufa aims to reconstruct the structural history of the mosque-palace complex of Kufa on the basis of new evidence.
Historiographical sources ascribe the conception of this compound, formed by the congregational mosque and the residence of the governor, to ʿUmar b. al-Khattab (634-644), thus identifying it as the earliest instance of a solution that will characterise the Islamic city during the first two centuries after the Hijra. However, the lack of a comprehensive report of the archaeological investigation carried out in the last century has raised doubts on the reliability of the sources regarding the early construction phases of the complex and their chronology.
In order to solve these issues, which are essential to our knowledge of early Islamic architecture and urban planning, we have undertaken the study of the data and information provided by medieval sources, all the publications related to the excavations, new surveys of the site of the mosque-palace complex and its extant structures, unpublished documentation produced during the excavations, and decontextualized architectural elements related to the complex.
The second campaign of the second season (May-June 2022) consisted in: ground survey of the Great Mosque of Kufa and especially its qibli wall, including the mihrab amir al-mu’minin and the maqams next to it, whose location is important to understand their relationship with the two doors connecting the mosque with the palace; acquisition of plans of the two latest phases of the mosque from the Custody of the Great Mosque of Kufa; inspection and photographic documentation of some architectural elements that were discovered in the mosque during its latest renovation, currently kept at the SBAH Inspectorate of Najaf.
The first campaign of the third season (February 2023) consisted in: aerial survey of the whole area occupied by the Great Mosque of Kufa, Rawda, Rahaba and House of Imama Ali, and Qasr al-Imara; ground survey of the eastern section of the qibli wall of the mosque and the structures of the palace abutting it, and the upper section of the walls of the mosque; visit of Qasr al-Ukhaydir for comparative purposes; acquisition of reproduction of further unpublished material from the SBAH Archive in Baghdad.
A Survey of the Mosque-Palace Complex of Kufa
Second campaign of the second season (May-June 2022) - First campaign of the third season (February 2023)
Background
The project A Survey of the Mosque-Palace Complex of Kufa, pursued in cooperation with the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of the Republic of Iraq (SBAH) - Baghdad and the Department of Sciences of Antiquity of Sapienza University of Rome, funded by Sapienza and the Fondation Max van Berchem, Geneva, aims at reassessing the history of the Mosque-Palace Complex of Kufa.
Historiographical sources date the realization of the complex to the reign of ʿUmar b. al-Khattab and ascribe it to the founder of Kufa, Saʿd b. Abi Waqqas, conqueror of ʿIraq and its first governor. Accordingly, it would represent the earliest instance, archaeologically documented, of an architectural and urbanistic solution that will characterise the early Islamic city.
The site where the complex lay is currently occupied by the Great Mosque of Kufa, lavishly renovated in recent years, and the Qasr al-Imara, namely the remains of the palace. The latter were extensively excavated in the last century by the then Directorate-General of Antiquities of Iraq, which also made some soundings along the walls of the Great Mosque (Masjid al-Kufa 1940; Mustafa 1954; Mustafa 1956 and 1963; Mustafa 1957; Taha 1971; Janabi 1963; 1966; Janabi 1978; Janabi 1983; see also Janabi 2014). However, a full report of the whole archaeological investigation was never published and the international community had to rely mainly on the English translation of the preliminary report of the third season (Mustafa 1956 and 1963; see Creswell 1969; Creswell – Allan 1989). Consequently, the structural history and chronology of the complex are still uncertain and subject to different interpretations (Grabar 1958; Creswell 1969; Khudayyr 1983; Creswell – Allan 1989; Antun 2016; Santi 2018)[1].
In the light of the importance of these issues to our knowledge of early Islamic architecture, urban planning, as also history and culture, we have decided to resume the study of the mosque-palace complex of Kufa, by gathering all the data and information provided by medieval sources, publications related to the excavations, new surveys of the site, unpublished documentation produced during the excavations, and decontextualized architectural elements related to the complex.
Previous campaigns
The work in Iraq has so far consisted of fieldwork campaigns in Kufa and research campaigns in Najaf and Baghdad. The former aimed at surveying the site – the surfacing structures of the Qasr al-Imara, the Great Mosque of Kufa and its annexes –, retrieving and studying architectural elements kept in the local Inspectorate of the SBAH, and collecting and studying published and unpublished documents regarding the recent renovations of the Great Mosque kept in its Custody; the latter aimed at collecting and studying all the published and unpublished documents regarding the excavations kept in the SBAH Archives and the Iraqi National Library and Archives, and architectural elements kept in the Iraqi Museum.
