In Words & Pictures: The Old City

One of the most significant things about the city of Nablus is its history, and the best place to take a look at it would be the Old City. No trip to Nablus is complete without a walk in the Old City, with its narrow streets and lined pavement, and the smell of fresh meat or vegetables in the air, and the shouts of sellers from their crammed shops assorted on the sides of the streets.



The Old City of Nablus is not just home to shops, but to Islamic history. There are many old mosques in the city, which many of them date back to hundreds of years. Each mosque has a stanza above its door, which was a way of telling when this mosque was built and by whom. This particular one was built in 1305 hijri, around 120 years ago.



The oldest of these mosques is named The Big Mosque, and is the biggest and oldest mosque inside the Old City. Its famous not just for its history, but for its way of making. Its walls are made from huge rocks, and held together with clay, which was later replaced by modern chemicals to keep the building together. It is also known for its circle-like mutawada2, which is found in the middle of the mosque.



A lot of tombs for major Islamic people can also be found in the Old City, and they are sometimes accompanied by mosques, such as one called The Mosque of Prophets. The actual identity of the people these tombs actually belong to is unknown, neither is their place or significance in Islam, but they are still named as Islamic Tombs.



My uncle then finished our tour around the Old City with a visit to an Islamic gathering called The Corner. This is a rather strange at first, but quite nice place for young people to gather and pray, sing nasheeds, or recite quran. This one was a home of a tomb of a supposed prophet, and also the home of three other tombs, who supposedly belong either to his three sons, or students.