Hala Sultan Tekke ( ''Tekés Chalá Soultánas''; ) is a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

and takya (or ''tekke'' in Turkish) on the west bank of Larnaca Salt Lake, in Larnaca, Cyprus. Umm Haram, known as Hala Sultan in Turkish tradition, was the wife of Ubada bin al-Samit, a companion of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, and foster sister of Muhammad's mother, Amina. Hala Sultan Tekke complex is composed of a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

, and living quarters for men and women. The term tekke (lodge) applies to a building designed specifically for gatherings of a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

brotherhood, or

tariqa A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the ...

, and may have referred to an earlier feature of the location. The present-day complex lies on the shores of the Larnaca Salt Lake, an important site in

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. Hala Sultan Tekke is a listed Ancient Monument.

History

Antiquity

During the second half of the second millennium B.C, the area of the Hala Sultan Tekke was used as a cemetery by the people who lived in an archaeological site given the modern designation Dromolaxia ''Vizatzia'',New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2010
/ref> a large Late Cypriote town a few hundred meters to the West. Originally identified as an archaeological site following looting in the 1890s, numerous tombs of Late Bronze Age date (around 1650-1100 BC) with rich contents were excavated by the British Museum in 1897–1898 directed by Henry Beauchamp Walters and then John Winter Crowfoot; the finds were divided between the British Museum and the Cyprus Museum. The contemporary settlement was identified by Swedish archaeologist Arne Furumark in 1947 and some preliminary excavations conducted by the Department of Antiquities. A part of this town was excavated from the 1970s onward by a Swedish archaeological mission led by Professor Paul Åström, and proved to be a major urban centre of Late Bronze Age Cyprus The most recent excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke, The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition have been carried out by Professor Peter M. Fischer from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2010-2012- ...); se
www.fischerarchaeology.se
The results of the excavations have been published annually in the journal ''Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome''. In 2018, Fischer uncovered several tombs at the site that are being explored carefully. The tombs date to 1500 and 1350 BC and contained artifacts of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

that demonstrate the extensive trade of goods existing at the time. Radar surveys (2010–2012) have demonstrated that the city was one of the largest in the Late Bronze Age (roughly 1600–1100 BC), maybe as large as 50 ha. Another archaeological investigation conducted by the Department of Antiquities under the women's quarter of Hala Sultan Tekke have revealed building remains dated to the late Archaic, Classical, and

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

periods (sixth to first century BC). Several finds indicate that the site might have been used as a sanctuary but the limited scale of the investigations precludes definite conclusions about its use.

Ottoman era

Most accounts establish a connection between the site and the death of Umm Haram during the first Arab conquest of Cyprus under the

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Muawiyah between 647 and 649, which were later pursued throughout the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

and the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

periods. According to these accounts, Umm Haram, being of very old age, had fallen from her mule and had died during a siege of Larnaca. She was later buried where she died. According to Shia belief, her grave lies within Jannatul Baqi cemetery in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. During the Ottoman administration of Cyprus, a mosque complex was built in stages around the tomb. The tomb was discovered in the 18th century by the dervish called Sheikh Hasan, who also built the first structure here. Dervish Hasan managed to convince the administrative and religious authorities of the site's sacred nature and with the permission he received, he built the shrine around the tomb in 1760 and had it decorated. The wooden fences around the tomb would have been built by the 19th-century Ottoman governor in Cyprus, Seyyid Elhac Mehmed Agha, which were replaced by fences in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and two doors by his successor Acem Ali Agha. In another account, Giovanni Mariti, who visited Cyprus between 1760 and 1767, wrote that the shrine was built by the Cyprus governor he names as Ali Agha. According to Mariti, until 1760 they used the stones of a standing church in a ruined village nearby as construction materials. In another source, it is mentioned that the construction of the mosque was initiated by the Cyprus governor Seyyid Mehmed Emin Efendi in classical Ottoman style, and it was completed in November 1817. The ancillary buildings have been repaired in 2004, and the mosque and the minaret are currently being restored. Both of these initiatives have been carried out with support from the Bi-communal Development Programme, which is funded from USAID and UNDP, and implemented through UNOPS.

