251. Miḥnah / ‘Adnāniyeh, al- | العدنانية / محنا سابقا

al-Kerak Governorate

Jāmi‘ / Masjid

JADIS no. 2105 002

MEGA no.10100

Coordinates: 31°07'17.0"N 35°41'35.8"E

31.121389, 35.693278

Plan: The epitaph witnesses the presence of Muslims of high social rank in the village. It is very probable that they maintained a mosque even though nothing of it has been found of it (yet).

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: unknown.

Construction details: unknown.

Preservation: unknown.

Inscription: Cavona (1954, 281 fig. 316) published a photo of the Arabic inscription. This inscription has been published by Karīm - Ma‘ānī (1999a):

Translation: “In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Say: He is God, One God, the Eternal, He did not give birth, nor was He given birth to, and there is no being like Him (Q. 112). Oh Allāh, bless Muḥammad the prophet, the imām of mercy, oh God, forgive ‘Uthmān ibn Khālid ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ibn al-Ḥārith, both of them. Do not forsake him. May Allāh be tolerant of whoever read this writing and sought forgiveness for ‘Uthmān. Wrote it […].” (Translation by RS). The inscription is a tombstone for ‘Uthmān the son of Khālid the son of ‘Abd al-Malik the son of al-Ḥārith. Al-Ḥārith was a brother of al-Ḥakam, the father of the caliph Marwān. Khālid was the governor of Medina from 732 to 737 AD during the caliphate of Ḥishām, his second cousin, and was so harsh, especially in his opposition to Shi‘ites, that the Caliph Ḥishām eventually dismissed him. This inscription is the only attestation of any son of Khālid. ‘Uthmān seemingly was resident in the Miḥnah area, presumably as a fief holder. A similar tombstone of a relative from the Umayyad period was found at Nitl (no. 273).

Date(s): Theophanes (810-815 AD) mentions a village Moukheon in connection with the battle at Mū’tah in H 8 / 629 AD (1885: 335, anno mundi 6123; 1997: 466): “...καὶ ἦλθον κατέναντι Μουχέων κώμης λεγομένης, ἐν ᾗ ὑπήρχε Θεόδωρος ὁ βικάριος, θέλοντες ἐπιρρίψαι κατὰ τῶν Αραβῶν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς εἰδωλοθυσίας αὐτῶν.” Canova (1954, 282-284 nos. 297-300) found four Greek tombstones, one is dated between 545-446 and 554 -555 AD. The presence of a Christian comunity is further indicated by several lintels with crosses.

Traveler Reports: “...we proceeded, across some corn land, to a ruined village called Mahanna. The ruins are mostly of ordinary buildings, but it is evident that one of them was a Christian church.”(Irby and Manges in 1818 [1832]). “Fourteen minutes was enough to bring us to Mahk’henah, the Mahanna of Irby and Mangles’ journal. The remains are in a better state of preservation than any of those we had yet visited in the course of our ride. The plan of many of the buildings, and especially of an old Byzantine Church, can distinctly traced. It stands on a slightly elevated mamelon, covering several acres...” (Tristram in 1872 [1873]).

Bibliography: Irby - Manges 1832, 370; Tristram 1873, 102; Saller - Bagatti 1949, 230 no. 98; Canova 1954, 281-284; Miller 1991, 113 Site 273; Michel 2001, 421; Karīm - Ma‘ānī 1999a, 239-286; Schick 2020, no. 78. [entry written by RS]