Mezquita de Zumurrud Khatun,Bagdad

Mausoleo

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Sitta Zubaydah,the wife of Harun ar-Rashid. Located in an expansive cemetery,

this brick tomb exhibits a nine-layered, cone-shaped muqarnas cover capped by a

small cupola that rises to great height from an octagonal base, similar to the Imam

Dur in Samarra. Hazarbaf decoration covers the exterior of the base while each façade

is partitioned into four sunken square panels, two on the bottom and two on the top,

themselves featuring decorative brickwork. Today, the tomb is entered from a square-planned,

domed structure that was built to replace an earlier one. From this area, a staircase

rises up to the base of the muqarnas dome while a tight corridor just over one meter

large leads to the octagonal burial chamber. The light inside the vault emanates from

small holes cut in the muqarnas dome producing a glowing effect.

The mausoleum has been restored periodically throughout its lifespan.

Sources:

Khalil, Jabir and Strika, Vincenzo. 1987. The Islamic Architecture of Baghdad;

the Results of a Joint Italian -Iraqi Survey. Napoli: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 18-22.

Michell, George. ed. 1978. Architecture of the Islamic World; Its History and Social Meaning.

London: Thanes & Hudson, 247.

Ettinghausen, Richard and Grabar, Oleg. 1987. The Art and Architecture of Islam

650-1250. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 296-7.

Special thanks to the Islamic architecture website http://archnet.org/