104. Fahdāwī, al-, Tell, Wādī Rājel / Rajil | تل الفهداوي / وادي راجل

al-Mafraq Governorate

Masjid - open air desert mosque

JADIS no. 361 7001

MEGA no. 2767

Coordinates: 32°10'57.6"N 37°14'45.6"E

32.182656, 37.245997

(approximately).

 

Plan: open air desert mosque of broad rectangular plan with rounded corners; miḥrāb niche in the S and an entrance opening in the N, both in the middle of the walls.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown

Building Materials: undressed basalt stones of medium sizes.

Construction details: The basalt boulders are arbitrarily piled up to form the rectangular prayer place, without use of mortar. The interior has been cleaned from stones. Preservation: The site is in a Royal Jordanian Army military area and therefore difficult to access.

Inscription(s): Ten Arabic inscriptions have been found along the qibla wall on both sides of the miḥrāb. They had been incised onto the undressed basalt boulders by the constructors or later visitors of the mosque. The locations of these inscriptions are shown on the overview photo by ZAT (2015):

The numbering, transcriptions, facsimiles and photos follow the publication by Talafha (2015):

 (1) Arabic inscription on a rectangular basalt slab (0.30 x 0.35 m) with rounded corners and edges in five lines:

Translation: “O Allāh, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Merciful, the Compassionate (Q. 39 Zumar, 46 and Q. 59 al- Ḥashr, 22). And wrote it the servant in need of Allāh, the Exalted, Aḥmad ibn Raḥīl al-Masānī (or al-Mayasī?) year nine and thirty and seven hundred.” (ZAT, edited by RS).

(2) Arabic inscription on an irregular high-rectangular basalt boulder (0.30 x 0.20 m) in eight lines:

Translation: “In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Oh Allāh, forgive Faṣayīl ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl, and it was written in the year nine and thirty and seven hundred.” (lines 1-4) - “Oh Allāh, forgive Ḥamād of the tribesmen of al-Masā‘īd ibn Nihād and all the Muslims” (lines 5-8) (ZAT).

(3) Arabic inscription on an irregular broad rectangular basalt boulder with rounded upper end (0.33 x 0.15 m): in four slightly curved lines:

Translation: “O Allah, forgive Thābet ibn Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl al-Zubaydī, and it was written in the year fifty and seven hundred” (ZAT).

(4) Arabic inscription on an undressed approximately broad rectangular boulder (0.15 x 0.25 m) in five lines:

Translation: “O Allāh, forgive Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl al-Zubaydī and all the Muslims, Amen, Lord of the worlds. And it was written on Sunday the fifteenth day of Shawwāl of the year nine and thirty and seven hundred, and it was ascribed to him. And he built this mosque alone with his hand and his support is on the rock of slavery and Muhalhal.” (ZAT, edited by RS).

(5) Arabic inscription on an approximately trapezoid basalt boulder with rounded corners and edges (0.20 x 0.30m) in three irregular lines:

Translation: “O Allāh, forgive [unclear name] ibn Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl. And it was written in the year nine and thirty and seven hundred”(ZAT, edited by RS).

(6) Arabic inscription on a basalt boulder with horizontal upper and rounded lower end (0.20 x 0.15 m) in four lines:

Translation: “O Allāh, forgive Hilāl ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl and he wrote it in the year nine and seven hundred and thirty” (ZAT edited by RS).

(7) Arabic inscription on a rectangular (?) basalt boulder (0.20 x 0.25 m) in four horizontal lines:

Translation:“O Allāh, forgive Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl and it was written year nine and thirty and seven hundred” (ZAT, edited by RS).

(8) Arabic inscription on an elongated irregular basalt boulder (0.15 x 0.25 m) in three lines:

Translation: ““O Allāh, forgive Muhalhal ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl al-Zubaydī and it was written year nine and thirty and seven hundred” (ZAT, edited by RS).

(9) Arabic inscription on an approximately rectangular boulder (0.15 x 0.25 m) in five lines:

Translation: “O Allāh, forgive Sa‘īd ibn Yūsuf ibn Abū Bakr al-Yāsī and his two parents and the Muslims. And it was written in the year one and fifty and seven hundred” (ZAT, edited by RS).

(10) Arabic inscription on an trapezoid basalt boulder (0.17 x 0.25 m) in three lines:

Translation: “O Allāh, forgive Ḥārūn ibn Hilāl ibn Sā‘id and may Allāh forgive his two parents and all the Muslims. Amen. And he wrote it year nine and thirty and seven hundred.” (ZAT, edited by RS).

Date(s): Most of the inscriptions (1-2; 4-8) are dated to the year H 739 / AD 1339. Inscription no. 4 gives the specific date on 5th Shawwal of this year (= Sunday, 26th April 1339) as the date of the mosque’s inauguration, and it names Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl al-Zubaydī as the constructor of the building. Since the filiation of the other persons signing the inscriptions in the same year indicates a close family relationship to Qāsim, one may assume that they also contributed in a way to the construction of this desert mosque. The prayer place has been revisited eleven years later, in H 750 /1349 AD by one of the sons of the dedicator, Thābit ibn Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl al-Zubaydī (inscription 3). The year after (H 751 / AD 1350) Sa‘īd ibn Yūsuf ibn Abū Bakr al-Yāsī chiseled an invocation on one of the stones (inscription 9). He was certainly a descendant of Aḥmad ibn Rahīl al-Masānī (or al-Mayasī?), who was present in H 739, in the year when the mosque was built (inscription 1). The last recorded visit is attested for the year H 937 / AD 1530/31 by Ḥārūn ibn Hilāl ibn Sā‘id (inscription 10). The al-Mayas are a family branch of the al-Zubayd.

Traveler Reports: none known.

Bibliography: Talahfa 2015, 49-68.