The Nabi Saeen Mosque ( ar, مسجد النبي سعين, ''Masjid al-Nabi Saʿīn''; he, מסגד נבי סעין, ''Misgad Navi Sa'in'') is a mosque located on Nabi Saeen Hill in
Nazareth,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, at a height of above sea level. The mosque is located at the top of the ridge enclosing the city from the north, about 150 meters north of the
Salesian
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, founder = John Bosco
, founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...
Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent, providing a panoramic view of Nazareth and the
Jezreel Valley
The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...
to the south, and the Upper Galilee and Haifa outskirts (Krayot) to the north and west.
Name
The mosque is named for the hill on which it sits, which is officially romanized Nabi Saeen on local signs. It has also been variously rendered as En Nabi Sa'id, Neby Sȧîn,
[.] Neby Sain, and Mt Oaber Simani.
[. (French)] It is apparently a local corruption of
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
,
[ normally rendered ''Isha'ya''' in Arabic ().
]
Architecture
The mosque is a two-story structure in the shape of a trapezoid and is 20 meters long and 20 meters wide at its base. Near the northern front facing the street stands an octagonal minaret balcony where four windows surround the high tower, a spire in sharp gray. The front of the second floor is painted in bright green, and has the form of five arches over windows, each a small circular window (similar style windows surround the second floor on all sides). The entire facade is divided into seven parts, including seven separate pairs of narrow columns painted green on the first floor,
The first floor entrance leads into an open corridor on the other side, stretching along the western facade of the building. The mosque is divided into several rooms, including a room which is considered the burial place of a sheikh (, ''maqām''; , ''maqām'').
References
{{Mosques in Israel
Mosques in Nazareth
Mosque buildings with domes