Amr Ibn al-Aas Mosque (Damietta): A Historic Sunni Mosque in Egypt
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Egypt
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Unclassified
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Mosque
On this page11 sections
History
Amr Ibn al-Aas Mosque (Damietta) is a Sunni mosque in Egypt, traditionally dated to around 642–643, soon after the Arab conquest of Damietta. Its foundation belongs to the early Islamic period under the Rashidun Caliphate, the first caliphate after Muhammad. The mosque is traditionally regarded as the second mosque built in Egypt and the second built in Africa. Its name commemorates Amr ibn al-As, the Arab military commander and companion of the Prophet Muhammad who led the conquest of Egypt. It is also known as the Abu’l-Ma’ati Mosque and Al-Fateh Mosque.
Foundation and early destruction
The identity of the founder is uncertain. One tradition attributes the mosque to Miqdad ibn Aswad, who is said to have built it during Amr ibn al-As’s leadership. Another says that Amr ibn al-As himself ordered its construction. The present building cannot be treated as the unchanged structure founded in the seventh century, since the mosque passed through repeated rebuilding, enlargement, and alteration.
During the reign of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil, a Byzantine attack on Damietta reached the mosque, which was burned in the assault. After the attack was repelled, the building was rebuilt. Under Fatimid rule, the Shi’i Ismaili caliphate that governed Egypt from the tenth to the twelfth century, the mosque was renovated and enlarged in 1106 to serve a larger congregation. Further expansions followed during the Mamluk and Ottoman periods.
Crusader occupations
The Crusades were military campaigns by Latin Christian powers in the eastern Mediterranean, and the Fifth and Seventh Crusades targeted Egypt as a means of pressuring Muslim-ruled territories. During the Fifth Crusade, Crusader forces besieged and occupied Damietta in 1218–1219. John of Brienne converted the mosque into a cathedral, and on 2 February 1220 Cardinal Pelagius gave it the name Cathedral of the Holy Virgin. After the Crusaders were defeated and left Damietta in 1221, the building returned to use as a mosque.
During the Seventh Crusade, Louis IX of France occupied Damietta in June 1249 and again converted the mosque into a cathedral. Religious ceremonies took place there, and Louis’s son John Tristan was baptized in the building in 1250. After the Crusader defeat at Fariskur, Louis IX was captured and held hostage, while Damietta was ceded back to the Ayyubids, the dynasty founded by Saladin. The cathedral was then abandoned.
Mamluk preservation and modern reconstruction
In 1251, Aybak, the first sultan of the Bahri Mamluk state, ordered Damietta demolished and a new city established farther south. The Mamluks were a military ruling elite who governed Egypt and Syria from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. The relocation was intended to prevent future Crusader use of the city. They preserved the former cathedral and converted it once more into a mosque.
A wooden minbar, the raised pulpit used for sermons, was completed for the mosque in 1369 by the woodworker Ahmad ibn Yusuf. The building was later neglected for decades. Restoration planning began in 2004, followed by a five-year reconstruction carried out by the Arab Contractors. Because the earlier structure had been completely ruined, the present mosque is a reconstruction rather than an unchanged medieval or early Islamic building. It reopened to worshippers on 8 May 2009, an event that coincided with Damietta’s national day, associated with the defeat of Louis IX’s campaign and the Crusaders’ departure. The mosque remains an active Sunni place of worship.
Remains
Courtyard plan and prayer halls
The mosque occupies approximately 3,420 square metres and follows the general model of the Amr ibn al-As Mosque at Fustat. Its present form is a rectangular courtyard mosque organized around an open central sahn, or mosque courtyard. Four arcaded halls, known as riwaqs, surround the courtyard. The halls have two aisles on three sides and four aisles along the southern side, giving the qibla arcade, the prayer-facing side, the greatest depth.
A domed ablution fountain stands in the courtyard. The mihrab, the prayer niche that marks the direction of prayer, is positioned in the southeastern corner. The western facade contains the main entrance, which projects beyond the exterior wall and overlooks Al Jabana Street. Together, these elements define the building’s principal organization around the courtyard and its southern prayer area.
Western entrance and minaret
Western minaret
Near the western entrance is a square room associated with the base of the minaret. The western minaret is said to have collapsed in an earthquake, and it is the mosque’s only historical architectural component. Its survival provides a physical link with earlier phases of the building, while the surrounding mosque reflects later alterations and the modern reconstruction.
Columns, inscriptions, and ceilings
Reused columns
The qibla arcade contains marble columns reused from the Roman period. Their bases descend approximately three feet below the level of the courtyard frieze. Other supports are made from dark stone and porphyry marble, adding different materials to the arcades and showing the incorporation of older architectural elements into the mosque.
Calligraphy and wooden finishes
The building also incorporates Kufic inscriptions, using an early angular form of Arabic calligraphy often employed for monumental writing. The arcade ceilings are wooden and undecorated. On the exterior walls, a continuous wooden band carries Quranic surahs. These surviving materials and inscriptions belong to the mosque’s architectural fabric, whose present appearance results from successive changes rather than a direct preservation of the foundation-period structure.
