A Conservation Assessment of Historical Mosques:  The Case of Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan

Hardi  wahab ahmed; Barham  Abdulrahim Abdalla; Sarko  Hasan Sleman

doi:10.25098/7.2.40

Authors

Hardi wahab ahmed College of Engineering, Architecture Department, Catholic University in Erbil, Erbil, Iraq
Barham Abdulrahim Abdalla College of Engineering, Architecture Department, Cihan University – Sulaimaniya, Sulaimaniya, Iraq
Sarko Hasan Sleman College of Engineering, Architecture Department, Cihan University – Sulaimaniya, Sulaimaniya, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25098/7.2.40

Keywords:

Assessment, historical mosques, Venice charter, Iraqi Kurdistan

Abstract

The urgency for meticulous preservation has escalated in light of the invaluable cultural and historical narratives embedded within ancient architectural structures. The article employs a multidisciplinary methodology that combines architectural, historical, and structural analyses in line with the guidelines set forth by the Venice Charter of ICOMOS. Historical area in Sulaimaniyah city is facing a demolishing process which can cause a problem in losing its identity. The research aims at comparing the conservation of the Grand Mosque and Khanaqa Mosque in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, and comparing it to the neighboring country’s mosque conservation. Our findings reveal that both mosques in Sulaimaniyah face many conservation challenges ranging from material degradation to

unauthorized restoration activities. Contrary to our initial hypothesis, the mosques' conservation strategies were incongruous with the Venice Charter's principles, reflecting a wider discrepancy in heritage management in Iraq. We propose targeted conservation measures to address these issues, such as adopting digital documentation technologies, controlled environmental settings, and community-led conservation initiatives. This paper contributes not only to the heritage management discourse in Iraq but also offers insights into the broader discussion concerning the effective preservation of historic religious edifices.

References

Abdelhafez, A. M. F., QIU, S., & Mishieva, R. (2022). Re-Writing Mosul. Reconstruction for Souk Area of the historical center.

Ahmad, Y. (2006). The scope and definitions of heritage: from tangible to intangible. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 12(3), 292-300.

Al-Darraji. (2016). Citadels in Iraq During the Ottoman Rule. Chronos.

Al-Sakkaf, A., Zayed, T., & Bagchi, A. (2020). A review of definition and classification of heritage buildings and framework for their evaluation. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on New Horizons in Green Civil Engineering (NHICE-02), Victoria, BC, Canada.

Ali, A., & Hassan, A. S. (2018). Influence of the Mughal Architectural Style on Malaysian Mosques. The Arab World Geographer, 21(4), 318-330.

Asif, N., Utaberta, N., & Sarram, A. (2019). Architectural styles of Malaysian mosque: Suitability in compact urban settings. Paper presented at the MATEC Web of Conferences.

Asteris, P. G., Chronopoulos, M., Chrysostomou, C., Varum, H., Plevris, V., Kyriakides, N., & Silva, V. (2014). Seismic vulnerability assessment of historical masonry structural systems. Engineering Structures, 62, 118-134.

Aygen, Z. (2013). International heritage and historic building conservation: Saving the world’s past: Routledge.

Aziz, A. (2016). Execution of contemporary Islamic architecture through design: the cyberjaya green platinum mosque project in Malaysia. WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, 159, 11-22.

Barrett, R. C., & States, J. S. O. U. M. A. U. (2015). The Collapse of Iraq and Syria: The End of the Colonial Construct in the Greater Levant. Joint Special Operations University MacDill AFB United States.

Boje, C., Guerriero, A., Kubicki, S., & Rezgui, Y. (2020). Towards a semantic Construction Digital Twin: Directions for future research. Automation in construction, 114, 103179.

Charter, V. (1964). International charter for the conservation and restoration of monuments and sites. Venice, Italy.

De la Torre, M. (2013). Values and heritage conservation. Heritage & Society, 6(2), 155-166.

