Letter I
145. Ibder | إبدر
Irbid Governorate
Mesjid Ibder al-qadīm.
JADIS no. 2223013
MEGA no. 16527
Coordinates: 32°39'50.0"N 35°47'14.5"E
32.663889, 35.787361
Plan: broad rectangular with central door in the N wall, slightly shifted miḥrāb from the room axis to the E. Two unequal cross vaults rest on pilasters in the corners and at the N-S wall. They divide the room in two bays, both equally square in plan. At the exterior NW corner an external staircase leads from the N to the roof top for the prayer call.
Measurements: 68.13 m2
Exterior: unknown.
Interior: 11.85 m x 5.75 m.
Building materials: limestone masonry. The basalt sarcophagus mentioned by Mittmann (1970) is still in place (in the courtyard of the mosque).
Construction details: cross vaults of high, pointed curvature with sharp edges resting on broad wall buttresses; the blind arches along the walls of the bays are semi-circular.
Preservation: intact; recently restored in the exterior and interior. The pilasters and the lower wall zones in the interior have been covered by stone tiles. The interior is plastered and whitewashed.
Inscription(s): none known.
Date(s): The typology of the plan points to a date in the Ottoman period; in their plans comparable are the mosques at ‘Al‘āl (no. 26), Bishra (no. 69) and Umm Qēs (no. 407).
Traveler Reports: “Im Hof der Moschee steht ein Basaltsarkophag, dessen Langseiten geschmückt sind mit jedrei runden Scheiben, die unten ein leicht geschwungenes Band, wohl eine stilisierte Girlande, verbunden. Daneben liegt der basaltene Oberstein einer Trichtermühle.” (Mittmann 1970).
Bibliography: Mittmann 1970, 24 no. 44; Foote 2007, 457–465; Ta‘an 2019, 90-91-figs. 3. 57-60.
