Minbar of the Andalusian Mosque

These panels come from a minbar, a liturgical object reserved for leading Friday midday prayers in the great mosques. This was used in the Great Mosque of Al-Andalus in Fez from its origin in 979 until 1934. The minbar are real masterpieces, and this one is the second oldest after that of the Sidi ‘Uqba Mosque at Kairouan[1]. They were often the result of very precise craftsmanship that was carried out in major workshops.

The elements conserved are a reflection of the difficult political and theological history of the period during which it was made. The sides are from the Zirid era, a dynasty that depended on the Isma'ili Fatimid Shi’i, as is stated on the flowery kufic inscription. On the back are the names of the vizier Ibn Abī ‘Āmir and of the Umayyad caliph of Andalusia Hishām II. It was made in 985, when the city of Fez came under the control of the Zenetes, allies of the Andalusians, and when the Sunni religion was re-established[2].

This minbar is remarkable because it is one of the first dated milestones, with its Idrissid beam from 877[3], in cedarwood carving that typified the western region of the Maghrib during the Almoravid and Almohad eras, illustrated, amongst others, by the precious minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque of Marrakech (1137). The presence of cedarwood forests near Fez explains this increased passion for woodworking. All the woodworking techniques—carving, engraving, and turning—have been mastered on this piece. The back’s lower panel is one of the first known examples of a wooden grille made according to the bow technique.

The treatment of the sides was inspired by Egyptian woodwork. The elongated form of the panels evokes small mihrāb and is reminiscent of Fatimid woodwork. Their arcatures are framed by flowery kufic script that quotes, on the right-hand side the founders, and on the left-hand side a verse from the Qur’an (24, verse 36). The same decorative arrangement can be seen on a small portable mihrāb in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo[4]. The relatively deep carving and stylized treatment of the motifs are reminiscent of the eastern Abassid tradition, particularly stucco and woodwork in decorations from Samarra (Iraq). This style was transmitted to the western Maghrib through the intermediary of Egypt’s Tulinid art, a dynasty dependant on the Abbasids.

The decorative elements on the inside of the niches are reminiscent of the decorative style that was in vogue in Aghlabid Ifriqiya. An axis of vegetal symmetry, comprising superposed pinecones that terminate with large flowered motifs, adds rigorous structure to the decorative designs of half-palmettes. This arrangement and these designs were already used on the minbar of the Great Mosque of Kairouan.

The decorations on the back were partly influenced by Andalusian Spain. These are arranged according to a geometric plan, creating the effect of an ensemble that covers all, but less dynamically than on the sides. The niche, with its polylobed arch that once again suggests a mihrāb, is similar to the Umayyad architecture of Spain as seen in the mihrāb in the Great Mosque of Córdoba (961–966). The same polylobed medallions can be observed in the architectural decorations of the Andalusian palaces, for example in the stone screen walls[5]. They are also similar to the rosettes of the decorations in the Umayyad palace of Mushatta (Jordan, 743–744). And the flowers at the extremities of the kufic letters render this inscription a prototype of Fatimid kufic script that evokes the Islamic East, like the tiered motif on the mid section of the back.

[2] This expedition is known as the expedition of Askalaja.

[3] This beam comes from the al-Qarawīyyīn Mosque in Fez.

[4] Inventory number 15552. Photo in trésors fatimides du caire

[5]  Carved marble screen wall, 980–990, Archaeological Museum, Córdoba, inventory number 488.