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A place of visitation in Bukhara attributed to the Prophet Job (Ayyub); its name comes from the Persian chashma (spring, source) and means "the Spring of Job". It is not a fixed grave but a maqam: the atlas records it as a structure attached to the memory of a prophet, not as his tomb.
The building stands within the Historic Centre of Bukhara, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993. According to UNESCO's statement of value, the old town — with the exception of a few important vestiges from before the invasions of Genghis Khan in 1220 and Timur in 1370 — bears witness chiefly to the urbanism of the Shaybanid period from the 16th century onwards. Chashma Ayub is named among those early vestiges: the statement says that from the 11th-century Karakhanid period survive the Poi-Kalyan minaret along with most of the Magoki Attori mosque and the Chashma Ayub shrine.
The Encyclopaedia Iranica article devoted to the monuments of Bukhara gives the Timurid phase of the building: in 781/1380 Timur built the Chashma-ye Ayyub mausoleum, a complex structure dominated by a tall, conical dome. The same article mentions it after the Chaghatayid mausoleums, at the head of Timurid building activity in Bukhara.
The city in which the shrine stands was, according to UNESCO's criterion (vi), between the 9th and 16th centuries the largest centre of Muslim theology in the Near East, particularly for Sufism, with over two hundred mosques and more than a hundred madrasas. In the same historic centre stands the Samanid dynastic tomb, held to be the best surviving example of 10th-century architecture; UNESCO counts both buildings together among Bukhara's early monuments.
The sources call the building a "shrine" and a "mausoleum"; they contain no statement that the Prophet Job is buried here. Popular narratives concerning the spring are not found in the sources used for this record and are therefore not reproduced.
Differing Scholarly Views
Date of the building — UNESCO's statement of value assigns most of the shrine to the 11th-century Karakhanid period; the Encyclopaedia Iranica writes that Timur built the mausoleum in 781/1380. The two statements may refer to different building phases; the atlas records both and makes no choice between them.
Attribution to Job and the location of the grave — The name attaches the spring to the Prophet Job. The sources used describe the building as a shrine/mausoleum but do not say that the prophet is buried here, nor do they locate Job's grave anywhere. The atlas therefore keeps the record as a maqam; the pin marks the building itself, not a grave.
The narrative of the spring — The widespread popular account that a healing spring burst forth where Job struck the ground does not appear in the UNESCO or Iranica texts and has therefore not been included in the body. Recording the narrative with a source awaits review by the scholars' board.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — G. A. Pugachenkova; E. V. Rtveladze · vol. Vol. IV, Fasc. 5, pp. 525-527, entry “BUKHARA v. Archeology and Monuments”
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — Eckart Ehlers · vol. Vol. V, Fasc. 1, pp. 37-38, entry “ČAŠMA”
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Tentative Lists / Nomination Files · “Historic Centre of Bukhara (602)”
The sources for this record are listed below (Mandatory Sources).
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Permanent ID: EA-Z-000351 · this address reaches the same record even if its name changes; use it when citing.