Dayr Murran
Dayr Murrān was a monastery and village in the western outskirts of Damascus, on the lower slopes of Mount Qasioun, that had been a favored seasonal residence of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. Its exact location has not been identified.
Location and etymology[edit]
The exact location of Dayr Murran has not been identified, though the medieval sources indicate it was situated on the lower slopes of Mount Qasioun near the Bab al-Faradis gate of Damascus.[1] It overlooked the orchards of the Ghouta plain that surrounded the city. The village was named after the large Christian monastery located within it, though its etymology is obscure.[1] It translates in Arabic as the "ash-tree monastery", which historian Dominique Sourdel considered a questionable name.[1] He also doubts that the name has Syriac roots.[1] Dayr Murran was known for its view of the saffron fields below and for containing abundant walled gardens and orchards.[2] Its monastery was decorated with numerous mosaics.[1]
History[edit]
Dayr Murran was utilized by the Umayyad caliphs as a residence where they could be entertained while overseeing their capital Damascus.[1] As early as 660, while the Umayyad Mu'awiya I was governor of Syria, his lieutenant Busr ibn Abi Artat mobilized his forces at Dayr Murran for the conquest of Mecca and Medina from Caliph Ali's control.[3] The future caliph Yazid I (r. 680–683) made improvements to its irrigation systems and was staying there before being dispatched to the Byzantine front in Anatolia by his father, Mu'awiya I.[1] Later, Caliph Abd al-Malik and his entourage spent their springs there and at Jabiyah, while his son Caliph al-Walid I died there.[1] Caliph al-Walid II established his principal residence in Dayr Murran.[1]
Following the demise of the Umayyads in 750, their Abbasid successors or their representatives lived in or visited the village. Among the caliphs who spent time there were Harun al-Rashid, al-Ma'mun and al-Mu'tasim.[1] When Caliph al-Wathiq dispatched Raja ibn Ayyub to put down a Qaysi tribal revolt in Damascus, Raja used Dayr Murran as his headquarters.[1]
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Anderson, Glaire D. (2013). The Islamic Villa in Early Medieval Iberia: Architecture and Court Culture in Umayyad Cordoba. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4094-4943-0.
- Kennedy, Hugh (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (Second ed.). Harlow: Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7.
- Madelung, Wilferd (1997). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56181-7.
- Sourdel, D. (1965). "Dayr Murrān". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume II: C–G. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 198. OCLC 495469475.