Baghdad: An excavation team from the British Museum had discovered a mud mosque in the Iraqi al-Rifa’i area, south of Dhi Qar governor, dating back to the year 60 AH or 679 AD, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
The 1342-year-old mosque is eight meters wide and five meters long. In the heart of the mosque is a small shrine for the imam, which could accommodate 25 people, according to the latest excavation findings.
“Mosques are among the pioneering buildings in the early Islamic period,” Iraq News Agency quoted Ali Shalgham, director of the Department of Investigation and Excavation in Dhi Qar.
The British team discovered the mosque with the help of locals. As per the media reports, it is considered one of the most important discoveries because it dates back to the beginning of the rise of Islam.
This discovery is significant because the mud mosque is located in the middle of a well-defined residential area.
“We found very little information that came to us in revealing the early Islamic periods,” Shalgham told the state-run Iraqi News Agency. “The discovered mud was found near the surface of the site, so there were only a few remnants of the building left due to erosions from water, wind, and rain.”