The first campaign of the first season was carried out in June 2019, when a ground survey of the area and an aerial survey of the Qasr al-Imara were pursued. The structures on the site, particularly those of the Qasr al-Imara, were documented, and relevant information regarding the extent of the excavated area and the preservation and consolidation interventions were acquired (see the report published online on the website of the Fondation Max van Berchem, and the report in Sumer 2020). The second campaign of the first season, planned for November 2019, did not take place as the country was in turmoil at the time, and then the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
The first campaign of the second season took place in November-December 2021. It consisted in a research campaign carried out in Baghdad, at the Iraqi Museum, the SBAH Archives, and the Iraqi National Library and Archives. The results were remarkable. It was possible to: re-discover and examine the painting unearthed in the Qasr al-Imara in 1957 of which only a drawing was so far known (Taha 1971; see also Di Cesare 2020); assess the preservation of unpublished excavation journals, restoration reports, sketches and plans (from 1938 to 1994), and an impressive amount of photographs (up to ca. 1967/1968), among which an image showing the whole extent of the excavated areas in the Qasr al-Imara and the Great Mosque before the recent renovations (see the report submitted to the Fondation Max van Berchem last year). The study of the material we were allowed to acquire (which was thereafter transcribed and translated) is currently underway[2].
Second campaign of the second season
The second campaign of the second season took place between 20 May and 1 June 2022[3]. The planned aerial survey of the whole area, including the Great Mosque and its annexes, could not be performed due to the sudden introduction of new customs regulations that impeded the introduction of our UAV and DGPS to the Country. Nevertheless, we could carry out the ground survey of the mosque for which we had received permission from the Custody of the Great Mosque of Kufa. The latter also provided us with plans of the mosque as it was renovated in 1938 and 1980s-1990s. These plans, along with the plan and photographs of the mosque as it appeared before 1938, obtained from the SBAH Archives, are essential to reconstructing the recent phases of the building and understanding the possible alterations of its perimetral walls in relation to the structures of the Qasr al-Imara. They also provide indicators for identifying the areas excavated after 1956 whose location was not recorded. We were also allowed to survey and document the qibli wall of the mosque from the inside, including bab al-sudda, the maqam and minbar of Prophet Nuh, and, exceptionally, the mihrab amir al-muʾminin. The latter, which is usually screened by a maqsura, was then under restoration and we could approach, observe and measure it before the new marble revetment was applied. The precise location of these maqams is also useful to understand their relationship with the two doors connecting the mosque with the palace that were discovered during the excavations of the Qasr al-Imara (al-Janabi 1963 and 1978).
In addition, we were allowed to inspect and photograph some architectural elements kept in the local SBAH Inspectorate that were retrieved in the mosque during the latest renovation, though the specific area in which they were found remains unknown. These are: a stone capital sculpted with acanthus leaves analogous to the capitals discovered in the courtyard of the mosque in 1938 and ascribed to the mosque built by Ziyad b. Abihi (Masjid al-Kufa 1940 and Janabi 1966); a stone base; another lithic artefact with a peculiar shape, possibly also a base; four fragments of shafts with a different diameter. The bases and two of the fragments of shafts were pierced in the centre, thus suggesting that they contained a lead or iron rod holding them together, like the tall columns of the mosque built by Ziyad b. Abihi as described by al-Muqaddasi and Ibn Jubayr (Creswell 1969, 46), the columns of the mosque of Wasit built by al-Hajjaj in 701/703 (Creswell 1969, 136), and those of Aqsa III in Jerusalem, possibly dating to the early Abbasid period (Hamilton in Creswell - Allan 1989, 82). However, further study is required to assess the chronology of these elements by establishing their relationship with the capital and shafts unearthed in the Qasr al-Imara in 1968 (Janabi 1983) and the late antique building tradition in the region. Indeed, according to a khabar reported by Tabari the columns of Ziyad’s mosque were made of marble and taken from churches, whereas according to Baladhuri the first mosque built by Saʿd employed spolia from al-Hira (Creswell 1969, 24 and n. 7).
