136. Ḥesbān | حسبان

Mādabā Governorate

Masjid

JADIS no. none

MEGA no. none

Coordinates: 31°47′56.7″N 35°48′25.8″E

31.7990891, 35.8071685

Plan: unknown.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown

Building Materials: local light brown limestone.

Construction details: two sided masonry of squared limestone ashlars with fill of rubble and earth.

Preservation: ruined, but the miḥrāb can be traced.

Inscription(s): In the façade of the late Ottoman Nābulsi complex the fragment of an Kufic inscription incised on a limestone block is found in reuse. It is broken at both ends. It might have been part of an architectural decoration, a tomb stone or a milestone boundary marker. Since it cannot be excluded that it may have belonged to the mosque, a preliminary reading is given here according to Walker - La Bianca (2003), Photo NAt:

Translation: “...] the defender of faith, Fadl Allāh [...|...] of the amir Fakhr al-Majāli [...| ...] for the state and the life of the King [...|...] the warrior of Allāh [...| ...] (lands) surrounding [... ....] ”.

Date(s): unknown, Ayyubid-Mamluk (?); al-‘Asqalāni (Inbā’ al-ghumr bi-anbā’ al-ʻumr, ed. Duhman 1978, I, 206, cf. Walker 2003) reports on the endownment of a mosque at Ḥesbān by al-Mu‘azzam ibn al-Ādil in H 605/ 1208 AD. Whether the above inscription or the literary reference of al-‘Asqalāni have any relevance for the architectural monument described in this entry remains spectulative unless proved by future excavation. These written sources, at any rate, testify the high historic potential of Ḥesbān in the Islamic Middle Ages.

Traveler Reports: none known.

Bibliography: Walker 2003, 250 note 47; Walker - LaBianca 2004, 458 fig. 21.