Letter M

237. Māḥis | ماحص

al-Balqā' Governorate

Shrine of Saint George / maqām / weli al-Khidhr

JADIS no. 2215031

MEGA no. 11313

Coordinates: 31°58'52.0"N 35°46'00.0"E

31.981111, 35.766667

 

 

Plan: rectangular without niches, standing on a flat podium; a decentered low door at the NW and a larger rectangular door in the center of the E wall.

Measurements: 29.9 m2

Exterior: 7.00 x 7.40-7.50 m

Interior: 5.25 x 5.70 m

Building Materials: brown local limestone bound with mortar in the joints. The interior arches and corner pilasters recently clad with smaller brown stones. Construction details: flat cross vaulted dome resting on corner pilasters and semicircular wall arches.

Preservation: The maqām is regularly visited by Christians and Muslims as the Saint George icons on the S wall and some calligraphic Quran citations at the N wall testify. The building carries the flag of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, the green Muslim flag with the shuḥāda as well as the flag of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In the exterior environs, inside a new olive orchard, are two old oak trees (quercus aegilops, planted around AD 1335 [N] and quercus calliprinos, planted around AD 1520, cf. Nueimat - Alkilani 2002). There is a large number of bright green cloth ribbons tied to their branches. Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): in origin probably Mamluk, with many later modifications.

Traveler Reports: none known.

Bibliography Augustinović 1972, 42-43: HSJ 33-34; Nueimat – Alkilani 20.

 
Fig. 237.1 Sketch ground plan (YAw 2019).
Fig. 237.2 General view of maqām from NE with the courtyard shaded by old oak trees (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 237.3 Exterior N elevation (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 237.4 Exterior E elevation (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 237.5 Interior N wall with Quranic text in vaulted wall niche.
Fig. 237.6 Interior W wall with Christian icons of Saint George in vaulted wall niche (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 237.7 Interior W wall, bench for devotional candles in vaulted wall niche (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 237.8 Exterior E courtyard with two oak trees planted in the Mamluk and early Ottoman era (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 237.9 Exterior E courtyard, green cloth ribbons tied to the bran- ches of the old oak trees (TMW-K 2019).

Figures

[Fig. 237.1 ]
Sketch ground plan (YAw 2019).

[Fig. 237.2 ]
General view of maqām from NE with the courtyard shaded by old oak trees (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 237.3 ]
Exterior N elevation (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 237.4 ]
Exterior E elevation (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 237.5 ]
Interior N wall with Quranic text in vaulted wall niche.

[Fig. 237.6 ]
Interior W wall with Christian icons of Saint George in vaulted wall niche (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 237.7 ]
Interior W wall, bench for devotional candles in vaulted wall niche (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 237.8 ]
Exterior E courtyard with two oak trees planted in the Mamluk and early Ottoman era (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 237.9 ]
Exterior E courtyard, green cloth ribbons tied to the bran- ches of the old oak trees (TMW-K 2019).