151. Jabal Ḥārūn | جبل هارون

near Petra (Ma‘ān Governorate)

Maqām Nebī Hārūn

JADIS no. 1896003

MEGA no. 8676 / 37660

Coordinates: 30°21'57.9"N 35°25'01.0"E

30.366083, 35.416931

Plan: The present maqām raises upon a rectangular terrace in N-S orientation which contains the wall structures of the older Christian memorial chapel (fig. 151.9).This memorial was a triconchos of central plan with an elongated apse to the S and two segmental Exedra in the centers of the E and W walls. The entrance was in the N; the staircase leading down to the crypt to the W of it; in the center of the chapel four piers or columns carried the dome spanning over a square opus sectile floor (fig. 150.1). A faint Greek inscription (1) on a block of white marble as well as some chancel screen posts reused at the cenotaph are remnants of the Christian ancestor of the Muslim shrine (Wiegand 1920). The Muslim maqām reused only the central S and W portions of the Christian memorial chapel (fig. 150.2). This lead to a shift from the canonic qibla direction. (SSE). The crypt lies now in N-S orientation exactly under the central impost wall of the W barrel vault and the central pier of the four cross vaults. The miḥrāb niche is in the S wall of the domed NE bay and a column drum with the cenotaph (in E-W orientation) to the E. The rectangular entrance door to the maqām is in the S sector of the W wall of the SW cross vaulted bay. The staircase down to the crypt descends along the N wall of the NW barrel vaulted annex. A pillar in the center carries the cross vaults of the four bays constructed on pointed arches separated from each other by protruding ribs. In the N sector of the W exterior façade, a narrow staircase inserted into the masonry leads up to the roof top and the dome. Along the S wall a podium protrudes in the lower zone.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: limestone and sandstone blocks; column drums as Nabataean spolia; several fragmented white marble pieces from the Byzantine sanctuary, especially chancel screen posts reused at the four corners and the head of the cenotaph. The door of the crypt is made of wood. Further wooden beams have been inserted under the tambour of the dome and in the lower courses of the pier of the NW pointed barrel vaulted niche. This organic material could be a supplementary indicator of the construction date of the present maqām by dendrochronological analysis. In the N back wall of the NE barrel vaults sits a circular black glossy obsidian disk (fig. 151.18) which is dubbed “Mirror of prophet Ḥārūn” by local adorates. According to Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī (Mu'jam al-Buldan, Tūr Ḥārūn) this stone was originally at the spring shrine at Wādī Mūsā (no. 423) and it has been transferred to the sanctuary of prophet Ḥārūn. The stone is said to have miraculous properties (Salameen - Falahat 2006, 182). Construction details: The masonry of the exterior walls consists of 16 layers of semi-dressed rectangular blocks bound in mortar. At the W, E and S exterior walls Nabataean column drums have been inserted into the masonry. In the N sector of the W façade, the foundation zone consists of several upright standing column drums (fig. 151. 11). Significant elements are the pointed arches which separate the two N barrel vaults and the four central cross vault bays from each other. In contrast to the former condition in the 1980s, they have been spared in recent maintainance from plastering and whitewashing as it is the case for the E and S exterior and all interior walls, the ceilings and the dome. The pointed arches occur in comparable construction in the dated Ayyubid-Mamluk mosques at ‘Ajlūn (no. 21) and Rēmūn (no.306) as well as in the undated masājid at Sūf (no. 373), Irbid (no. 147) and ‘Ibblēn (no. 146). The dome rests on pendantifs with a circular tambour zone The cenotaph has been constructed of limestone slabs decorated with arcardes in relief along the N-S long and the E short sides. The W short side is clad by the dedication inscription (No. 3) by an-Naṣīr Muḥammad ibn Qalāwūn. The four corners as well as the head are marked by four upright fragemted Byzantine chancel screen posts. On the conical knobs of the two western ones some visitor graffities in Hebrew are discernible (19th century, also in the plaster of the SW corner, see Savignac 1936, 235-262; Hübner 2011, 83). The lid consists of slightly vaulted and whitewashed plaster. The cenotaph is normally covered by clothes in red, white and green colors (Salameen - Falahat 2006, 182).

Preservation: The Mamluk building is intact. It is still in use today for visits and the two annual pilgrimage festivals of the local Bdūl-tribe by the ‘Amm al-Ghaith processions along the Darb al-Nebī Hārūn (Salameen - Falahat 2007, 183-184).

Inscription(s): (1) A fragmented slab of white polished marble actually serving as a movable step from the W door to the interior of the maqām carries the remains of a Greek inscription in seven lines along its left edge:

Transcription: + Θηλυτέρ[αι]ς τό[δ]ε [σῆμα]--| παι[δ]ὸς (ἀποφθιμένοιο?)[---- ]; Sartre’s restitution does not correspond to Wilson’s copy, but makes a better sence with the following line | ἡνίκ[α ----] | ἒλλαχεν (for ἒλαχεν)[ --- | --- | ἐνθάδε [ ---- ] (followed by the verb κεῖται or a synonyme term fitting to the metric) | κούρη (instead of κόρη).

