One of the stops on our final field trip in Cyprus was to the Umm Haram mosque on the outskirts of Larnaca. The Mosque is built on the edge of the Larnaca Salt Lake and was constructed during the Ottoman occupation of the island in the mid to late 1700s. The mosque has grown to become a very significant holy site in Islamic tradition as it was constructed over the tomb of Umm Haram who was one of the Prophet’s wet nurses and who died during the initial Islamic raids of Cyprus under Caliph Muawiyah in the 640s. Although the actual mosque was built much later this site has been described as both the third and fourth most holy site in Islam by some contemporary sources. The location of the mosque at the edge of a salt lake that is normally inhabited by flamingos and the architecture of the building itself are stunningly beautiful and it is interesting to see how well looked after the compound is, due to the limited nature of Islamic pilgrims to the site. During our trip to the mosque much of the site was still unfortunately restricted due to Covid guidelines and interior of the mosque and the tomb itself were largely restricted. Although our access to much of the site was very limited I was still very impressed by both the mosque and the tombs we were allowed access to, as it has given me context into what Islamic tombs and burial traditions are like and can be compares to Catholic or Orthodox Christian traditions as is evident by holy sites such as the Church of Saint Lazarus.
Tristan F.