Layout

Above the entry gate to Tekke garden is an Ottoman inscription dated 4 March 1813. Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

's monogram appears on both sides of the inscription and reads, "Hala Sultan Tekke was built by God's beloved great Ottoman Cyprus governor". The garden itself was designed by a

pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

and came to be known as "Pasha garden". The complex of buildings adjacent to the Tekke was known as "Gülşen-Feyz" (''the rose garden of plenitude'' or of ''enlightenment''). To the north (left) of the entrance there used to be a guesthouse for men. On the right side of the entrance, there was another guesthouse of which one block was reserved for men ( Selamlik) and the other for women ( Haremlik). It was a custom for visitors to take the oath of dedication to serve the Hala Sultan Tekke if their wishes were realized. The

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

d mosque is square-shaped with a balcony and was built in yellow stone blocks. The

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

was repaired in 1959. Umm Haram's tomb is located behind the mosque wall of the

qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

(in the direction of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

). A further inscription dated 1760 is found here. Aside her, there are four other tombs, two of them former sheikhs. Another important tomb is a two-leveled marble sarcophagus, carrying the date 12 July 1929. The tomb belongs to Adile Hüseyin Ali, who was the Turkish wife of the Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca of the Hashemite House, himself a grandson of the Ottoman

grand vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

Koca Mustafa Reşid Pasha and a descendant of

. At the eastern corner of the mosque and the Tekke, there is a cemetery, which was closed to burials at around 1899. A number of past Turkish administrators are buried here. Opposite the mosque, there is an octagonal fountain, which was built around 1796-1797 by the then governor of Cyprus Silahtar Kaptanbaşı Mustafa Agha. The information on the construction is recorded on the marble inscription located on the fountain. On another inscription dated 1895, which was recently discovered in the Tekke's garden, it is written that the infrastructure for bringing in the water was built upon the instructions of the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Abdülhamid II.

Significance

While being acknowledged as a holy site for Turkish Cypriot Muslims, the mosque has also been described by contemporary sources as revered by all Muslims. In an assessment of the environmental and cultural assets of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, Professor George E. Bowen, a senior Fulbright scholar at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, described Hala Sultan Tekke as the third holiest place for Muslims in the world. This view has been echoed by other sources including the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

in Cyprus and the Cypriot administration's Department of Antiquities. Others describe the site as fourth most important in the Islamic world, after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. As a result of the site being located in the Greek non-Muslim sector of the divided island, pilgrimage visits to the site are infrequent. In addition to interventions at the imperial level and by high-ranking administrators for the maintenance and development of the complex, during the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, Ottoman-flagged ships would hang their flags at half mast when off the shores of Larnaca, and salute Hala Sultan with

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

shots.

Gallery

File:Larnaca 01-2017 img30 Salt Lake.jpg, Hala Sultan Tekke with Larnaca Salt Lake in the foreground File:LarnacaSaltLake.jpg, Aerial photo of the Larnaca Salt Lake (in winter) with Hala Sultan Tekke File:Hala Sultan Tekke.jpg, The Hala Sultan Tekke. File:Hala Sultan Tekke Larnaca 7.JPG, Inside the Hala Sultan Tekke File:Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque 1958.jpg, Hala Sultan Tekke behind a small courtyard in 1958

References

External links

Excavations reveal copper deposits that made Cyprus one of the most important Late Bronze Age trade hubs - Phys.org - March 16, 2023

Ancient Cyprus in the British Museum

Rehabilitation of the Hala Sultan Tekke Complex

MP3 and PDF audio guides
by the Cyprus Tourism Organization.
Documentary: Akdeniz'in Nuru Hala Sultan
from Diyanet TV {{Authority control Mosques in Cyprus Ottoman takyas Ziyarat Ottoman architecture in Cyprus Religious buildings and structures completed in 1817