Jami' al-Hajjarin

Aleppo, Syria

The Jami' al-Hajjarin (Stone-Masons' Mosque) was a small mosque just outside the old city walls near Bab Antakiyya in Aleppo. The mosque was dated to the reign of Zangi, the ruler of Mosul and Aleppo from 1127-1146/521-541 AH. Based on the honorifics used in an inscription found on a lintel in the Hajjarin Mosque and a dated inscription at the Mashhad al-Muhassin, Ernst Herzfeld dated the building to circa 1144-1145/539 AH.1 Today only the minaret remains after a project to sanitize the area in 1982.2 

The mosque's structure was simple, consisting of a rectangular vaulted prayer hall. Adjoining this prayer hall to the north is a small courtyard and an iwan, which also contained a mihrab. It is possible that these components were a madrasa added to the mosque or built on top of a former mosque in a later period. 

The square minaret located to the west belongs to the twelfth century, and formed part of the original mosque. It is a square tower constructed of handsome masonry typical of the Zangid period.

Herzfeld, Ernst. Matériaux pour un Corpus inscriptionum arabicarum. Part 2: Syrie du nord. Inscriptions et monuments d’Alep. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Cairo: Institut Francais d'archéologie orientale, 1954-1956. vol. 1, pt. 1, pp. 182-193.