277. Qadisīya / Ṭayyār, Khirbet aṭ- | خربة الطيار / القادسية

aṭ-Ṭafīlah Governorate

Shajarat Jaʿfar aṭ-Ṭayyār

JADIS no. none

MEGA no. 58443

Coordinates: 30°37'29.4"N 35°38'56.4"E

30.624833, 35.649000

Plan: cairn and other ruins in the dense shade of the dense foliage of an old terebinth (buṭm). The tree and the surrounding area is fenced by a recent low fieldstone wall of rectangular plan with an entrance gate from the W. This adjacent to the E border to the paved via nova Traiana which is hidden today under the nearby asphalt road. At the exterior SE side of the enclosure extends a large oval cave which has been used as a cistern. At its N and S perimeters traces of straight walls running E to W; the interior is occupied by large oval stone setting of burials, oriented E to W. In the E sector a steep depression with a well-dressed rectangular shaft chiseled into the natural bedrock has been uncovered by recent illegal excavators.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: ca. 30 m in diameter

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: local dark blue to purple basalt.

Construction details: The structures consist of undressed basalt boulders.

Preservation: abandoned, but the tree is occasionally visited; in the cairn several deep excavations by recent treasure hunters. The straight walls in the perimeter belong to an older Roman military post or a small mansion at the via nova Traiana (fig. 277.2) The surface pottery studied at the GJU survey leads back to a date at least in the late Roman / Byzantine to early Islamic periods. According apocryphal local tradition it is believed that the prophet’s companion Jaʿfar aṭ-Ṭayyār camped under this tree prior to the battle at Mū’tah (cf. nos. 267-268) in which he was killed.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): unknown. Under the surface pottery sherds of ribbed jars of late Roman / Byzantine to early Islamic date have been reported (fig. 277.4). Since the rectangular building under the tombs was in connection with the security service of the nearby Roman cursus publicus, it was built in the earlier 2nd century after 106 AD.

Traveler Reports: none known

Bibliography: Findlater 2003, 433 fig. 107, appendix 1 no. DAS 114; Schick 2020, no. 109.