Qubbat al-Khazna
Qubbat al-Khazna, also known as the Bayt al-Mal or Beit al-Mal, is an old structure within the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. It is an octagonal structure decorated with mosaics, standing on eight [Ancient Ancient Roman architecture|Roman architecture|Roman] columns.
Origins
The dome is most commonly thought to have been built under orders from the Abbasid governor of Damascus, Fadl ibn Salih in the late 8th century. This is based on the writings of later medieval Arabic writers, including Ibn Asakir, Al-Dhahabi, Ibn Kathir, and Ibn Taghrbirdi, though at least one historical Arabic writer, al-Badri, claimed that it was created in the reign of the earlier Umayyad caliph al-Walid, who built the mosque. Depending on the source, the exact date of this construction varies and may have occurred under the Abbasid caliphs al-Mansur, al-Mahdi, or Harun al-Rashid. Modern writer Ross Burns cites the year of construction as 789. Alain George argues that the structure may part of an earlier Christian-era structure that was subsequently appropriated and modified during the early Islamic period.Characteristics
The structure stands in the northwest corner of the mosque's courtyard. It is an octagonal chamber supported above the ground on eight columns. The Roman columns that were re-used for the structure's pillars were truncated to achieve the desired height but preserve original Roman-era capitals.The exterior walls of the structure were originally covered in colorful mosaic decoration which imitated the earlier Umayyad-era mosaics in the rest of the mosque, although they are of slightly lesser quality than the latter. The mosaics were restored in 13th or 14th century and then in the late 20th century they were almost entirely redone based on existing fragments.