Figure 1: Architectural elements found in the Great Mosque of Kufa during the latest renovation (1980s-1990s) and kept at the SBAH Inspectorate of Najaf (Photograph by Michelina Di Cesare © SBAH – Baghdad).
First campaign of the third season
The first campaign of the third season took place in February 2023 and consisted in fieldwork in Kufa and a visit to Ukhaydir (13-18), and research in Baghdad (19-22)[1].
The site of the Qasr al-Imara presented some areas cleared from the reeds that constantly grow from the surfacing underground water. Therefore, differently from previous occasions, the eastern section of the qibli wall of the mosque and the structures abutting it were partially accessible for inspection. Regrettably, the wall did not reveal traces of the door leading to the mosque from the Ilkhanid bath discovered in 1964-1965 (Janabi 1978), as it was most certainly obliterated by the modern cladding. However, the structures pertaining to the bath could be identified so to be reported in a plan. The features of the remains of the northern gate of the outer enclosure, on the contrary, were difficult to be discerned.
The ground survey of this area was followed by the inspection of the upper section of the walls of the mosque from the roof, which raises as a parapet above the edge of a counterwall running along the whole perimeter of the building, and extending up above the level of the roof. The original masonry, mostly hidden under a thick layer of concrete covered by plaster, consists of baked bricks and mortar. The iwan of Bab al-Hujja, in the western wall, the iwan of Bab al-Thaʿban and the base of the minaret next to it, and the iwan of Bab al-Rahma, all in the northern wall, appear to be later constructions.
Some of the information gathered through the ground survey also emerged from the aerial survey of the whole area including the Great Mosque and Rawda, the adjacent Rahaba and House of Imam ʿAlī, and the Qasr al-Imara. This was performed by using a DJI Mavic 2 Pro UAV, taking nadiral photographs with 75% front-lap and side-lap that were processed with the Agisoft Metashape Professional software, in order to obtain the ortophotomosaic in the figure below.
Figure 2: Ortophotomosaic of the area encompassing the Great Mosque of Kufa and Rawda, Imam ʿAli’s House and its Rahaba, and Qasr al-Imara (Photographs by ʿImad ʿAli, rendering by Domizia D’Erasmo).
The image reveals, especially in the inner enclosure of the Qasr, the presence of structures that were not recorded in our previous aerial survey since they were covered by thick vegetation. This permits a better comparison with the structures appearing in the plans and photographs produced during the excavations. Also important is the fact that the image shows the whole extent of the mosque’s perimetral walls, which can be compared to that appearing in the plan drawn in 1938, at the beginning of the excavations, and the photograph of the area taken in 1967/1968, at the end of the excavations (see the previous reports submitted to the Fondation). To determine the persistence of structural and spatial relationships between the mosque and the Qasr al-Imara is essential for locating the excavated areas described in the journals but not reported in a plan.
Therefore, the accurate rendering of the structures of the mosque and Qasr al-Imara, their dimensions, and the relationships with the Rahaba, Imam ʿAli’s House, and Rawḍa, as provided by the orthophotomosaic will be completed with the data provided by the published and unpublished plans we have acquired, the information gathered from the ground surveys and through the study of the reports, excavation journals and photographs, so to draw a comprehensive plan of the complex and its phases.
In order to better understand certain construction and planimetric features of the Qasr al-Imara we also deemed relevant to visit Qaṣr al-Ukhaydir, about 126 km north-west of Kufa by car, in Kerbala Governatorate. Indeed, its inner enclosure, like Qasr al-Mshattā in Jordan, presents several analogies with the Qasr al-Imara in Kufa and, differently from it, is exceptionally well preserved in elevation (even considering the restoration). In addition, even though several decades seem to separate the earlier phases of the Qasr al-Imara of Kufa and the construction of Qasr al-Ukhaydir, they both refer to the previous local Sasanian tradition. We were particularly interested in inspecting the ceremonial unit opening into the main court, and the “Persian buyut” in the inner enclosure, as well as the galleries and battlements and the stairways leading to them in the outer enclosure. An interesting and useful detail emerged from observing the eastern, southern and western sides of the inner enclosure: the foundations of some of the semi-round towers along the perimeter were visible and appeared to be square and constructed in the same masonry as the towers. The same was recorded for the towers in the perimetral walls of the mosque and the inner enclosure of the Qasr al-Imara.