De Siqueira, G., & Al Balushi, A. (2020). Co-designing the pedestrian revolution in Muscat. City, Territory and Architecture, 7, 1-15.

Dhingra, M., Singh, M. K., & Chattopadhyay, S. (2017). Macro level characterization of Historic Urban Landscape: Case study of Alwar walled city. City, culture and society, 9, 39-53.

Earl, J., & Saint, A. (2015). Building conservation philosophy: Routledge.

Ehrkamp, P. (2016). Beyond the mosque: Turkish immigrants and the practice and politics of Islam in Duisburg-Marxloh, Germany. In Geographies of Muslim identities (pp. 11-28): Routledge.

Encyclopedia. (2023). Great Sulaymaniyah Mosque. Retrieved from https://www.trycollect.com/en/articles/1479-Great-Sulaymaniyah-Mosque

Farhan, S. L., Akef, V. S., & Nasar, Z. (2022). Revitalizing the historical center of Al-Najaf city in Iraq: Learning from the British conservation experiences. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, 12(4), 513-532.

Goetcheus, C., & Mitchell, N. (2014). The Venice Charter and cultural landscapes: Evolution of heritage concepts and conservation over time. Change Over Time, 4(2), 338-357.

GÜLER, E. (2018). OSMANLI HAKİMİYETİ DÖNEMİNDE TÜRK-MACAR KÜLTÜREL İLİŞKİLERİ. Bayterek Uluslararası Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 1(1), 1-13.

Jamei, E., Ahmadi, K., Chau, H. W., Seyedmahmoudian, M., Horan, B., & Stojcevski, A. (2021). Urban design and walkability: Lessons learnt from Iranian traditional cities. Sustainability, 13(10), 5731.

Jaschok, M., & Shui, S. J. (2013). The history of women's mosques in Chinese Islam: Routledge.

Khan, F. (2015). Community Mosque Is A Symbol of Social Status-A Case of Participatory Design Process of Mosque Architecture In Dhaka City. International Journal of Research In Engineering and Technology, 4(4), 151-161.

Khan, H.-U. (2015). Architectural conservation as a tool for cultural continuity: a focus on the built environment of islam. ArchNet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 9(1), 1.

Kopanias, K., MacGinnis, J., & Ur, J. A. (2015). Archaeological projects in the Kurdistan region in Iraq.

Kovács, G. M., & Rabb, P. (2020). The Preservation of Ottoman Monuments in Hungary: Historical Overview and Present Endeavours. International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 9(1), 169-190.

Kurdipedia. (2023). Map of the old Sulaymaniyah 1925. Retrieved from https://www.kurdipedia.org/default.aspx?lng=11&q=20160724210326132938

Masridin, M. H., & Ismail, A. S. (2022). CRITICAL REGIONALISM APPROACH FOR DJAMI MOSQUE DESIGN TOWARDS THE AESTHETICS OF SUSTAINABILITY. Journal of Islamic Architecture, 7(2).

Memluk, M. Z. (2013). Designing urban squares. In Advances in Landscape Architecture: IntechOpen.

Palmer, M., & Finlay, V. (2003). Faith in conservation: new approaches to religions and the environment: World Bank Publications.

Shafiq, S. M. (2018). Airports as Portrayers of Regional Character and Culture: A Case Study of Sulaymaniyah Airport. University of Cincinnati,

Šijaković, M. (2015). Recycling industrial architecture: the redefinition of the recycling principles in the context of sustainable architectural design.

Smith, M. K. (2015). Issues in cultural tourism studies: Routledge.

Sonkoly, G. (2017). Historical urban landscape: Springer.

Wikitravel. (2023). Sulaimaniya. Retrieved from https://wikitravel.org/en/Sulaymaniyah

World Monuments Fund. (2014). Kurdistan Regional Survey. Retrieved from https://www.wmf.org/content/kurdistan-regional-survey