Photos: Inscriptions of Saveh Grand Mosque

by Tauqeer Abbas
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Shafaqna Pakistan: Saveh Mosque is one of the first mosques built in Iran and has been decorated and restored by Iranian artists during different periods. Saveh Mosque is located in the south of Saveh and is the last building unit in the south of the city. This mosque is made entirely of clay and is unique in its kind. This Mosque consists of a courtyard and dome in the south, two porches, a minaret, several naves, numerous and old altars with Kufic scripts and two altars from the Safavid period with the Sols Calligraphy.

Saveh Mosque, which has an area of 4,200 square meters, in 1931 as the first historical site in Markazi province was registered in the list of national monuments. Archaeologists claim that this mosque is one of the first Mosques built in Iran.

The main altar left in the Saveh Grand Mosque shows a perfect form of Iranian altar construction. This valuable altar, which is artistically made, is an example of the art of the early tenth century AH in the Islamic world.

Most of the architectural decorations and the most beautiful altar, belonging to the Safavid period, are located in this vault. In the small concavity of the altar, ie the place where the Imam of the congregational prayer stands, there is a decorated pentagonal hollow, part of which has been destroyed.

The dome is built with beautiful symmetrical architectural proportions and corners at a height of about 17 meters.

The Ilkhani altar of Saveh Mosque is a very delicate altar with a beautiful and magnificent design.

In the wide margin of the plasterwork, verses 128 and 129 of Surah “At-Tawbah” have been carved, which the beginning part of verse 128 and the end part of verse 129 have been lost.

The marginal cornice on the outside of the altar is written in Sols calligraphy and close to Kufi script (especially in the Persian letter Waw). The gables of the upper arch are composed of a circle in which the word “Allah” in Kufic script appears on the blue background to the right.

At the edge of the arch, there are four circles on the altar, in each of which the word “Muhammad” is inscribed four times in Kufic script.

On the two margins of the south porch, the words “Muhammad” and “Ali” are each written four times in Kufic script with tiles.

Around the dome, in the first line of the sentences, the phrase “La Ilaha Illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah Ali un Waliu-Allah” is repeated several times in Kufic script and with tiles.

What remained from the Ilkhanid altar today shows the quality and importance of the decorations of this era in the Saveh Grand Mosque. The type of inscriptions in this section is the same as the revealed inscriptions on the west porch. In the concavity and on the left, there are traces of inscriptions that have been severely worn and cannot be read.

In the upper part of the dome and in 16 Medallions (Toranj), Salawat for Infallible Imams has been carved. Above the mentioned Medallions (Toranj) and all around the inside of the building Surah Al-Dahr and verse 254 of Surah Al-Baqarah have been carved.

Gypseous beads are used in a melded way in the porch space and parts such as the dome of the western bedchamber and include spindle-shaped designs. The same decorative beads can be found in the buildings of the Ilkhanid period, such as Soltanieh Dome.

In some parts, there are inscriptions made of tiles that are written in Sols calligraphy. This inscription has two lines and most of it has been destroyed.

Saveh Mosque has so many architectural decorations on its arches and walls that it can be considered as a museum.

In the third margin, the words “Allah, Muhammad and Ali” are written in Kufic script on tiles.

Outside the current mosque, in the corner of the northern bedchamber of the Mosque, there is a minaret with 14 meters high, which is made entirely of bricks, and in three directions, south, east and west, there are brick decorations and brick inscriptions.

The main altar of the Grand Mosque, which is the work of Safavid artists, is one of the most beautiful and largest fillet altars in Iran, which is about three meters high and 4 meters wide with a margin around it.

The inscription on the arch of the altar, which has been left unfinished, unlike the advanced periods of inscription, has a special simplicity and beauty, and the inscription can be easily read in the Islamic context.

The Kufic calligraphies of this plasterwork are mostly related to the fourth and fifth centuries AH, In the middle part of which, verse 19 of Surah Aal-e-Imran is covered, and the first and last parts of it have been destroyed.

The exact date of construction of Saveh Mosque has not been determined yet, but the oldest object found in this collection is inscriptions written in the 4th century AH, so this mosque is at least 1000 years old.

In the margin of the altar, a part of Surah Yasin has been carved in the Kufic script, the beginning of which to verse 8 has been destroyed and from verse 8 to verse 15 has remained in the margin of the altar. The next margin, which is in Naskh script, is decorated with verses 125 and 126 of Surah Al-Baqarah.

Source: Shafaqna English

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