Though the building materials employed in Ukhaydir and Kufa are different, the occurrence of the same solution in both seems to confirm the interpretation of the ‘first layer’ identified in the Qasr al-Imara as the foundations of the ‘second layer’, thus belonging to the same construction phase (the first), as suggested in the brief note on the fourth excavation season (Mustafa 1957).
In the SBAH archives in Baghdad we were allowed to inspect further photographs taken during the excavations at the Qasr al-Imara and acquire reproductions of some of them.
Being the main fieldwork in Kufa concluded, the next months will be devoted to the study of the data and information so far collected, in order to reconstruct the history of the excavations, reassess the results and their interpretation, produce plans of the structural phases of the complex, and clarify their chronology.
[1] The team consisted of Michelina Di Cesare, Amelia Blundo, Seif Hameed ʿAshur, Imad Ali; at the SBAH Inspectorate and Qasr al-Imara we worked under the supervision of Mr Qasim ʿAbd al-Kadhem Muhammad with the collaboration of Mr Ghalib; in the Great Mosque of Kufa and its precincts we were assisted by Nabeel Hameed Taha, with the collaboration of Mr Muhammad and Mr Haydar, and the support of Muhammad Majeed al-Mousawi and the Department of Engineering of the Great Mosque of Kufa. The visit to Ukhaydir was made possible by Mr Haydar Taha, Director of the Department of Archaeological Investigations of the SBAH - Baghdad. In Baghdad Amelia and I were assisted by Luma Duri, Director of the Iraq Museum, Ilham al-Ameer, Director of the SBAH Archives, and Luma Juda, Director of the Department of Public Relations, with the support of Dr Leith Hussein Majeed. We would like to thank all of them and also, again, Hassan Nadhem.
[1] In previous publications related to the project the name of Khudayyr was misspelled as Khadir (errata corrige).
[2] In 2021 and 2022 other colleagues have joined the research group based in Rome: Leonardo Capezzone, Giulio Maresca, Arturo Monaco, Adnan Kzzo, Amelia Blundo, and Domizia D’Erasmo.
[3] The team consisted of Michelina Di Cesare, Amelia Blundo, Domizia D’Erasmo. At the SBAH Inspectorate in Najaf we worked under the supervision of Chief Inspector Mr Qasim ʿAbd al-Kadhim Muhammad; in the Great Mosque of Kufa we were assisted by Nabeel Hameed Taha, Interpreter and now Master of Ceremonies, and the engineers Murtada al-Nafakh and Mustafa al-Sultani. We would like to express our gratitude to Dr Hassan Nadhem, then Minister of Culture, Antiquities and Tourism of the Republic of Iraq, and Dr Leith Hussein Majeed, Head of the SBAH – Baghdad, for favouring the collaboration with the Custody of the Great Mosque of Kufa, and the latter’s Secretary General Mr Muhammad Majeed al-Mousawi.
Publications
“Nuove prospettive sul complesso moschea-palazzo di Kufa”, poster presented at EVOA2023 (Egypt and Ancient Near East Conference, organized by Sapienza University of Rome, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, ISMEO), Sapienza University of Rome, 30.06-1.07.2022;
“Trauma, Memory and Oblivion in the History of the Mosque-Palace Complex of Kufa”, paper delivered at the International Conference Iraq After 2003: When Trauma Becomes Art, Myth, History, and Literature, Sapienza University of Rome, 23-24.09.2021 (to be published in the proceedings, in preparation);
“A Recent Project on the Mosque-Palace Complex of Kufa”, paper delivered at the 6th Annual Islamic Archaeology Day, co-organised by SOAS and UCL, London 1st of February 2020;
“Nota su un dipinto parietale rinvenuto nel Qaṣr al-Imāra di Kufa, il suo contesto archeologico e storico-artistico”, in Mantua Humanistic Studies, Volume IX (2020), 105-139;
“The Iraqi-Italian Project: ‘A Survey of the Great Mosque and Qasr al-Imara of Kufa, Najaf’.
Preliminary results of the research pursued during the first year (February 2019-February 2020)”, in Sumer 66 (2020), 219-247.
