The Shrine or maqam of Abraham at Salihin is one of three mosques dedicated to this important prophet in the city of Aleppo. The other two are located in the citadel (the Lower and Upper Maqam Ibrahim Mosques). The earliest inscription in the shrine at Salihin dates to 1098/479 AH during the reign of the Seljuk sultan Malikshah, although the existence of a shrine dedicated to Abraham at the site may predate this structure. The shrine's mihrab is dated to 1112/505 AH during the reign of Seljuk vizier Mu'ayyad al-Mulk, and another in the sanctuary dates to 1198/594 AH during the reign of Ayyubid sultan of Aleppo al-Malik al-Zahir Ghazi.1
Located amidst a cemetery, the shrine is an imposing stone structure with an arched entrance. Its most prominent exterior feature is an octagonal minaret with a muqarnas cornice that rises above the entrance portal. Its position and style suggested to scholars that it was an Ayyubid construction. In its current, restored form, the arched entrance leads onto a courtyard surrounded with arcades. The mihrab dated 1112 is located in the arcade on the qibla side. To the left of the mihrab is a portal surmounted by the inscription of Malikshah that leads into the tomb chamber itself. The tomb chamber is a simple domed room. Remnants of antique column capitals found on site suggest the existence of a pre-Islamic structure on site.2
Notes:
- Tabbaa, Monuments of Power and Piety, 107. For inscriptions see Herzfeld, Alep, 177-179.
- Herzfeld, Alep, 176.
Sources:
Herzfeld, Ernst. Matériaux pour un Corpus inscriptionum arabicarum. Part 2: Syrie du nord. Inscriptions et monuments d’Alep, vol. 1, pt. 1, pp. 175-180. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Cairo: Institut Francais d'archéologie orientale, 1954-1956.
Tabbaa, Yasser. Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.
Record updates:
- August 17, 2017 (AKDC Staff): data modified (dates specified according to research, alternate names specified, geo coordinates added); description compiled.
- August 13, 2018 (AKDC Staff): data modified (dates reformatted according to CCO style, alternate names reformatted according to AKDC style).