112. Fedayn, al-, al-Mafraq | الفدين / المفرق

al-Mafraq Governorate

Jāmi‘

JADIS no. 2619001

MEGA no. 58436 / 7562 / 35043

Coordinates: 32°20'42.3"N 36°12'02.8"E

32.345083, 36.200778

Plan: broad rectangular with semicircular miḥrāb in S wall; in a second building phase extended to the N by a long rectangular room or courtyard.

Measurements: ca. 118.4 m²

Exterior: 7.31 × 16.12 m (Labisi 2015).

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: limestone blocks, occasionally combined with basalt ashlars. The qibla wall with the miḥrāb is lavishly decorated with vegetal and geometric stucco work.

Construction details: “The construction techniques of the buildings were those widely employed in the region in the same period, that is walls with a rubble masonry core and a cladding of squared blocks in the door jamb (but not in the corners of the rooms) and irregularly shaped blocks with wedging to establish the laying surface. The blocks are mainly of local limestone, although some basalt blocks were used” (Labisi 2015, 72).

Preservation: conserved as a ruin, protected by a fence and an open shelter, not in use for Muslim prayer.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): According to Yāqūt (III, 859), Sa‘īd ibn Khalīd ibn ʿAmr ibn ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, a member of the Umayyad family, owned the estate. Under the caliphate of al-Ma‘mūn one of his descendants of the same name bearing the surname al-Fudaynī usurped against the ‘Abbasid power. He escaped the ‘Abbasid persecutors from his domain to the S but he was caught, subsequently executed and his property destroyed. Hence, al-Fedayn was still in the hands of the Umayyad family in the early 9th century AD (Labisi 2015, 66). This provides a terminus post quem non for the entire complex including the mosque. According to the published plans, the mosque underwent at least two construction phases during its Umayyad occupation: The rooms extending to the N have apparently been added in a later phase to the core building. Concerning the chronological interval in which al-Fedayn has been used, Labisi (2015, 75) states: “Considering that two daughters of Saʿīd ibn Khālid ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (the owner of the site) were married to the Umayyad Caliphs Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (724-743) and al-Walīd ibn Yazīd (743-744), the terminus post quem for the complex is ca. 744, while the terminus ante quem remains uncertain, but it can be ascribed to between the first and the second quarter of the 8th century” (Labisi 2016).

Traveler Reports: none known.

Bibliography: Humbert 1986, 356-358; Humbert 1989, 123; Housan 2002, 18-20; Housan 2002a, 74-77 figs. 4-6; ; Nawash 2009, 68-70; Genequand 2012a; Rjoub – Housan 2013, 477 no. 6; Labisi 2015, 67- 78.