This famous mausoleum also known as Mosque al Khaffafin, is a historic mosque and shrine located in Baghdad. It was built by Zumurrud Khatun in 1202. Also known as Sitta Zubayda, she was the mother of the 34th Abbasid Caliph, Al-Nasir, and wife of the 33rd Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mustadi. Located in Sheikh Maarouf Cemetery on the Karkh side of Baghdad, the mausoleum dates back to the Abbasid era. Sitta Zubayda collected the waqf money from madrasas and built her own mausoleum before her death. This brick tomb displays a nine-layered, cone-shaped muqarnas cover capped by a small cupola that rises to great height from an octagonal base. Hazarbaf decoration covers the exterior of the base while each facade is partitioned into four sunken square panels, two on the bottom and two on the top, presenting decorative brickwork.
Nowadays, the tomb is entered from a square-planned, domed structure that was built to replace the former one. From this area, a staircase rises up to the base of the muqarnas dome while a tight corridor of just over one-meter large leads to the octagonal burial chamber. The light inside the vault emanates from small holes cut in the muqarnas dome producing a glowing effect. The minaret of the mosque was presumably built during the Seljuq dynasty’s era in the 12th century and is considered to be the oldest surviving minaret in Baghdad. The building has a robust construction made of bricks and plaster.
