Letter H

126. Ḥanīsh / Ḥanīj, al- | الحنيش

‘Ajlūn Governorate

Jāmi‘ / masjid.

JADIS no. 2218034

MEGA no. 11401

Coordinates: 32°16'18.0"N 35°45'02.0"E

32.271667, 35.750556

 

 

Plan: rectangular, S qibla wall with miḥrāb, in N central entrance (McKenzieh)

Measurements: 120 m2 (MacKenzieh); 130 m2 (Qudah).

Exterior: 12 x 10 m (MacKenzie 2002)

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: limestone, partially well dressed, possibly of Roman date.

Construction details: unknown.

Preservation: ruined; blown off with dynamite and subsequently bulldozed around 2015 (contradictory oral informations by local land owners). Several carefully worked cubic limestones originally belonging to the mosque are scattered around the explosion crater as well as in recently built field walls. The depression of the crater has been pierced by two deep looting holes reaching down to a depth of ca. 7 m. Apart from some stones in situ, the historical monument must be considered as entirely destroyed due to vandalism in recent times.

Inscription(s): The inscription mentioned my Schumacher (Steuernagel 1927) is lost today.

Date(s): During the GJU-field survey at December 1st, 2018, pottery sherds on the surface dating from the Roman until the late Ottoman have been observed. The concentration of painted Ayyubid-Mamluk sherds around the explosion crater was remarkably high. This surface pottery, of course, does not give any conclusive evidence for the chronology but it might reflect a prosperous settlement activity in the village southwest of ‘Ajlūn due to the intensive, profitable iron mining industry in that area during the Crusader period (such as at maghāret al-ward, see here no. 433).

Traveler Reports: “Auf ihm liegt die große Ruine el- ḥanîdsch, eine einst bedeutende Ortschaft mit starken Mauern, Haufen alter Bausteine, Ölsteinen und Ruinen einer alten dschâmi‘, an deren Nordtür sich eine gänzlich verwitterte Inschrift befindet” (Steuernagel 1927).

Bibliography: Steuernagel 1927, A 133. 295; Glueck 1939, 54; MacKenzie 2002, 617-618; Walker 2011, 153 note 111; MMU IV 320 (A. M. Qudah).

 
Fig. 125.1 View of the bottom of the explosion crater from N with few stones remaining in situ and holes of illicit digging, situation on December 1st, 2018 (TMW-K 2018).

Figures

[Fig. 125.1 ]
View of the bottom of the explosion crater from N with few stones remaining in situ and holes of illicit digging, situation on December 1st, 2018 (TMW-K 2018).