16. ‘Aima | عيما

aṭ-Ṭafīlah Governorate
Masjid al-kebīr
JADIS no. 2003014
MEGA no. 40176
Coordinates: 30° 52’ 49.5” N 35° 35’ 57.5” E
30.880417, 35.599306

Plan: rectangular, with miḥrāb in the middle of the S wall facing the door in the N wall; on both sides of the door two windows, on the E and W walls one window in each space between the pilasters of the arches, one window on both sides of the miḥrāb. The interior hall is subdivided by four triple arches resting on free-standing pillars. To the right of the miḥrāb chancel (minbar).

Measurements: with courtyard 179.29 m2, mosque alone 84m.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: Limestone and chert, wood, cane and earth for the roof construction.

Construction details: Two-sided masonry of coarsely squared blocks with insertion of smaller stones and flakes in the joints, in the wall earth, and rubble fill. The frame of the recessed door terminates in a pointed arch filled with a blind lunette. The interior room is plastered and whitewashed, the lower zone on the walls has a continuous sockle band painted in blue. The roof is made in the traditional technique with perpendicular peeled wooden beams, cane
mats and earth package.

Preservation: Intact, in use for Muslim prayer.

Inscription(s): According to Biewers (1997, 143), there are two inscriptions above the door: “...Muḥammad ... 1940 Allāh” and “Muḥammad Jalāl al-Quṭub Hijri 1390 - AD 1959”.

Date(s): 1940 without evidence for a preceding building. Muḥammad Jalāl al-Quṭub was a Palestinian who lived in the village from 1947 and established a Qur‘ān school (Biewers 1997, 139).

Traveler Reports: unknown.

Bibliography: Biewers 1997, 139-143; Schick 2020, no. 5.