Mammadbeyli Mausoleum
Location: Mammadbeyli, Zangilan
Condition Assessment
Status: Minor damage
Mammadbeyli Mausoleum (also known as Octagonal Mausoleum or Mausoleum of Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Haj), located in the village of Mammadbeyli (Zangilan district), is listed on the Republic of Azerbaijan's registry of heritage sites (inventory No. 391). 1 According to the official listing as well as scholarly publications it dates to the 14 th century. 2,3,4
The Mausoleum in the village of Mammadbeyli survives in good condition. In the 1980s, there was slight damage to in the upper part of the dome. The stone mausoleum is an octagonal prism covered with a pyramidal dome with an entrance in the northwestern face. Above the entrance is an Arabic inscription, according to which the mausoleum was built in the month of Ramadan 704 (AD 1305) over the grave of Muhammad al-Haj. 4
Comparison of the KH-9 Hexagon imagery dated July 1980 5 and satellite imagery captured in November 2021 6 shows that the overall structure and shape of the mausoleum is unchanged. A video and images ( a , b , c ) post-dating the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War confirm this assessment. But the video and one of the images show that the mausoleum sustained minor damage in the lower part of the south-western wall since the Soviet period (for Soviet-era images, see Supplementary Imagery).
Drag the swipe tool right to see the mausoleum in July 1980; 5 drag left to see the mausoleum in November 2021. 6
Geolocation
CHW geolocated the mausoleum using the above-referenced videos and images pre- and post-dating the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Supplementary Imagery
The mausoleum in the Soviet period.
The plan of the mausoleum 3
The mausoleum in 2006
The mausoleum in 2014
The mausoleum in 2014
References
2 Bretanitski L., Azərbaycan memarlığı abidələri. AzSSR EA, Memarlıq İn-tu. Bakı: Elm, 1951.
3 Salamzadə Ə. V., Məmmədzadə K. M., Arazboyu abidələr. Azərbaycan SSR Elmlər Akademiyası, Memarlıq və İncəsənət İn-tu, Tarix İn-tu, 1979.
4 Мамед-заде К. М., Строительное искусство Азербайджана (с древнейших времен до XIX в.). [Научный редактор - А. В. Саламзаде]. Баку: Элм. 1983, p. 101-103.
5 KH-9 Hexagon, D3C1216-100138A006, July 3, 1980.
6 Google Earth/CNES/Airbus, November 2021.
