The Madrasa Gumushtakin, also spelled Kumushtekin, is located in the southern city of Bosra in the region of the Hawran, an important location on the north–south pilgrimage and trade route. Originally built by a Turkish Seljuq General, named Gumushtakin it is attached to an older mosque known as Mabrak al-Naqa, literally translated as "the place where the she-camel rested", referring to an old legend. The madrasa complex of Abu Mansur Kumushtekin is situated at the northeast corner of the walled city of Busra.
Madrasa Gumushtakin was built adjoining the eastern wall of the Mabrak al-Naqa Mosque; a change in the size of the masonry is easily discernible between the two buildings. According to an inscription on the north side, construction of Gumushtakin's madrasa began in Hijri 530 / CE 1135 and it was dedicated to teaching the Hanafi rite. The sanctity of the site is also highlighted by the nearby Christian basilica where, according to the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, the Nestorian monk al-Bahira recognised Muhammad's prophethood while the latter was still a child accompanying his uncle on a trading trip.
circa 900 CE
Madrasa Gumushtakin was built adjoining the eastern wall of the Mabrak al-Naqa Mosque; a change in the size of the masonry is easily discernible between the two buildings. According to an inscription on the north side, construction of Gumushtakin's madrasa began in Hj. 530 / CE 1135 and it was dedicated to teaching the Hanafi rite.
circa 900 CE
This early madrasah, known also as the Jâmi` al-Mibrak, is constructed of basalt in a city entirely built of the same hard, strong stone; its masonry is therefore not comparable to that of Damascene monuments, which were built in limestone. But the plan and particularly the elevation of the madrasah's interior mark it as an early example of a common twelfth- and thirteenth-century type. The mosque proper is older than the madrasah, and is believed to mark a spot connected with Muhammad's suppositious youthful visit to Busrâ or with the later first arrival of a copy of the Qur'ân in Syria. The madrasah was added to it as part of the amir Gumushtakîn's program of restoration of the city's religious monuments. It is the earliest extant madrasah in Syria, and was one of the earliest to be restored, when it was converted into a mausoleum for Muhammad Pasha, son of the Egyptian ruler `Abbâs I, between Muhammad's death in 1270/1854 and the completion of the project in 1280/1863.
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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