248. Mazār Janūbī | المزار الجنوبي

Al-Kerak Governorate

Maqamat Ja‘far ibn Abī Ṭālib and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah.

JADIS 2105036

MEGA no. 44367

Coordinates: 31°03'58.0"N 35°41'44.0"E

31.066111, 35.695556

Plan: rectangular with entrance in the N and the miḥrāb with a minbar at the interior S wall.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: limestone, plaster; the columns flanking the miḥrāb consisted of green marble and carried Byzantine marble capitals (Nomikos 1926).

Construction details: The memorial mosque had a catenary dome which was still preserved in 1908 as a stone construction without mortar. The photos published by Nomikos in 1926 testify that the stone dome had been entirely reconstructed in 1912 in a new, more semi globular shape with the use of mortar. The prayer hall was covered by a barrel vaulted ceiling (Nomikos 1926).

Preservation: the historical mosque was replaced by a new building in recent times.

Inscription(s): Above the interior door of the mosque (1): "Sur la porte intérieure de la mosquée de Dja‘far, faisant suite, du côté du sud, au mausolée, marbre brisé, 5 lignes" (Mauss 1866, repr. Provincia Arabia II, 105):

Translation: “In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. This is what has been restored in the days of our Lord the Sulṭān al-Mālik as-Sāliḥ Salāḥ addunyā wad-dīn, Sāliḥ the son of our Lord the Sulṭān al-Mālik an-Nāṣir Muḥammed. This happened under the Governorate of His illustrious Highness Sayf ad-Dīn (?), the Governor of the high Government at al-Kerak and ash-Shōbak, the well protected. Allāh may support his helpers [van Berchem: victories]. Under the supervision of the Allāh deserving Ramsūdīn (?) al-Ḥārūnī, in the year seven hundred and fifty two” (=AD 1351).

A second but more recent inscription (2) was under the bull-eye window at the façade of the funeral mosque. (photo by NAt, transcription by Nomikos 1926, 107 note 4):

Translation: “In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate (bismillāh). It has been renewed the construction of this mausoleum by the blessed, the thru efforts humble servant who deserves the mercy of the almighty God, the receiver of orders by the mutaserif of al-Kerak, the Governor, Fahrmān Sayf Effendi in this month Jumādā I in the year 1331 of the Hijra, the metwali Muṣṭafa al-Kh‘afarī” (Translation NAt).

Date: The itinerary of ‘Alī bin Abī Bakr al-Harawī testifies the veneration of the tombs of the companions of the prophet already in the 12th and early 13th centuries AD. Only a small number of those warriors killed in the battle of Mū’tah are known as historic personalities. As Harawī mentions, most of their tombs were not anymore identifiable at his time. The inscription in the interior pointing to the date 727 H =1327 AD) is published below 249. The still preserved inscriptions report two renovations of the funeral shrine, one in H 752 = AD 1351 and a later one in H 1331= AD 1912.

Traveler Reports: “Dans les villages d’at-Tūr et Mu’ta, les tombes de Ğa’far at-Tayyār b. abī Tālib, Zayd b. Hārita, ‘Abdallāh b. Rawāha, al-Hārit b. an-Nu‘mān, Hunayf b. Riyāb, Zayd b. al-Hattāb, ‘Abdallāh b. Sahl, Sa’d b. ‘Āmir b. an-Nu‘mān al-Qaysī, Abū Duğāna Simāk et tius les Compagnons qui furent tués en ce lieu et dont on n’identifie plus les tombes; Dieu seul sait la vérité” (Harawī 19, Sourdel-Thomine 1957, 47-48; Meri 2004, 38); “Al-Ṭūr and Mu’ta are villages containing the tombs of Ja‘far al-Ṭayyār ibn Abī Ṭālib, Zayd ibn Hāritha, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Rawāḥa, al-Ḥārith ibn Nu‘mān, Ḥunayf ibn Riyāb, Zayd ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sahl, Sa‘d ibn ‘Āmir ibn al-Nu‘mān al-Qaysī, Abū Dujāna Simāk, and a group of the Companions who were killed there, among whom are those whose tombs are unknown. God knows best.” (Mauss 1866, 130-131).

Bibliography: Provincia Arabia II, 105; Jaussen 1908, 295-296; Nomikos 1926, 103-112; Miller 1991, 122 site no. 311; Ghawanimeh 1995, 43-52; Chatelard - De Tarragon 22010, 102-103; Majali 2005, 64-68; Hübner 2006, 169 with note 14; Hiyyari 2008, 68-72; Redlinger 2014, 13 fig. 4; Tabbah - Taylor 2016, 204-205; Hattab 2015, 52-55; Samman - Tabbah 2019, nos. 14-16; Schick 2020, no. 72.