171. Jdēdtā / Khadītā | جديتا

Irbid Governorate

Maqām / Weli Shēkh ‘Abdū Abū Yūsef

JADIS no. none

MEGA no. none

Coordinates: 32°24'27.6"N 35°42'20.3"E

32.407667, 35.705639

Plan: square, entrance door from the N, accessible through a path from the N, flanked at both sides by a number of more recent graves. The terrain is sloping with an accumulation of earth to the E. This area is occupied by a number of graves adjacent to the E and N exterior wall of the funeral building. The entrance door is not exactly in the middle of the N wall, but slightly shifted to the W. In the center of the S-wall; embodied into its masonry, is a flat miḥrāb, segmental in plan. In the E and W walls two small double windows with sills recessed into the walls on a higher level. The interior room corners have projecting buttresses which carry semi-circular wall arches; in the corner squinches cling pendantifs which merge into the circular base of the semi-globular dome. In the NW and SW walls are each one two small niches, obviously for the reception of candles. Along the W wall four or five old, partly destroyed tombs in dense parallel arrangement in W-E orientation and close to the W wall. Above the middle one is a small rounded wall niche. Another tomb also in E-W orientation is squeezed into the NE corner of the building, with two candle niches above it in the W and N walls. In the center of the room is the free standing tomb of the venerated Shēkh, beside it to the SW that of his son.

Measurements: 18.92 m²

Exterior: 6.15 x 6.0 m.

Interior: 4.35 x 4.35 m. Interior height from present floor to the center of the dome ca. 5 m.

Building Materials: light yellow to beige limestone of local provenance covered by several whitewashed (and painted) layers of lime plaster, without use of mortar. The interior and the exterior S and W walls are covered by various layers of lime plaster and whitewashed, the dome and some of the tombs in the interior were once painted in turquoise.

Construction details: The exterior two-sided masonry consists of coarsely dressed limestone blocks laid in irregular isodomic horizontal rows without the use of mortar. In the interior corners are projecting pilasters carrying semi-circular wall arches; in the groins spheric pentandives merging into the circular base of the dome. The curvature of the dome is more segmental than semi-globular.

Preservation: The old mosque mentioned by G. Schumacher has been replaced by a new building. The mausoleum in its W vicinity is intact but abandoned from maintenance by the population which dwells in its immediate neighborhood. The nicely carpentered wooden door is only provisionally closed by wire, and the older tombs seem to be subject of illegal treasure hunting activities. The tomb of the Shēkh and that of his son, however, earns a certain care till today because they are lined by modern embossed concrete blocks and the inscriptions have been repainted recently.

Inscription(s): The head and foot stones of both the tombs of the Shēkh and his son carry painted inscriptions in relief with the names and citations of the Qur’an. The tomb inscription (1) of the Shēkh runs on five lines (transcription and translation by NAt):

Translation: “Al-fātiḥa -This is the tomb of the forgiven ash- Shēkh ‘Abdū, the father of Yūsef”. The tombstone of his son is equal in material, size and shape. The inscription (2), runs as well on five lines and refers to the son of Shēkh ‘Abdū (transciption and translation by NAt):

Translation: “Al-fātiḥa - This is the tomb of the forgiven Yūsef (the son of) ash-Shēkh ‘Abdū, God have mercy on him!”

Date(s): Both inscriptions are of recent date and bear no information on the lifetimes of the buried persons. Also the consulted local inhabitants of the village did not knew details of the biographies of these noble persons even though their tombs show signs of veneration to present days. According to several architectural parallels with a similar construction of the pendatif stone dome, such as the maqām of Shēkh ‘Umar at Malkā (no. 239), the Zaydāni mosque at Tibne (no. 385) or the maqām of Shēkh Ḥamed al-Jelānī at aṭ-Ṭaybe (no. 381), a date to the 18th or earlier 19th century AD seems likely. Such an assumption is further supported by the notice of the shrine by G. Schumacher who visited it by the end of the 19th century.

Traveler Reports: “ ... das Dorf dschdēdtā (vgl. Taf. 6 B) mit 60 Hütten, unter deren Bewohner 10 christliche Familien sind. Dabei stehen zwei Weli, ...., im O(sten) das des schech ‘abdu; bei dem ersteren findet sich eine Moschee (dschami’, 566 m) mit einer schön gerippten Kuppel, die freilich gänzlich zerfallen ist” (Steuernagel 1927).

Bibliography: Steuernagel 1927, A. 390; for historical trees in the wider area see Nueimat -Alkilani 2002, 57.