Dayr Murrān was a monastery and village in the western outskirts of Damascus, on the lower slopes of

Mount Qasioun Mount Qasioun () is a mountain overlooking the city of Damascus, Syria. It has a range of restaurants, from which the whole city can be viewed. Due to its high elevation, several communications and broadcasting networks constructed relay stat ...

, that had been a favored seasonal residence of 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

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 ...

caliphs in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. Its exact location has not been identified.

Location and etymology

The exact location of Dayr Murran has not been identified, though the medieval sources indicate it was situated on the lower slopes of

near the

Bab al-Faradis Bab al-Faradis (; "The Gate of the Paradises") or Bab al-Amara is one of the seven ancient city-gates of Damascus, Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levan ...

gate of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

.Sourdel 1965, p. 198. It overlooked the orchards of the

Ghouta Ghouta ( / ALA-LC: ''Ḡūṭat Dimašq'') is a countryside area in southwestern Syria that surrounds the city of Damascus along its eastern and southern rim. Name Ghouta is an Arabic term (''ghuta'') for 'garden'. Geography The Ghouta is an ...

plain that surrounded the city. The village was named after the large Christian monastery located within it, though its etymology is obscure. It translates in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

as the "ash-tree monastery", which historian

Dominique Sourdel Dominique Sourdel (31 January 1921, Pont-Sainte-Maxence – 4 March 2014, Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French historian who specialized in Medieval Islam. He was professor of the Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as ...

considered a questionable name. He also doubts that the name has Syriac roots. Dayr Murran was known for its view of the saffron fields below and for containing abundant walled gardens and orchards. Its monastery was decorated with numerous mosaics.

History

Dayr Murran was utilized by the

caliphs as a residence where they could be entertained while overseeing their capital Damascus. As early as 660, while the Umayyad

Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

was governor of Syria, his lieutenant

Busr ibn Abi Artat Busr ibn Abi Artat al-Amiri (; 620s–) was a prominent Arab commander in the service of Mu'awiya I, the governor of Islamic Syria (640s–661) and the first Umayyad caliph (661–680). A veteran of the early Muslim conquests in Syria and North ...

mobilized his forces at Dayr Murran for the conquest 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 ...

and

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

from Caliph

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

's control.Madelung 1997, p. 299 The future caliph

Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (; 11 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death in November 683. His appointment by his father Mu'awiya I () was the first ...

(r. 680–683) made improvements to its irrigation systems and was staying there before being dispatched to the Byzantine front in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

by his father, Mu'awiya I. Later, Caliph

Abd al-Malik Abdul Malik () is an Arabic (Muslim or Christian) male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and ''Malik''. The name means "servant of the King", in the Christian instance 'King' meaning 'King ...

and his entourage spent their springs there and at

Jabiyah Jabiyah ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Jābiya'') was a town of political and military significance in the 6th–8th centuries. It was located between the Hawran plain and the Golan Heights. It initially served as the capital of the Ghassanids, an Arab vassal ...

, while his son Caliph

al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...

died there. Caliph

al-Walid II Al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 70917 April 744), commonly known as al-Walid II, was the eleventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 743 until his assassination in 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Birth and background Al-W ...

established his principal residence in Dayr Murran. Following the demise of the Umayyads in 750, their

successors or their representatives lived in or visited the village. Among the caliphs who spent time there were

Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...

al-Ma'mun Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

and

al-Mu'tasim Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd (; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh (, ), was the eighth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, ruling from 833 until his death in 842. ...

. When Caliph

al-Wathiq Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad al-Wathiq bi'Llah (; 18 April 81210 August 847), commonly known by his regnal name al-Wathiq bi'Llah (), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until his death in 847. Al-Wathiq is described in the so ...

dispatched Raja ibn Ayyub to put down a

Qays Qays ʿAylān (), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the ea ...

i tribal revolt in Damascus, Raja used Dayr Murran as his headquarters.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{coord missing, Syria Former Christian monasteries Former populated places in Syria Syria under the Umayyad Caliphate Syria under the Abbasid Caliphate Medieval Damascus