and with his sword and round decorated shield
Luʾluʾ became official ruler (atābeg) of Mosul, and
defends himself against the dragon as it rears up
the Mongol invasion in 656–7/1257–8, when his
to strike
rule was terminated although he succeeded in
Images of paired dragons are prominently
keeping Mosul as vassal of Hūlāgū 141 The inscrip-
depicted in the Mosul area, the heart of the Jazīra,
tion also gives the atābeg’s honorary titles and
on the gateway to the only remaining caravanse-
relates him in a eulogy to the Saka hero Rustam,
rai located between Mosul and Sinjār, known as
“the Rustam-i Zāl of our time,” thus showing
Khariyyāt al-Khān or Khān al-Harārāt, which is
him in a long line of kings and underlining his
now partly destroyed 140 The reliefs on each half
legitimacy as ruler 142 It was fitting for Badr al-Dīn
of the archivolts of the monumental archway
Luʾluʾ who governed Mosul for the longest time,
show two horned dragons with backward-facing
and who was a freedman probably of Armenian
heads, fighting off warriors on foot distinguished
servile origin, to carry Arab names, Persian titles
by haloes and shown in three-quarter view The
and to be depicted as Turkic leader 143 The accom-
dragons are closely related to those on the Bāb
panying inscription also grants sanctuary to all
al-Ṭilasm in Baghdad Curved horns project from
comers144 which underlines the protective func-
the crown of the head The strong forelegs end in
tion of the motif
feet with individual pointed talons and the slen-
The depiction of the hand-to-hand combat
der arched wings have finely delineated plumes
of the dragon-fighter on foot on the gateway at
The heads are also rendered in three-quarter view
al-Khān has a counterpart in the representation
with wide-open jaws revealing sharp teeth; high
on the Mosul gate which secures the entrance
vertically hatched ruff-like projections demar-
to the small mountain town of ʿAmādiya, or
cate the necks The scaly serpentine tails form
al-ʿImādiyya, northeast of Mosul 145 Its monumen-
a pretzel-shaped knot and a single loop before
tal display echoes that on al-Khān, in particular
gradually tapering to terminate in another small
the portrayal of the fighters who attack the dragon
dragon head projecting from the inward-curling
with a sword (although not with a lance as at
tail tip The fabulous creatures are being attacked
al-Khān) One way in which the representations
by the lances of the long-haired bearded figures
differ is that at ʿAmādiya the horned dragons are
who grip the tips of the dragons’ noses with
shown addorsed: the protomes project in rampant
one hand while holding the lance in the other
posture at the apex of the arched entrance from
Importantly, as will be further discussed below,
the top of a large knot, reminiscent of the “Syrian
the dragon-fighting reliefs surmount an impos-
knot,” that ties their ophidian bodies The gaping
ing arch charged with nine equidistantly placed
mouths reveal the bifid tongues that entwine at
cusped medallions enclosing eight-petalled star-
mid-section (the same feature can be observed
rosettes (figs 100a and b)
on figs 78 and 160), and again the fighters grip
The epigraphic frieze on the portal of the khān
with one hand the tips of the dragons’ noses while
identifies the Zangīd successor Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ
with the other hand aiming their swords at the
Abu ’l-Faḍāʾil al-Malik al-Raḥīm (618/1222–
dragons’ necks Significantly, the quadripartite
657/1259) as patron, through which the khān can
knot encloses a composite hemispherical rosette
be dated between 631/1233–4, when Badr al-Dīn
formed of fine pointed petals arranged radially
141
Guide to the National Museum of Damascus, 1969, fig 2
Van Berchem (in Sarre and Herzfeld, 1911) vol 1,
(35); Furūsiyya, 1996, p 222, ill 31, pp 236–7, cat no 198
p 15
142
ii Two further faience fountain sculptures in this series,
Idem, pp 14–5 and fig 8; Hauptmann von Gladiss,
representing a sphinx with tail and wings ending in dragon
ed , 2006, p 123 and fig 19
143
heads and a rooster with tail ending in a bird head; dated
See for instance Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ, identified by the
here to the late twelfth century, are preserved in Copen-
inscription of his name on the tiraz, is depicted as mounted
hagen, the David Collection, inv nos Isl 56 and Isl 57,
falconer on the frontispiece of the Kitāb al-Aghānī (“Book
respectively See von Folsach, 1990, p 104, figs 129 and 128
of Songs”), dated 616/1219, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī Ṭālib
140 Van Berchem, 1906, 2v, v1, pp 197–210, 203–4;
ibn al-Badrī, now in Copenhagen, Royal Library, Ms Cod
Preusser, 1911, pl 17 bottom, captions on this plate mistak-
Arab 169 Hauptmann von Gladiss, ed , 2006, p 8, fig 1;
enly reversed; Sarre and Herzfeld, 1920, vol 1, pp 11, 13–5;
Hillenbrand, R , 2006, p 19 Cf Cahen, “Luʾluʾ,” EI 2 V,
Reitlinger, 1938, pp 149–50; Kühnel, 1950, p 8; Ettinghau-
820b
144
sen and Grabar, 1987, p 302, fig 325; Gierlichs, 1998, pp 35,
Ibrāhīm, 1976, p 13
145
199, fig 1; drawing of the right spandrel of the caravanserai
The gate was destroyed during bombing in the 1980s
with parts of the inscription by Ernst Herzfeld, 19 Decem-
and then reconstructed Gierlichs, 1995, pls 2–3 (waterco-
ber 1907, reproduced by Hauptmann von Gladiss, ed , 2006,
