140. Ḥumayma | الحُميمة

al-‘Aqaba Governorate

Grave of Muḥammad ibn ‘Alî ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn al- ‘Abbās

JADIS no. 1892008

MEGA no. 37594

Coordinates: 29°56'58.0"N 35°20'46.0"E

29.949444, 35.346111

(approximately, not located).

 

Plan: unknown.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: unknown.

Construction details: unknown.

Preservation: unknown.

Inscription(s): unknown.

Date(s): Muḥammad ibn ‘Alî ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn al- ‘Abbâs died in H 124 / AD 741.

Traveler Reports: al-Ḥarawî (2004, 37): “Al-Ḥumayma is a village that contains the tomb of Muḥammad ibn ‘Alî ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-‘Abbās, imâm al-Manṣūr’s father.” (Meri 2004, 36; cf. Sourdel 1957, 44). It is interesting that al-Harawi uses the Arabic word qabr “grave” here (which Meri and Sourdel translate as “tomb”). Qabr is the word that al-Harawi uses most frequently throughout the book, and only occasionally does he use some other words like maqâm or mashḥad, which would imply some monument that is a goal of pilgrimage. The archaeological investigations of the site by Oleson and Reeves (see here no. 141) have not revealed any hint of a shrine from Islamic times, and quite possibly there never was any monumental shrine here. Other Arab geographers from the early Islamic period mention Ḥumayma without necessarily implying that there was a shrine. No cemetery from the early Islamic period has been identified. The modern Bedouin cemetery is some distance to the south.

Bibliography: Schick 2020 , no. 46.