The original turba (tomb) building was probably a Crusader structure. In the Mameluke period it became the tomb of Barakat Khan, an emir who came from a kingdom to the east of the Caspian Sea. He invaded Syria and Palestine as an ally of the Egyptian sultan and died in 1246. After the siege of Damascus, he was buried here with his two sons. The building's facade bears an inscription, part of which reads: "We emerged pure at our birth but we become impure. We came into the world peacefully, but we return enraged. We were created from black stone, fire, and water, but we will return to the dust." The Khaladiyye Library (now closed) was opened here in the late nineteenth century. |
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