193. Kerak | الكرك

al-Kerak Governorate

Maqām Nebi Nūḥ.

JADIS no. none

MEGA no. none

Coordinates: 31°11'20.4"N 35°42'02.2"E

31.188992, 35.700611

Plan: new mausoleum square in plan, entrance in the N sector of E wall; to the left of it a rectangular window; each window centered in the N und W walls; the miḥrāb is in the S wall; not protruding at the exterior. The tomb is located in the center of the interior in an orientation oblique to the qibla from W to E. The building is covered by a flat segmental concrete dome.

Measurements: 46,24 m²

Exterior: 7.5 x 7.5 m ( Majali 2005).

Interior: ca. 6.80 x 6.80 m; diameter of the dome 2.50 m (Majali 2005).

Building Materials: local limestone with basalt and chert (old maqām); well-dressed industrially fabricated limestone ashlars (new maqām).

Construction details: two sided masonry with rubble fill; outside walls partly, interior completely whitewashed, miḥrāb painted dark green, also the exterior of the dome.

Preservation: intact and frequently visited by local and international Muslim pilgrims.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): Ch. A. Hornstein’s visit of the shrine in 1898 predates the construction of the funeral chamber. The simple, only stone lined tomb in the W cemetery was still under the open sky at that time (fig. 193.2). The present mausoleum (fig. 193.3) has been built above the tomb during the reign of the Ottoman al-Kerak governor Muḥammad Rashīd Bāshā (1317 H / 1899 AD) and a dome painted in green was added to it later (Haurani 1994; Tarawneh 2004).

Traveler Reports: “On a knoll outside the city, opposite of Baybar’s Tower and a little to the north-west, is a tomb about 9 feet long. The native believe this to be Noah’s tomb (Siddna Nuh). It is covered with broken pieces of glass, bits of pottery, hennah, and stiks with pieces of various coloured rugs.” (Hornstein 1898).

Bibliography: Hornstein 1898, 95; Jaussen 1908, 305. 310; Haurani 1994; Tarawneh 2004, 124; HSJ 26-27; Majali 2005, 63-64; 245 fig. 5; Hiyyari 2008, 75; Politis 2010, 84; Hattab 2015, 101-103; Samman - Tabbah 2019, no. 2; Schick 2020, no. 56.