206. Kufr Abīl | كُفُر أبيل

Irbid Governorate

Masjid Osāma bin Zayd.

JADIS no. 2120029

MEGA no. 10484, mosque 46529

Coordinates: 32°25'00.6"N 35°40'09.0"E

32.416833, 35.669167

Plan: Broad rectangular with three entrances from the N wall. The interior is divided by two stone columns corresponding with wall brackets and corner buttresses into two naves running parallel to the qibla wall. These naves are subdivided into three almost square bays covered by cross vaults, apart from the central one in the S nave which has a circular dome. The miḥrāb in the S wall lies not in axial alignment to the main central portal but shifts slightly to the E. The central bay of the S nave, in front of the miḥrāb, is covered by a dome of segmental curvature.

Measurements: 89 m², capacity for ca. 120 individuals.

Exterior: 13.85 (S)-13.35 (N) m x 9.94 m (E and W)

Interior: 10.85 (N)-11.32 (S) x 7.82 (W)-7.95 (E) m.

Building Materials: stone with mortar.

Construction details: The transition from the square to the circular dome is achieved by horseshoe-shaped shield quenches in the four corners of the central bay in the S aisle.

Preservation: restored in 1960, in use for Muslim prayer.

Inscription(s): above the entrance is a modern inscription referring to Sulṭān ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd. Another modern small sign with the Muslim confession quotes the date for the renovation of the mosque in H 1379 = 1960 A.D.

Date(s): The dome construction is similar to the mosque in al-Kitte (no. 204) und can be compared to Umayyad prototypes in Qaṣr Kharāne, the Amman Citadel and the maqām Sulaymān al-Dirāni at Abū Makhtūb (no. 5). The plan follows the models developed in Ayyubid-Mamluk times as evidenced by the mosque at Rēmūn (no. 306).

Restorations in Ottoman and recent times, the last one in 1960 as stated by the inscription.

Traveler Reports: “Über dem Eingang zur Moschee sind zwei byzantinische Chorschrankenpfosten eingemauert” (Mittmann 1970).

Bibliography: For taxation of the village in the Ottoman registers see Hütteroth-Abdulfattah 1977, 165 s.v. Nāhiya Kūra, Pādīshāh, Kafr Ībil. For the mosque in particular see Mittmann 1970, 53 no. 119; Rawadiyah 2007, II, 292; Ta‘an 2019, 103-105 figs. 3. 81-88; Khateb 2020, 88. 118-119 no. 1 figs. 71-77.