عمائر الموصل في العهد العثماني من خلال رحلة كارستن نيبور : دراسة مقارنة

Abstract EN

The voyage of the Danish Carsten Niepuhr to Iraq is one of the historical expeditions documenting the history of Iraq in general, and the history of Mosul in particular in the mid of the 18th century A.D.

The importance of this voyage comes from the descriptions and depictions it provides of a number of cultural and political aspects of the city.

The present research sheds light on the building structures of Mosul in the Ottoman reign as depicted by the voyage of Carsten Niepuhr.

The Danish voyager arrived at the city of Mosul in (1765 A.D/ 1178 A.H) when it was one of the vassal territories of the Ottoman Empire and was ruled by Al-Jaleeli dynasty (1136-1249 A.H/ 1726- 1834 A.D), the founder of which was Abdul-Jaleel.

During the reign of this dynasty, Mosul had witnessed remarkable building improvements and expansions and many buildings were constructed such as mosques, markets, schools and courts.

Those building constructions left prominent construction remains which outline the distinctive architectural structures of Mosul.

Niepuhr focused during his stay at the city on a number of prominent constructions, religious buildings and facilities and hence, provided us with a clear and comprehensive picture of what those buildings and constructions were like back in that period of time.

However, in order to have an overall comprehension and clear visualization, the present study analyzes the voyage records and compares these records with the documents of the local history of the city aiming at authenticating Niepuhr's records and adding more analyzing information of the buildings and of what is left of them.

The present study falls into several parts.

First, an overview of the Iraqi city of Mosul during the Ottoman reign is presented.

Second, the identification of Niepuhr and his expedition and the depictions he made of the buildings and constructions at the city in that period are illustrated.

The analysis of these depictions according to historical and architectural data is also provided.

Furthermore, a variety of relevant sources and references has been consulted.

Finally, a number of photos, a map of the buildings and constructions Niepuhr's depicted and a map showing his trip from Baghdad to Mosul are included in the study.