Letter Q

281. Qasṭal al-Balqā’ | قسطل البلقاء/ القسطل

‘Ammān Governorate

Jāmi‘

JADIS no. 2312002

MEGA no. 2944, 15080

Coordinates: 31°44'47.5"N 35°56'23.6"E

31.746533, 35.939878

 

 

Plan: in present condition long rectangular with central entrance in the N facing the miḥrāb in S wall. Both the longer N and S walls are thicker than the short E and W walls in order to carry a barrel vault.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: reddish-brown to yellow and grey limestone and chert of local origin. In the mosque are some decorative architectural elements of white marble such as a small Byzantine capital (fig. 281.11) or column shafts with bases. Around the mosque and in the Museum of Jordanian Heritage of the Yarmuk University Irbid are a number of decorated limestone elements (figs. 281.12-14). It is unclear whether they belonged to the mosque or to the Umayyad palace.

Construction details: The stones used for the recent rebuilding of the mosque are of pre-Islamic origin. The Umayyad parts of the W wall consist of blocks in horizontal courses in dry bondage without mortar (fig. 281.5). The cylindrical shaft of the minaret (figs. 281.9-10) rests on a square platform constructed with massive blocks in three layers. This part is built with carefully chiseled curved blocks in six horizontal rows with an irregular alternation of stretchers with occasional headers. Below the row of windows the cylindrical part terminates in a projecting profile.

Preservation: Only the W wall with the minaret at the NW corner is in the original condition of the Umayyad period. The mosque in present condition is a rebuilding of recent time with unclear relevance for the structure in the earliest, i.e. Umayyad phase.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): Umayyad.

Traveler Reports: see bibliography.

Bibliography: Tristram 1873 (1874) 235; Provincia Arabia II 1905, 95-103; Sauvaget 1939, 18-20; Stern 1946, 81; Gaube 1977, 52-86; Carlier 1987, 104-139; Carlier – Morin 1984, 343-383; Carlier – Morin 1987, 236-246; Allan 1989, 173-176; AJ II2, 464 s.v. Qastal (P. Carlier); Carlier – Morin 1992, 187-206; Ajlouni 1992, 32-33; Bacharach 1996, 36-37; Bujard – Trillen 1997, 357 fig. 6; Addison 2000, 477– 491; Bisheh 2002, 7-8; O’Kane 2005, 194; Rawadiyah 2007, II, 232; Rashan 2009, 97-99. 187 figs. 85-87. 180 pl. 10b; Hasanat - Kabir et alii 2010; Ballian 2012a, 201; Ballian 2012b, 217-220; Share - Naghoj

 
Fig. 281.1 Topographic plan with qaṣr and mosque (after Provincia Arabia II 1905, 96 pl. XLIV; Naser 2020 fig. 3.55).
Fig. 281.2 Ground plan with construction phases (Addison 2000).
Fig. 281.3 Elevation of the Umayyad W wall with pedestal of minaret (Lash 2018).
Fig. 281.4 Elevation and N-S Section (Carlier - Morin 1986, 238 fig. 16).
Fig. 281.5 Exterior view of corner S and W wall (TMW-K 2017).
Fig. 281.6 Exterior view of N façade with entrance (NAt7).
Fig. 281.7 Interior view of prayer hall from E (TMW-K 2017).
Fig. 281.8 Interior view of prayer hall, S wall with miḥrāb (TMW-K 2017).
Fig. 281.9 Perspective hypothetical reconstruction drawing of minaret from SW (after Bisheh 2009, 265 fig. 5).
Fig. 281.10 Minaret from NW (TMWK 2014).
Fig. 281.11 Byzantine marble capital, Qasṭal, mosque (TMWK 2014).
 
Fig. 281.12-14 Limestone decoration blocks, probably not from the mosque but from the Umayyad palace, Irbid, Yarmuk University, Mu- seum of Jordanian Heritage, Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropo- logy (TMWK 2014).

Figures

[Fig. 281.1 ]
Topographic plan with qaṣr and mosque (after Provincia Arabia II 1905, 96 pl. XLIV; Naser 2020 fig. 3.55).

[Fig. 281.2 ]
Ground plan with construction phases (Addison 2000).

[Fig. 281.3 ]
Elevation of the Umayyad W wall with pedestal of minaret (Lash 2018).

[Fig. 281.4 ]
Elevation and N-S Section (Carlier - Morin 1986, 238 fig. 16).

[Fig. 281.5 ]
Exterior view of corner S and W wall (TMW-K 2017).

[Fig. 281.6 ]
Exterior view of N façade with entrance (NAt7).

[Fig. 281.7 ]
Interior view of prayer hall from E (TMW-K 2017).

[Fig. 281.8 ]
Interior view of prayer hall, S wall with miḥrāb (TMW-K 2017).

[Fig. 281.9 ]
Perspective hypothetical reconstruction drawing of minaret from SW (after Bisheh 2009, 265 fig. 5).

[Fig. 281.10 ]
Minaret from NW (TMWK 2014).

[Fig. 281.11 ]
Byzantine marble capital, Qasṭal, mosque (TMWK 2014).

[Fig. 281.12-14 ]
Limestone decoration blocks, probably not from the mosque but from the Umayyad palace, Irbid, Yarmuk University, Mu- seum of Jordanian Heritage, Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropo- logy (TMWK 2014).