| Nabi Yahya Mosque Mosque of the Prophet John | |
|---|---|
Jāmiʿ An-Nabī Yaḥyā (جَامِع ٱلنَّبِي يَحْيَىٰ) | |
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Islam |
| Location | |
| Location | Nablus,West Bank,Palestine |
  Location of the mosque in the West Bank Show map of the West Bank Nabi Yahya Mosque (Middle East) Show map of Middle East Nabi Yahya Mosque (West and Central Asia) Show map of West and Central Asia | |
| Coordinates | 32°16′36″N35°11′45″E / 32.27667°N 35.19583°E /32.27667; 35.19583 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Mosque |
| Completed | 1261 |
| Specifications | |
| Dome | 1 |
| Minaret | 1 |
| Minaret height | 30 meters (98 ft) |
TheNabi Yahya Mosque (Arabic:جَامِع ٱلنَّبِي يَحْيَىٰ,romanized: Jāmiʿ An-Nabī Yaḥyā,lit. 'Mosque of the Prophet John') is a mosque containing the traditional tomb ofYahya (John the Baptist) inSebastia,Nablus. The mosque also reputedly contains the tombs of the prophetsElisha andObadiah. This mosque was originally a church.
Nabi Yahya is the mainmosque in thePalestinian village ofSebastia, located in the central square. It is constructed of large buttressed walls and within its courtyard a stairway in the small domed building leads down into a cave.
The Nabi Yahya Mosque stands on the site identified sinceByzantine times as the place where John the Baptist's body was buried by his followers. Matthew 14:12[1] records that "his disciples came and took away [John's] body and buried it". A church was erected on the spot of the tomb during the Byzantine era.
The church erected above John the Baptist's tomb was superseded by aCrusader-built church in 1160.[2] It was transformed into a mosque bySaladin in 1187, although some sources say it was converted by theMamluks in 1261. Nabi Yahya refers to John the Baptist in theArabic language of Muslims, while Christians and Jews call him yūḥannā.
In 1870, the French explorerVictor Guérin visited the place, and noted:
At the western extremity of the monument rises aMusulman sanctuary crowned by a littlecupola pierced with narrow windows, which admit a feeble light into thecrypt which it covers. This crypt probably belongs to the ancientbasilica, which was replaced by the edifice now itself in ruins. Descent is managed by a staircase of fifteen steps; then, after crossing a landing once closed by a monolithic door, you go down two steps, and find yourself in a crypt formerly paved with small slabs ofmarble in different colours, forming a sort of mosaic. Here lies the door of which I have just spoken: mouldings divide it into compartments; it is provided with hinges worked in the thickness of the block which composes the stone. This crypt, of small extent, contains asepulchral chamber divided into three parallel archedloculi, with cut stones regularly worked between them. They are only seen by introducing a light across three small openings in the wall of the chamber. According to an ancient tradition, one of these compartments is the tomb of St. John the Baptist, and the others those of the prophets Obadiah and Elisha.
— Guérin, 1875[3]
Later, in the 1870s, thePalestine Exploration Fund excavated the place, which it described in itsSurvey of Western Palestine as "a mere shell, the greater part of the roof andaisle piers gone, and over the crypt a modernkubbeh has been built. The interior length is 158 feet, the breadth 74 feet; the west wall is 10 feet thick, the north wall 8 feet, the south wall 4 feet. There were sixbays, of which the second from the east is larger, probably once supporting a dome. On the east are threeapses tonave and aisles, the central apse is 30 feet in diameter, equal to the width of the nave. The piers had fourcolumns attached, one each side; on the west was a doorway and two windows; on the south four windows remain, and on the north three."[4]
In 1892,Abdul Hamid II ordered the rebuilding of part of the site. The mosque was restored and mostly rebuilt during the 19th century whilePalestine was underOttoman rule.[2]
Local tradition in both theChristian andMuslim communities of the area notes thatSebastia also contained the site of the prison of John the Baptist and is the place where he was beheaded; however this was a separate church in the old city and is a claim refuted by the account of the first century historianJosephus, which recorded the site of the beheading asMachaerus, across theJordan, some 80–90 miles (130–140 km) away.[5]
Media related toNabi Yahya Mosque at Wikimedia Commons
Religious sites inPalestine | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem Governorate |  | |
| Hebron Governorate | ||
| Jenin Governorate | ||
| Jericho Governorate | ||
| Jerusalem Governorate | ||
| Nablus Governorate | ||
| Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate | ||
| Salfit Governorate | ||
| Tulkarm Governorate | ||
| Qalqiliya Governorate | ||
| Gaza Governorate | ||
† Access to the site is controlled by Israel. | ||
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