303. Rāsūn | راسون

‘Ajlūn Governorate

Jāmi‘ al-Asēm

JADIS no. 2220022

MEGA no. 11458

Coordinates: 32°23'58.0"N 35°45'40.0"E

32.399444, 35.761111

Plan: The mosque is built on a S slope where a vast cemetery extends; broad rectangular plan with a door in the middle of the N wall, qibla wall with miḥrāb in S incorporated into the masonry without saḥn. The interior comprises three naves in N-S orientation subdivided into six square bays which are covered by cross vaults. These rest on two free standing pillars with corresponding pilaster buttresses in the room corners and along the E, W and N wall. Only at the S wall instead of pillars are half columns today covered by metal sheet. The miḥrāb was originally facing the N entrance, but it has been shifted eastward during recent restoration and clad with wood foil. Also the timberwork minbar was added close to it. The old miḥrāb was closed and is not visible anymore. The original mosque had only one central entrance in the N wall flanked on both sides by narrow windows with segmental arched lintels. These windows have been broken through during the recent restoration and are presently used as additional doors. Also the two openings in the E wall are of recent date. During the recent refurbishment the minaret and additional prayer halls (in N and E) have been added.

Measurements: area 98 m² , total area with recent additions 320 m² (al-Qawqanah); 95 m², capacity for 130 individuals (Khateb 2020).

Exterior: 13.47-13.59 m (N-S) x 10.92m-10.62 m (E-W) (Khateb 2020) ,

Interior: 11.17-11.29 m (N-S) x 8.67-8.37 m (E-W) (Khateb 2020)

Building Materials: New tiling to the interior and plastering of the exterior walls caused the loss of the authenticity; only a small portion of the original masonry appears on the outside W wall in the foundation level (fig. 303.6), where roughly dressed limestone and flakes are constructed in horizontal courses bond with yellowish lime and sand mortar; on either side of the central entrance door in the N wall exterior reuse of two Roman fragments of a fasciae door frame (limestone) delicately decorated with Ionic cyma and astragal (figs. 303.8-9), all whitewashed.

Construction details: The original miḥrāb in the center of the S-wall has been closed during the recent renovation and it was replaced by a smaller one in the old Wbay. The walls and pillars of the old mosque have been covered by yellow ceramic tiles.

Preservation: intact, rebuilt from ruins some 70 years ago (al-Qawqanah), restored and extended by additional halls in the E and in the N in 2012, still used as a mosque for regular Muslim prayer.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): Mamluk and Ottoman periods (according al-Qudah). The plan follows the Ayyubid-Mamluk Rēmūn type (cf. no. 306).

Traveler Reports: none known.

Bibliography: For taxation of the village in the Ottoman registers see Hütteroth-Abdulfattah 1977, 163 s.v. Nāhiya 'Ajlūn, Za'āma wa tīmā, Rāsūn. For the antiquities and the mosque in particular Mittmann 1970, 71 nos. 169-170; MMU IV, 268 no. 10 (H. & O. M. al-Qawqanah); MMU IV, 304- 307 (A. M. al-Qudhah); Khateb 2020, 135-136 no. 10 figs. 118-120.