312. Rujm ash-Shēkh Ṣâliḥ / Rujm an-Numayrah | رجم النميرة / رجم الشيخ صالح

al-Kerak Governorate

Maqām / Weli ash-Shēkh Ṣāliḥ

JADIS no. none

MEGA no. 58870 Numayra Site no 45

Coordinates: 31°07'47.0"N 35°31'29.1"E

31.129708, 35.524744

 

Plan: The tomb shrine of Sheikh Ṣāleḥ / Ṣalāḥ seems to have been located at the Nabataean way station / fort just west of the Dead Sea Highway across from the early Bronze Age site of Numayrah on the hill. Glueck (1935) recorded the site as Rujm en-Numayrah, but said nothing about a tomb shrine. For the tomb located at al-Kerak (cf. traveler reports below) see here no. 189.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

(Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: unknown.

Construction details: unknown.

Preservation: unknown.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): unknown.

Traveler Reports: “Keeping along by the desert shore, we reached the stream and ruins of N’meirah, where there is a welí, the tomb of Sheik Salâh, which is held in great estimation by the Ghawárineh Arabs…Passing next by a ruined tower called by the natives El Meraisid, we presently arrived at the Ghor es Sa‘ad, where we found an encampment of Mejelliát Arabs from Kerak. … A little past the tower we came upon a ruined reservoir, named Birket Abū K’taineh, after a Muslim saint whose hermitage, we were told, we should find in the low hills to the east…. A little farther on are some stone heaps placed by the sea-shore; these, the Arabs of the country told us, are used as altars, upon which to sacrifice to Nebí Saláh, when the presence of hostile tribes makes it impossible for them to approach the welí itself. They are called Rujúm El Mowájehát, ‘Facing cairns,’ and face the tomb of Nebí Saláh, which is plainly visible from the spot.” Palmer 1871. 1872). “At 10:23 we came to the tomb of ruğm eš-Šejḫ Ṣâleḥ, who is said to have come from Karak and who is venerated here as the patron of sheep and goats, while people also offer him bread and milk (elevation: - 390 m).” (Musil 1896 [1907]); “el-Ḥeğâzîn verehren eš-Šejḫ Ṣalâḥ; er stammt aus Kufrabba und besitzt zwei Gräber, eines in el-Kerak, östlich von Ğâmi‘ und ein zweites am Ufer des Toten Meeres.” = “el-Ḥeğâzîn venerate eš-Šejḫ Ṣalâḥ; he comes from Kufrabba and has two graves, one in el-Kerak, east of the Ğâmi‘ and a second one on the shore of the Dead Sea.” (English translation from German by RS).

Bibliography: Palmer 1872: 387-389; condensed in 1871: 62-63); Arabia Petraea III, 330; Musil 1907, 68; Glueck 1935, 7 no. 2; Schick 2020, no.