Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, still intact

Omayyad Mosque with the Dome of the Treasury on the left and Minaret of the Bride in the centre background (2009)

An early view of the Treasury Dome

Last week I introduced my connection to Syria and promised to write more about this country that was my home for several years in the early 1980s and where our first daughter, Libby, was born (and that’s another story worth telling).

I could recount all the tragedies and horrors Syria has seen over the last few years, but I’d rather start on a positive note.

Not everything in Syria is gone. While much of the north is in ruins, as far as I can determine, the Omayyad (Umayyad) Mosque, in the heart of old Damascus, stands undamaged.

I first saw this magnificent structure on a hot day in 1977. I was visiting from Egypt, where I was studying at the University of Cairo. Back then, I spent most of an afternoon enjoying the mosque’s architecture, its fine mosaic detail, the coolness of its surfaces and the sense of community that surged through the place.

An arcade with lots of space for kids to run and study

By the time I travelled to Syria, I’d already had a year in Cairo and had visited many of its mosques. But this Great Mosque of Damascus, as it is sometimes known, was the first time I saw so many children running around so joyously. And for every child I saw running, there was one lying on the cool marble floors studying and doing homework.

The only other times I’ve seen such relaxed and casual enjoyment in a house of worship were in pagodas in Burma (but more about them another time).

So, not surprisingly, the Omayyad Mosque stuck in my memory. I was lucky enough to return to Syria (and Damascus) in 1980 after I married Poor John (yeah, someday I will write about our unexpected and unconventional wedding in Jordan).

One of my first touristic adventures in Damascus in 1980 was to return to the souk/bazaar that leads to the mosque.

I went again not long after Libby was born in 1981.

Omayyad Mosque—stairway to pulpit

Omayyad Mosque alcove

Interestingly, I have absolutely no recollection of needing to don a hijab (black cloak and headdress) to enter the mosque in 1977 or in the 1980s. I needed to when I revisited in 2009, but the garments were offered to all women and at no charge.

What I do remember about that 1981 outing with Libby is the many women who rushed up me to inspect the baby. I had her in a sack on my chest and everyone lifted the little blanket I used to shield her from the sun.

They were keen to know, how old is the baby? My answer of two weeks shocked every single one of them. Then I got the well-meaning lessons. Babies aren’t supposed to leave the house until they are 40 days old.

Stained glass windows

Chandelier

Friday teachings

I wonder what they would have said if I’d told them she was four days old when she attended the Australian Club’s first Happy Hour (another story which includes the sweepstake betting on when she’d be born). Oh, yeah, and she was 42 days old when she rode a horse, in a sack on my chest, down the chasm (siq) to the Nabatean village of Petra in Jordan.

So many more stories to tell about that part of the world.

In the meantime, here’s a bit more about the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus.

The Great Mosque of Damascus
The Omayyad Mosque is one of the oldest and largest mosques in the world. Some Muslims considered it to be Islam’s fourth most holy place.

Damascus is thought to be the longest continually surviving city in the world and construction on this important mosque is thought to have begun in 634 with completion in 712. It was built on the site of a Christian basilica dedicated to John the Baptist, who is honoured as a prophet by both Christians and Muslims. The mosque still has a shrine to him.

Shrine to John the Baptist

The mosque has seen a lot of change over the centuries. If you want a lot of detail, check out the entry on Wikipedia.

In a nutshell, it has seen fire, strife and many rulers. It’s been controlled by the Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuk Turks, Mamluks, Ottomans, French and more.

The mosque is rectangular in shape, measuring 97 by 156 metres. There are three arcades (which is where I saw kids studying), a prayer room (with John the Baptist’s shrine), various domes (including the clock and the treasury domes) and three minarets.

The minarets are called the Minaret of the Bride, the Minaret of Jesus and the Western Minaret or Minaret of Qaitbay.

Dome of the Clock

If you’ve travelled widely, you might be interested to know that the Omayyad’s floor plan has been used for many other mosques. These include al-Azhar and Baybars Mosques in Cairo, the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain and the Bursa Grand and Selimiye Mosques in Turkey.

As for spelling, I use Omayyad while many others use Umayyad.

As for the future, I hope I am able to revisit this wonderful mosque. More importantly, I hope Libby is able to revisit the land of her birth.

By the way, if you have an interest in Middle Eastern food, you might like the recipe for flat bread on my cooking blog.