194. Kerak | الكرك

al-Kerak Governorate

Maqām / Weli al-Khidhr / cr. casale S. Georgii

JADIS no. none

MEGA no. none

Coordinates: 31°10'58.6"N 35°42'16.0"E

31.182936, 35.704444

Plan: long trapezoid (Pringle 1993), door in the N sector of E wall, to the left of it a rectangular window. At the W, another Ottoman building (shop) adjacent immediately to the exterior wall. The church is of a single nave, barrel vaulted type with three semicircular apses in the E, the central one with altar and larger than the lateral ones. The central apse is surmounted by the bull-eye window visible in the pediment of the exterior W façade (figs. 194.4. 7-8). The entire altar zone is screened by an iconostas wall which is open in its N upper sector and which has two doors with rounded upper frames in front of the central and the S lateral apses. Above the central door of the iconostas is the Arabic inscription (1). In front of the iconostas is a bulky transversal arch resting on broad wall piers with the Greek inscription (2) in the summit of the W frontal face. Below this arch are two column shafts used for chaining insanes (Morton 41960). In the floor NW of the iconostas is a circular shaft, well constructed of dressed limestone as an opening of a deep cistern. The W exterior courtyard, which was shadowed until the 1950s by an olive tree (fig. 194.5) removed today), is presently used as a parking lot for vehicles of the neighboring inhabitants.

Measurements: ca. 97,6 m²

Exterior: 10.50 x 15.50 m

Interior: 6.60-6.80 m x 11.1-11.30 m (Pringle 1993) 7.20-7.40 m x 13.2 m (GJU survey).

Building Materials: well-dressed yellowish limestones with mortar. According to Augustinović (1972), the N entrance was framed by two columns with capitals supporting a pointed arch. Meistermann (1911) mentions a Roman architrave near the old olive tree beside the building.

Construction details: At the exterior E façade, a small pediment crows a horizontal cornice; in the triangular tympanon is a framed circular bull’s eye. In the interior, in front of the iconostas, a bulky transversal arch rests on broad buttresses. This arch is lower than the barrel vaulted veiling of the naós. The interior walls are still clad with mortar mixed with hay, the surfaces whitewashed. In front of the iconostas two columns serving for bondage of insanes for healing (Morton 41960).

Preservation: Intact, but not in use.

Inscription(s): Above the central door of the separating wall, between the altar room and the assembly hall of the community is an Arabic inscription (1) incised on a marble slab in two columns and retraced recently with black color, each of it on four lines:

Translation: “Offered the shrine for us the most illustrious Michael, the Metropolitan of Petra, exuding power. Began its rebuilding and renewal for the sake of Mar Jirîs (scil.: Saint Georges), the beloved servant. Enable, oh God, (with forgiveness) and faithfulness. Remember who strived, oh helper, (in the) year one thousand seven hundred and (ninety six AD)” (NAt, NTu, RS) In the summit of the western side of the broad transversal arch is a rectangular marble slab with an incised cross standing on two steps. Between the cross arms an inscription in Greek (2), faint traces of blue color in the groves of the letters (readings and translation TMW-K):

Incised cross standing on a two-stepped podium. Above the upper cross arms the nomina sacra on the left IC (for Ἰησούς) and on the right XP (for Χριστός), below the cross arms the verb NI (left) | KA (right) (= νικᾷ); translation: “Jesus Christ wins”; below this, on both sides of the vertical cross beam, AΨ’ | Ϟ’ς’ = 1796. Contrary to the reference given by Augustinović (1972), the inscription is not included in Canova’s corpus (1954).

Date(s): The date of a renovation of an older structure in 1796 is given by the Greek inscription. This reconstruction is certainly the one which J. L. Burckhardt mentioned in 1822. The refurbishment must be considered as a terminus ante quem for the older church, and probably stands in connection to the insertion of the awkward transversal arch to support the roof. The iconostasis and most likely the cladding of the E façade with the bull-eye window have been added / renewed in 1909 AD according to oral information by the local priest. In general terms of church architecture, the chapel of al-Khidr might go back, in its origins, to the Crusader periods of al-Kerak. After Burckhardt’ s visit the building received a new E façade in 1909 seen on the historic photographs and the style of the circular bull’s eyes window which has parallels of the late 19th century at Salṭ (no. 322), masjid al-Azbākh at Wādī Sīr (no. 429), Saḥm al-Kferat (no. 316) and other cities in Jordan. Traveler Reports: “The Christians have a church, dedicated to St. George, or El Khuder, which has lately repaired” (Burckhardt 1822); “Folgt man derselben (scil.: Strasse) in südlicher Richtung, so bemerkt man rechts einen Ölbaum, den einzigen großen Baum in el-Kerak, und unter ihm ein großes, schön gearbeitetes Architrav (Fig. 15). Dieser Ort, der von Muslimen und Christen als heilig angesehen wird, heißt el-Hadr, und wurde in den letzten Jahren von der Straße durch eine Mauer abgetrennt” (A. Musil 1896, in: Arabia Petraea II); “Un viel olivier dresse ses rameaux nouveaux derrière un gros mur en pièrre séche qui l’abrite et à son pied une magnifique architrave romaine. La population tient ce lieu, El-Hadr, our sacré” (Meistermann 1911).

Bibliography: Burckhardt 1822, 380-381; Dowling 1896, 331; Meistermann 1911, 250; Arabia Petraea II, 47-52 fig. 15; 52-53; Jaussen 1908, 331; Canaan 1927, 122; Canova 1954, 5-8; Morton 41960, 268- 269; Arafat 1969, 105; Augustinović 1972, 43; Tarawneh 1992, 347; Pringle 1993, 293-295 no. 132; Majali 2005, 59-63; HSJ 33-34; 208 sections 17-18a-b

1st phase before AD 1796     

2nd phase in AD 1796

3rd phase in AD 1909