lour of 1955), and idem, 1998, pp 35, 199, fig 2; Hauptmann
fig 19
von Gladiss, ed , 2006, p 122, fig 16
the dragon in scenes of combat
101
in superimposed layers The rayed outline of the
popular cult of Khiḍr at the regional monastery
rosette adds to the overall starburst effect, under-
of Mār Behnām/Deir al-Khiḍr, located southeast
lining the identification of the rosette as a solar
of Mosul, an important place of pilgrimage for
symbol The base extends to form an interlaced
Jews, Christians and Muslims The iconography
festoon that frames the arched aperture which
of the dragon-slayer, regarded as Saint George
includes a small eight-petalled rosette at the apex
as well as al-Khiḍr, played a pertinent role at the
(fig 101) 146
monastery In the age of syncretism this however
The solar iconography of the large central
does not exclude the possibility that Badr al-Dīn
rosette adds weight to the identification of the
Luʾluʾ wished to benefit from these different layers
small rosette, just like the closely related rosettes
of identification of the dragon-fighter motif and
emblazoned on the gateway to al-Khān, as stellar
to build his historical charisma upon a rhetorical
symbol As also shown in the above-discussed
association of his personality with religious figures
reliefs on the Bāb al-Ḥayyāt in Aleppo (fig 3a),
– his conscious association with al-Khiḍr – as well
on Karatay Han (figs 4a and b) and on the small
as “mythical” figures associated with Iranian leg-
“Kiosk Mosque” situated in Sultan Han (fig 12),
endary history and national epic – he is cal ed “the
the latter two examples being located near Kay-
Rustam-i Zāl of our time ” Being an astute diplo-
seri, this once again associates dragons with stel ar
mat he thereby clearly relied on the potency and
constellations As noted, in contrast to the depic-
cultural resonance that these figures possessed
tion on al-Khān, on which the mirror image of the
at the time, arguably to enhance his position as
dragon fight is rendered in a confronted manner,
powerful ruler and defender of his realm as well
the dragons are shown as addorsed Their bodies
as to appropriate symbolical y the religio-cultural
issue from the knotted configuration that encloses
space of his realm It also demonstrates his ambi-
the solar symbol and then extends to frame the
tion to create a cultural paradigm by embracing a
arch The creatures may thus be seen to hold or
multilayered symbolism which includes syncretic
bind the sun by means of the knotted enclosure
religious aspects as well as ancient Iranian tra-
yet at the same time, they appear to emerge from
ditions This was visually anchored in the figure
the solar symbol The relief is thus an important
of the dragon-fighter as well as the symbol of
example of the dual symbolism inherent in the
the interlaced dragons at ʿAmādiya It may be
dragon’s connection with the sun which has often
hypothesised that akin to the motif of the inter-
been associated with the occurrence of the eclipse
laced dragons, added around a century earlier
as will be seen below Only fragments remain of
to the otherwise late Byzantine style coinage of
the architectural inscription147 which again names
the Artuqid ruler Fakhr al-Dīn Qara Arslan (figs
Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ as benefactor and thus dates
32a and b), these symbols were chosen in the
the relief, like the façade sculptures at al-Khān,
spirit of a conscious revival of imagery carrying
to the period of his rule At that time the treasury
an association with the glorious Iranian past The
was kept at ʿAmādiya,148 which might have pro-
royal messages conveyed by the sculptures on the
vided al the more reason for Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ to
gateways of al-Khān and ʿAmādiya demonstrate
emblematise himself as a dragon-fighter set within
visual expressions of both power and ideologies
the complex of stellar allusions on the town gate
that are remarkably fluid, traversing geographi-
At the same time it is interesting to consider
cal, religious and cultural boundaries
the identification of the standing haloed fight-
yet another manifestation of the mounted
ers with the syncretistic figure of the Islamic
dragon-fighter is found in a mid- to late thir-
Prophet Khiḍr,149 guide of wayfarers and patron
teenth-century Anatolian manuscript, known
saint of travellers and, moreover, identified with
as Daqāʾiq al-Ḥaqāʾiq, dedicated to the Saljuq
the Christian dragon-slayer Saint George 150 This
sulṭān Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kay Khusraw III, which
is especially pertinent in view of the widespread
is variously dated Ramaḍān 670/April 1272 and
146
148
Cf Gierlichs, 1995, pp 195–7
Idem, p 203
147
149
On the right side, “ʿIzz li Mawlānā al-Sulṭān al-Mālik
Sarre and Herzfeld, 1911, vol 1, pp 13, 37–8; Cooma-
al-Malik ar-Raḥīm al-ʿĀlim al-ʿĀsil al-Muʾayyad al-Muẓaffar
raswamy, 1934, p 181; Tabbaa, 1997, p 76
150
al-Manṣūr al-Mujāhid al-Murābiṭ al-Muṭaghir al-Ghāzī
Friedlaender, “Khiḍr,“ ERE, vol 14, 1915, p 695; Fiey,
Badr al-Dunyā wa ’l-Dīn,” and on the left side, “Atābak
1965, vol 2, pp 575–6; Franke, 2000, pp 155, n 512, and
al-Aʿẓam Abu ’l-Faḍāʾil Luʾluʾ …,” after Gierlichs, 1995,
pp 159–60; Baumer, 2005, p 110 See also the discussion in
p 202
the Epilogue, part 2
102