Letter H

123. Ḥammām as-Saraḥ | حمام الصرح

az-Zarqā Governorate

Jāmi‘

JADIS no. 271 6009

MEGA no. 7605

Coordinates: 32°05'01.0"N 36°21'47.0"E

32.083611, 36.363056

 

 

Plan: The E sector of the S exterior wall has been built against the N wall of the bath’s heating room (fig. 123.1). The plan of the mosque is square with a centralized entrance in the N wall opposite the elongated miḥrab in S wall, projecting to the exterior and mantled in a rectangle. In the middle of the E wall is an additional entrance. The N, E and W interior walls have recessed niches for wall arches (in its center, the W wall had most probably a window corresponding to the door in the E wall). The type of roofing cannot be determined with certainty – it was either cross vaulted or domed. There is no evidence for supporting elements in the interior.

Measurements: ca. 57.9 m2

Exterior: 9.0-9.10 x 8.40 (with miḥrab 9.40) - 8.20 m.

Interior: 7.9 x 7.33 m, depth of miḥrab 1.30 m.

Building Materials: local white limestone and chert.

Construction details: The masonry is of inferior quality compared with that of the neighboring bath. What is visible today are the semi-dressed foundation stones arranged in two sided masonry with rubble and earth fill.

Preservation: ruined, not used for Muslim prayer.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): Umayyad due to the vicinity to the bath.

Traveler Reports: unknown.

Bibliography: PPUAES A 2 (1909) 77-80 ill. 59-60; appendix XIXXXV ill. 59a-60b; King - Lenzen - Rollefson 1983, 405; Bisheh 1989, 225-230; Ajlouni 1992, 32-33; Darakdeh 1998, 36 plan in appendix; Rashdan 2009, 57-58; Arce 2015, 133-168; Arce 2016a, 63-82.

 
Fig. 123.1 Site map indicating the location of the mosque (no. 5) (Bisheh 2007).
Fig. 123.2 General view from W Ḥammām (right) with mosque (left)(TMW-K 2018).
Fig. 123.3 Ground plan (Darakdeh 1998, 36, appendix, Bisheh 2007),
 
Fig. 123.4-7 General exterior views of the mosque from S (4), NE (5) and NW (6), detail of S wall (7) with miḥrab (4 NAt 2011; 5-7 TMWK 2020).
 
Fig. 123.8-7 Two views on the entrance hall to the bath house, restored in the frame of the GJU student training program headed by Dr. Ignacio Arce, funded by the Gerda-Henkel Foundation (IAr 2020).

Figures

[Fig. 123.1 ]
Site map indicating the location of the mosque (no. 5) (Bisheh 2007).

[Fig. 123.2 ]
General view from W Ḥammām (right) with mosque (left)(TMW-K 2018).

[Fig. 123.3 ]
Ground plan (Darakdeh 1998, 36, appendix, Bisheh 2007),

[Fig. 123.4-7 General exterior views of the mosque from S (4), NE (5) and NW (6), detail of S wall (7) with miḥrab (4 NAt 2011; 5-7 TMWK 2020).]

[Fig. 123.8-7 ]
Two views on the entrance hall to the bath house, restored in the frame of the GJU student training program headed by Dr. Ignacio Arce, funded by the Gerda-Henkel Foundation (IAr 2020).