Commentary: Due to the lacuneous preservation of the lines, no translation can be given. However, the term ἐνθάδε κεῖται (“here lies....)” indicates that the inscription was of funeral character. The start of each line gives a dactylus. Hence the inscription had been written in metrics (Sartre 1993, 105-106 no. 69, cf. Hübner 2011, 82 figs. 17-19). One of the marble chancel screen posts of the cenotaph preserves a graffito in Greek: “Ὑπὲρ σω|τηρίας|” = “for the salvation of ....” (cf. Provincia Arabia II, 332; Sartre 1993, 71 no. 43; Hübner 2011, 82 fig. 16) The Arabic epigraphic testimonies have been first published by R. E. Brünnow and A. von Domaszewski in Provincia Arabia I., and they were partly transcribed by Salameen - Faharat 2007 as well as by Nasarat 2013.

(2) Above the door of the exterior W wall an Arabic inscription in four lines chiseled in relief on a limestone block (photo by TMW-K, Arabic transcription by NAt):

Translation: “In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. The construction of this blessed shrine (mashḥad) | was renewed in the days of our lord the Sulṭān al-Malik al-Nāṣir Muḥammad | ibn Qalāwūn under the command of his son, the illustrious lord, al- Shihābī, | may Allāh, the Exalted, aid the two of them, in the beginning of the year nine (or seven) and thirty and seven hundred. Muḥammad Sadr al-Badawī (?).” (Schick 2010, 786; Miettunen 2013, 92, revised translation by RS) . At the W short side of the cenotaph, the Arabic dedication inscription (3) has been inserted. It is a upright rectangular limestone slab of reddish-brown color with trapezoid upper end. The Arabic characters are Mamluk calligraphy in flat relief over eight lines:

Transcription:(according RCEA XV, n° 5777 = TEI no. 7438 ):

Translation: “ In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate | There is no god but God. Muḥammad is the | messenger of God. Ordered the construction of this | blessed tomb (dharīḥ) and its renewal our lord | the Sulṭān al-Malik al-Nāṣir, the holy warrior, the fighter in the fortresses | the fighter on the frontier, Nāṣir al- Dīn, the companion of the Commander of the | Faithful, may God glorify his victories | and that by means of the great commander Sayf al-Dīn al-Ruknī [?] | al-Nāṣirī [?] [...] thirty and seven hundred [?]” (revised translation by RS). Similar ruler nomenclatures appear in the inscription fragment B of the maqām Yūsha bin Nūn at Abū Makhtūb (no. 6).

Date(s): The decipherments of the Mamluk rulers on the building inscription above the door led to a controversial identifications and dates: H 739 (=AD 1338-1339) or H 728 (AD 1327-1328) or H 900 (AD 1495), see MacDonald 2010, 215. The alternative dates H 737 (AD 1336/ 1337) or 739 (AD 1338/1339), however, are not clearly legible. The chronology can possibly be further determined by a dendrochronological analysis of the wooden beams used in the crypt and in the interior of the dome. The cenotaph has been also possibly dedicated in 73[9] H = AD 1338/1339 (TEI no. 7438) even though the date is also not legible in full.

Traveler Reports: The literary testimonies concerning prophet Aaron and his veneration in ancient pagan, Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradition have been assembled and discussed by B. Macdonald (2010, 207-216). E. Brünnow and A. von Domaszewski (Provincia Arabia 1, 419-424) reprinted all narratives by visitors of the 19th century. Hence, we confine ourself to quote here selectively only two literary sources of the Crusader period because they are the last references for a Christian presence at the site prior to the establishment of the Muslim shrine: “Furthermore we found at the top of the mountain the Monastery of Saint Aaron where Moses and Aaron were wont to speak with God. We rejoiced very much to behold a place so holy and to us unknown” (Fulcher of Chartres, AD 1100, Peterman - Schick 1996, 477). “At length I came to Mount Or, where Aaron died, on whose summit is built a church in which live two Greek Christian monks. The place is called Muscera.” (Tietmarus Magister AD 1217, Peterman - Schick 1996, 477).

Bibliography: Arabia Petraea II, 334. III, 330; Provincia Arabia I, 419- 424; Wiegand 1920, 135-145; HSJ 36-36; Peterman - Schick 1996, 473- 480; Walmsley 2001, 534; Hübner 2006, 17-58; Salameen – Falahat 2007, 258-264; Hiyyari 2008, 87; Salameen - Falahat 2009, 181-188; Lahelma - Fiema 2009, 191-222; MacDonald 2010, 207-223; Schick 2010, 785-787; Politis 2010, 91-92; Hübner 2011, 77-94; Nasarat 2013, 110-151; Miettunen 2013, 89-93 no. 1; 204 fig. 1; Hattab 2015, 98-100; Addison 2018; Tabbah - Taylor 2016, 358-339; Samman - Tabbah 2019, no. 8; Schick 2020, no. 50.