By Mohammed al-Kibsi - A massive project for rehabilitating and preserving the Al-Jaami�a al-Kabeer (the Grand mosque) of the old city of Sana�a began last Wednesday. The total cost of this phase of rehabilitation totals USD 1.5 million, said engineer Abdul-Hakeem al-Sayaghi, head of the national team in charge of preserving Al-Jaami�a al-Kabeer.

Funds come from the Kuwaiti Arab Fund for development, and the Social fund for Development. The first phase of the restoration will last 14 months, said al-Sayaghi, and will include the restoration of the decorative ceiling, the installation of a new network of electricity, lights, and an audio system. It also includes demolishing some new establishments, such as the library built by the ministry of endowments at the western part of the mosque, because it puts stress on the western wall of the mosque.

The old WC units will also be demolished, and new ones will be established further away from the mosque. The first phase of the project also includes the training of 45 Yemeni workers by Italian experts on how to preserve the decorative ceiling. Twelve Yemeni workers were trained by the French Institute IGN on the photogramatory and laser scanning to document the mosque and its wooden ceiling. �Twelve persons were trained in Sana�a, and then we chose the best four and sent them to France to be trained there for a month,� said al-Sayaghi.

The Grand Mosque of Sana�a is one of the oldest mosques in the Arabian Peninsula, as it was established by one of the companions of Prophet Mohammed, the messenger of Allah, in 627 A.D. / 6 A.H. The renowned mosque is located in an area that was formerly the private garden of the Persian Sassanid ruler in Yemen, Bathan (Bazenos). When Bathan converted to Islam, he granted the prophet Mohammed one of his gardens, known as the garden of Ghamdan Palace, and that the prophet instructed him to build a mosque in this garden at western Ghamdan Palace, historians say.

It is considered one of the first Islamic mosques built in Yemen containing four porticoes. Some changes and annexations have occurred in different eras, such as in the eastern portico, built during the reign of Mohamed b. Ya�afor in 878 A.D. / 265 A.H. The portico ceiling is wooden, and the walls of the �Qiblah� were re-set up with three doors in 1159 A.D. / 553 A.H. The two minarets were built during the reign of the Persian Sassanid ruler in Yemen, Wardishar b. Sami (Vardisheros Samius), in 1206 A.D. / 603 A.H.

A notable dome on the cubic building in the courtyard was a donation from the great Islamic Ottoman ruler of Yemen, Sinan Pasha (Shino Pas) to become a library-store for all manuscripts of the Holy Qur�an (1607-1609 A.D./ 1016-1018 A.H.). Repairs were made and supplements added to wall-scripts, which hold the names of Imamates, under the ceiling, during the reign of the Queen of the Suleihids, Arwa bint Ahmed, and later, Imam Yehya ibn Mohammed Hamid al-Deen al-Hassani, the patriarch of the Mutawakelite kingdom Yemen in 1936 A.D. /1355 A.H.

The ceilings of excavated brocade are considered an important art in the Islamic world. The last time the mosque was restored was in 1976. At that time, while the experts were preserving the ceiling of the front part of the mosque, they discovered a treasure trove of precious manuscripts in one of the wooden coffered ceilings.

These manuscripts included a complete text of Qur�an believed to be written by Ali bin Abi Talib (the fourth Caliph and a cousin of the prophet), and many other valuable religious and historical documents.
Source: Yemen Observer