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diagonal in a chessboard pattern divided into two groups they are dated from the beginning of the second half of the ninth century but it is not determined with certainty whether they were made in baghdad or in kairouan by a baghdadi artisan the controversy over the origin of this precious collection agitates the specialists these tiles are mainly decorated with floral and plant motifs stylised flowers palm leaves and asymmetrical leaves on bottom hatch and checkered belong to two series one polychrome characterised by a greater richness of tones ranging from light gold to light dark or ocher yellow and from brick red to brown lacquer the other monochrome is a beautiful luster that goes from smoked gold to green gold the coating around them is decorated with blue plant motifs dating from the eighteenth century or the first half of the nineteenth century the horseshoe arch of the mihrab stilted and broken at the top rest on two columns of red marble with yellow veins which surmounted with byzantine style capitals that carry two crossbeams carved with floral patterns each one is decorated with a kufic inscription in relief the wall of the mihrab is covered with 28 panels of white marble carved and pierced which have a wide variety of plant and geometric patterns including the stylised grape leaf the flower and the shell behind the openwork hint there is an oldest niche on which several assumptions were formulated if one refers to the story of al bakri an andalusian historian and geographer of the eleventh century it is the mihrab which would be done by uqba ibn nafi the founder of kairouan whereas lucien golvin shares the view that it is not an old mihrab but hardly a begun construction which may serve to support marble panels and either goes back to work of ziadet allah i 817 838 or to those of abul ibrahim around the years 862 863 78 above the marble cladding the mihrab niche is crowned with a half dome shaped vault made of manchineel bentwood covered with a thick coating completely painted the concavity of the arch is decorated with intertwined scrolls enveloping stylised five lobed vine leaves three lobed florets and sharp clusters all in yellow on midnight blue background 75 details of the mihrab upper part of the mihrab luster tiles of the mihrab detail of the marble cladding minbar edit view of the minbar this pulpit the oldest in existence is still in its place of origin in the prayer hall it is protected by a glass panel the minbar situated on the right of the mihrab is used by the imam during the friday or eids sermons is a staircase shaped pulpit with an upper seat reached by eleven steps and measuring 3 93 metres length to 3 31 metres in height dated from the ninth century about 862 and erected under the reign of the sixth aghlabid ruler abul ibrahim 856 863 it is made in teak wood imported from india 79 among all the pulpits of the muslim world it is certainly the oldest example of minbar still preserved today 80 old postcard 1900 showing the carved teak minbar and the maqsura probably made by cabinetmakers of kairouan some researchers also refer to baghdad it consists of an assembly of more than 300 carved wood pieces with an ornamental wealth vegetal and geometric patterns refer to the umayyad and abbasid models among which about 90 rectangular panels carved with a lot of pine cones grape leaves thin and flexible stems lanceolate fruits and various geometric shapes squares diamonds stars etc the upper edge of the minbar ramp is adorned with a vegetal decoration composed of alternately arranged foliated scrolls each one containing a spread vine leaf and a cluster of grapes in the early twentieth century the minbar had a restoration although it has existed for more than eleven centuries all panels with the exception of nine are originals and are in a good state 81 this old chair of the ninth century is still in its original location next to the mihrab maqsura edit view of the maqsura decorated with a frieze that includes a kufic character calligraphic inscription the maqsura located near the minbar consists of a fence bounding a private enclosure that allows the sovereign and his senior officials to follow the solemn prayer of friday without mingling with the faithful jewel of the art of woodwork produced during the reign of the zirid prince al mu izz ibn badis and dated from the first half of the eleventh century it is considered the oldest still in place in the islamic world it is a cedar wood fence finely sculpted and carved on three sides with various geometric motifs measuring 2 8 metres tall eight metres long and six metres wide 82 its main adornment is a frieze that crowns calligraphy the latter surmounted by a line of pointed openwork merlons features an inscription in flowery kufic character carved on the background of interlacing plants carefully executed in relief it represents one of the most beautiful epigraphic bands of islamic art 82 the library is near located accessible