Marwānids and Their Architectural Patronage in Upper Mesopotamia (983-1085 CE)

This study investigates the architectural patronage of the Marwānid dynasty in Upper Mesopotamia during the 10th and 11th centuries, focusing on the capital of Mayyāfāriqīn (modern-day Silvan) and Āmid (Diyarbakır). From 983 to 1085 CE, under the nominal suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Buyid dynasty, the Marwānids governed a vast and strategically significant region, encompassing urban centres such as Arzān, Khilāṭ, Ḥiṣn Kayfā, Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar, al-Ruhā, and Mosul, among others. Within this territorial framework, the Marwānids undertook extensive architectural initiatives that served religious, administrative, military, and socio-economic functions. Drawing on medieval Arabic, Persian, and Syriac sources, mainly Taʾrīkh Mayyāfāriqīn wa-Āmid by Ibn al-Azraq al-Fāriqī (1116-1176) and Al-Aʿlāq al-Khaṭīrah by ʿIzz al-Dīn Ibn Shaddād (1217-1285), this article reconstructs the architectural legacy of the dynasty through both textual analysis and fieldwork conducted in situ. Surviving monuments and epigraphic remains attest to the Marwānids’ role in shaping an urban architectural idiom and developing civic infrastructure. While much of the material heritage has been altered or lost due to subsequent rebuilding, the extant evidence reveals a sophisticated architectural program aligned with broader Islamic traditions yet locally rooted in the political and cultural identity of the Marwānids. This article argues that the Marwānid contribution to the architectural and urban development of Upper Mesopotamia warrants greater scholarly attention, not only for its regional distinctiveness but also for its early Islamic articulation of dynastic identity through the built environment.