Maqam (shrine)

A Maqām (Arabic: مقام‎‎) is a tomb of Muslim saints. It is a funeral construction, usually small, cubic-shaped and topped with a dome.

The maqams of Palestine were considered highly significant to the field of biblical archaeology, as their names were used in the 18th and 19th centuries to identify much of biblical geography. According to Claude Reignier Conder's description in 1877, the Palestinian locals attached "more importance to the favour and protection of the village Mukam than to Allah himself, or to Mohammed his prophet".

From Arabic literally "a place" or "station."It is used to denote a "sanctuary", such as a commemorative burial shrine or an actual tomb. Its meaning can be restricted only to built structures that can be entered at such sites. The literal meaning of maqam is "the place where one stands." Such name for a holy tomb is mostly used in Syria and Palestine.

There is a form Mukam in the essays of European travellers of the 19th century; as well as words Waly, Wely (Arabic: ويلي‎‎ — tomb of a saint), Mazar (mausoleum), Mashhad.

Due to their cubic shape, these constructions were also called Kubbeh, Kubbi, Qubba the same way as the major sacred site Kaaba in Mecca. In Turkic-speaking Muslim countries similar tombs are known as Türbe, Dürbe, Aziz and in Iranian-speaking countries — Dargah.

The most popular type of maqams is a single chamber square building topped with a dome, in the middle of which there is a stone cenotaph, though the bodies of holy men themselves were buried below the ground level. In the south wall of the maqam, facing Mecca, there is usually a small mihrab decorated with inscriptions and floral ornament. The entrance to the chamber is mostly at the north wall. In the other arched walls there are usually small windows.

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