by a door which the jambs and the lintel are carved in marble adorned with a frieze of floral decoration the library window is marked by an elegant setting that has two columns flanking the opening which is a horseshoe arch topped by six blind arches and crowned by a series of berms sawtooth 83 artworks edit the mosque of uqba one of the few religious buildings of islam has remained intact almost all of its architectural and decorative elements is due to the richness of its repertoire which is a veritable museum of islamic decorative art and architecture most of the works on which rests the reputation of the mosque are still conserved in situ while a certain number of them have joined the collections of the raqqada national museum of islamic art raqqada is located about ten kilometres southwest of kairouan citation needed from the library of the mosque comes a large collection of calligraphic scrolls and manuscripts the oldest dating back to the second half of the ninth century this valuable collection observed from the late nineteenth century by the french orientalists octave houdas and rené basset who mention in their report on their scientific mission in tunisia published in the journal of african correspondence in 1882 comprises according to the inventory established at the time of the hafsids c 1293 1294 several qur ans and books of fiqh that concern mainly the maliki fiqh and its sources these are the oldest fund of maliki legal literature to have survived 84 two pages of the blue qur an surah al baqarah verses 197 201 originally in the library of the mosque among the finest works of this series the pages of the blue qur an currently exhibited at raqqada national museum of islamic art from a famous qur an in the second half of the fourth century of the hijrah the tenth century most of which is preserved in tunisia and the rest scattered in museums and private collections worldwide featuring kufic character suras are written in gold on vellum dyed with indigo they are distinguished by a compact graph with no marks for vowels the beginning of each surah is indicated by a band consisting of a golden stylised leafy foliage dotted with red and blue while the verses are separated by silver rosettes other scrolls and calligraphic qur ans as that known as the hadinah s qur an copied and illuminated by the calligrapher ali ibn ahmad al warraq for the governess of the zirid prince al muizz ibn badis at about 1020 ad were also in the library before being transferred to raqqada museum this collection is a unique source for studying the history and evolution of calligraphy of medieval manuscripts in the maghreb covering the period from the ninth to the eleventh century citation needed other works of art such as the crowns of light circular chandeliers made in cast bronze dating from the fatimid zirid period around the tenth to the early eleventh century originally belonged to the furniture of the mosque these polycandelons now scattered in various tunisian museums including raqqada consist of three chains supporting a perforated brass plate which has a central circular ring around which radiate 18 equidistant poles connected by many horseshoe arches and equipped for each of two landmarks flared the three chains connected by a suspension ring are each fixed to the plate by an almond shaped finial the crowns of light are marked by byzantine influence to which the kairouanese artisan brought the specificities of islamic decorative repertoire geometric and floral motifs 85 role in muslim civilisation edit at the time of its greatest splendor between the ninth and eleventh centuries ad kairouan was one of the greatest centres of islamic civilisation and its reputation as a hotbed of scholarship covered the entire maghreb during this period the great mosque of kairouan was both a place of prayer and a centre for teaching islamic sciences under the maliki current one may conceivably compare its role to that of the university of paris during the middle ages 86 in addition to studies on the deepening of religious thought and maliki jurisprudence the mosque also hosted various courses in secular subjects such as mathematics astronomy medicine and botany the transmission of knowledge was assured by prominent scholars and theologians which included sahnun ibn sa id and asad ibn al furat eminent jurists who contributed greatly to the dissemination of the maliki thought ishaq ibn imran and ibn al jazzar in medicine abu sahl al kairouani and abd al monim al kindi in mathematics thus the mosque headquarters of a prestigious university with a large library containing a large number of scientific and theological works was the most remarkable intellectual and cultural centre in north africa during the ninth tenth and eleventh centuries 87 see also edit al zaytuna mosque university of al qarawiyyin list of the oldest mosques early medieval domes references edit géotunis 2009 kairouan great mosque of kairouan discoverislamicart 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