| The Sheikh Abdolsamad Mosque in Natanz Iran Persian
Rugs the O'Connell Guide
View from the courtyard of the Sheikh Abdolsamad
Mosque in Natanz Iran
Sheikh Abd al-Samad Esfahani was a noted holy man in
Ilkhanid Iran who died at the end of the 13th century
(1299AD).
In the early 14th century (1308) the Il-Khanid Vizier
Zain al-Din Mastari built the tomb and mosque and
dedicated it to his master Sheikh Abdolsamad
The Sheikh Abdolsamad Mosque in Natanz Iran
[b]"The center of the façade is composed as a
triple arcade, behind the central arch of which there is
a minaret with an inscription dated 725/1324-25. Another
portal on the eastern end of the façade provides entry
to the complex by way of a sunken narrow corridor. An
inscription on this portal reveals that the building is a
mosque built by Zayn al-Din Mastari in 704/ 1304-5."
The Sheikh Abdolsamad is an important example of Persian
architecture. The mosque incorporates Khawrazmshahi and
IlKhanid design elements,
"As mentioned before like the Khawrazmshahi
porticoes the porticoes built by Ilkhanid architects are
higher than Seljuk ones. In other words compared to the
height of the portico the entrance is larger. Meanwhile
in order to engross the size of the portico two columns
are set at the sides of the porticoes at the facing. An
example of such architecture can be found in the tomb of
Sheikh Abdolsamad in Natanz (Wilber 83). The ceiling of
Khawrazmshahi portico is arched and ribbed and differ
from that used by Ilkhanid masons."
"The frieze originally decorated the tomb of the
sufi shaykh Abd al-Samad at Natanz, built by the vizier
Zaynal-Din and completed in the spring of 1308. Part of a
larger religious complex, "the tomb is a chamber
approximately six meter square erected on the site of
Abdal-Samad's residence across a lane from the mosque. As
at Bastan the shape is traditional, but the interior is
decorated with the finest fittings Zayn al-Din
couldprocure. The walls were all revetted with a
(...)dado of luster tiles (...) often recognizable by a
friezeof paired birds whose heads were later defaced by
somezealous iconoclast (S. Blair - J. Bloom, op. cit.,p.
10; see also the more detailed study by Sheila Blair,The
Ilkhanid Shrine Complex at Natanz, Iran,Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1986, pp. 50, 64, and pl.53)." The
inscription on the frieze may have run above six rows of
star and cross tiles."
An
Ilkhanid Luster-Painted Tile Natanz Dedicated March-April
1308
Tomb of Sheikh Abdolsamad, Natanz, Iran. View is from
the roof top of the ICHO office, adjacent to the
courtyard.
A tile from the frieze that originally decorated the
tomb of the sufi shaykh Abd al-Samad at Natanz
The
frieze originally decorated the tomb of the sufi shaykh
Abd al-Samad at Natanz, built by the vizier Zaynal-Din
and completed in the spring of 1308. Part of a larger
religious complex, "the tomb is a chamber
approximately six meter square erected on the site of
Abdal-Samad's residence across a lane from the mosque.
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