Activities of the Institute of Archaeological
Sciences
and of the Centre for the Restoration of Monuments
in Baghdad
Mosul
Project: Restoration of the al-Hadbah minaret
Site: Mosul
Director: Andrea Bruno
The minaret adjacent to the Great Mosque of Mosul (Jama’ an-Nuri), commonly known as “hadbah” (leaning) was built during the reign of the Atabegs of Mosul (12th –13th century). The reason for this deformation has been attributed to the plasticization of the chalky mortar cementing the bricks, with which it is entirely built, subjected to the area’s prevailing northwesterly winds. Although to a lesser extent, two other minarets in Mosul display the same phenomenon.
Al-Hadbah has a cylindrical cross section and is 48 m tall including the cubic base that is 6 m tall, and is equipped with an internal spiral staircase that reaches the balcony under the lantern. In 1967, a project for consolidating and restoring the monument was drafted with the aid of Fondedile of Naples. The project, proposing the use of “root posts” in the foundations and a micro-fencework of the erected parts, was submitted by the Centro Scavi to the Antiquities Department.
The project was partly implemented in 1974 by the same building firm with funding provided by local authorities, overriding the veto of the Ba’ath party’s Revolutionary Council on awarding contracts for the restoration of cultural heritage to foreign firms. Probably due to this partial implementation, only a few years later the base body suffered new damage that would require further intervention.