Letter A
12. ‘Afrā | عفرا
aṭ-Ṭafīlah Governorate
Memorial (ṣarḥ) for Farwah ibn ‘Amr al-Judhāmī
JADIS no. none
MEGA no. 4902
Coordinates: 30° 57’ 45.3” N 35° 38’ 48.0” E
30.962583, 35.646667
Plan: Modern memorial (ṣarḥ) erected at the place of a demolished rectangular room containing the cenotaph of the martyr. Inside the wādī on a steep cliff is a Byzantine rock-hermitage associated with Abbot John with the remains of frescos.
Measurements: height of new memorial ca. 3 m.
Exterior: unknown.
Interior: unknown.
Building Materials: Memorial of new industrially fabricated limestone.
Construction details: Modern construction with a concrete core.
Preservation: intact.
Inscription(s): At the memorial a modern commemorative inscription old inscription for Farwa bin ‘Amrū al- Jadhāmi, otherwise no older inscriptions have been reported in the area.
Date(s): The memorial was constructed in 1986. It refers to the matyrdom of Farwah ibn ‘Amrū al-Jadhāmi in approximately H 12 / AD 633. He was the local ‘Arab ruler in the service of the Byzantine administration and converted to Islam by sending a messenger to the Prophet. When the Byzantines became aware of his conversion to Islam, they crucified him at ‘Afrā, making him the first martyr of Islam outside the Arabian Peninsula.
Traveler Reports: none-known.
Bibliography: MacDonald 1980, 351-364; MacDonald 1988, 242.244. 282. 284-285; Ghawanimeh 1995, 23-26 figs. 1-7; Hiyyari 2008, 77; HSJ 67; Miettunen 2013, 117 no. 47, 218 fig. 30; Hattab 2015, 66-67; Schick 2020, no. 40.
