The Mausoleum or the tomb of Umar ibn Ábd ul-Aziz (ضريح عمر بن عبد العزيز) is located in the small village of Deir as-Sharqi, south-east of the city of Maaret Numan in the province of Idlib in Syria. The medievel-era Mamluk structure is located inside a small funerary complex, consisting of a small prayer hall (Zawiya), ablution facility and some other burials.
On his way back from Damascus to Aleppo or possibly to his Khunasira estate, Umar fell ill. He died between 5 February and 10 February 720, at the age of 37, in the village of Dayr Sim'an (the Monastery of Simeon) near Ma'arrat al-Nu'man in modern day province of Idlib. Umar had purchased a plot here with his own funds and was buried in the village, where a small shrine was built over his tomb and later renovated during the Mamluk era.
The historic tomb-shrine had been suffering neglect since the nineties of the last century when the Ministry of Antiquities and Museums started to rehabilitate the site. During the renovations a dome (inspect) was installed and a park was developed around the tomb-shrine. The cross-shaped building covers an area of about 250 square meters.
circa 720 CE
Interior
There are three graves inside the shrine, one large and two small. The large one, purportedly belonging to the Umar II, is located in the south-west coner of the central courtyard (now domed).
circa 720 CE
Grave of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz
The grave of Umar II (عمر الثاني), is marked with a low tombstone, carved in rather simple Mamluk style, with a headstone (towards the west) and a footstone (towards the east). The tombstone also bears some inscriptions (possibly verses from Quran [?]) along the entire length. The headstone and the footstone are alse carved with geometric patterns.
circa 720 CE
On 26 May 2020, during the Syrian Civil War, militias reportedly raided Umar's mausoleum as shown in video a footage, desecrated and then set the tomb structure on fire. Later on it was cleared of the rubble and debris and renovated by the ministery of Awqaf.
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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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