Yeez,
Your comment:
I think Gibson's work is good to explore early mosques, I am not convinced that all early mosques point to Petra. Deus says there are multiple directions. But I think I am the only one who has read both articles here...
AJ Deus summary, his item 9) is interesting :
Even though the here presented results are preliminary and could still contain errors (in particular
in respect to demolitions and reconstructions), the discoveries in this paper have fundamental
consequences for the approach to the history of the beginnings of Islam, the Koran, and beyond. Some
of the discoveries are as following:
1) The Koran speaks of two qibla changes.
2) The Koran neither commands a change from Jerusalem, nor to Mecca, but instead to Al-Haram
in present day Israel (as confirmed with orientations from various mosques).
3) Babylonian Pharisee qiblas show a consistent prayer orientation to the location of the Exilarch
(not to the Temple in Jerusalem).
4) The pattern of directing places of worship toward the Exilarch continues through all three
mosques of Medina and beyond.
5) For the first time, the Ethiopian kernel of the early Muslim story can be confirmed with
archaeology. There may indeed have been two ‘Muslim’ stations in that country:
With surprising accuracy and with conversion points from multiple directions,
– the Quba Mosque in Medina is precisely oriented toward Axum
– the Mosque of the Prophet is precisely oriented toward the Imam Mesgid in Negash.
6) Levite-Sadducee qiblas show a consistent prayer orientation to the location of the Nasi (also not
to the Temple Mount).
7) There are many qibla changes that can be attributed to ‘Muslim’ structures. The pattern follows
the dynastic paraclete leadership from which follows that each town can reveal its individual story
about dynastic expansions and contractions through the archaeology of the mosques. Similar to
changes in dynastic territories, the stories told through mosques in multiple towns are interlinked
and overlap.
Since none of the early structures point to Mecca, the Muslims have arrived there much later than is assumed in the traditional accounts. Even after the first appearance in the historical record, the practice of orienting places of worship toward the dynastic leadership would persist for centuries.
9) Jacob of Edessa’s comment that the Jews were praying toward Jerusalem implies that the Exilarch or the Nasi was occupying the Temple Mount at that time.
10) The Al-Askari Shrine and mosque in Samarra was built by Seljuks over one and a half century after the disappearance of the Mahdi, and it would be expanded by Ismaili’s thereafter.
Topic: Qur'anic studies today