Letter A

32. ‘Ammān | عمّان

‘Ammān Governorate

Masjid Shapsōgh

JADIS no. none

 MEGA no. none

Coordinates: 31°57'08.0"N 35°56'14.5"E

31.952222, 35.937356

 

 

Plan: broad rectangular, oriented to the qibla direction SSE. The miḥrāb is centered in the S wall, protruding to  the exterior, in axis to it the main door in the N wall flan ked by two windows with segmental upper ends. Corresponding to them two windows on both sides of the miḥrāb, on each of the W and E short sides two further windows of the same shape and dimension (width 1.63 m). The interior is divided by two columns with pseudo- Tuscan capitals and unfluted shafts on polygonal bases  into two navels running  parallel to the qibla wall. The minaret raised originally free standing in the exterior courtyard of the mosque in a distance of 1.9 m from the  NW corner. This is today incorporated  into a new prayer  hall extending to the N and to the E (fig. 12.1).

Measurements: 137 m2

Exterior: ca. 15 x 12 m.

Interior: 13.7 x 10 m.

Building Materials: Limestone, mortar and wood.

Construction details: Skeleton concrete technique. 

Preservation: In present condition still in use for daily  prayer by the Circassian Muslims of the Shapsōgh  neighborhood, down-town ‘Ammān.

Inscription(s): A modern Arabic inscription on a gold- plated stone slab referring to the stone construction of the present minaret gives the date 1367 H = 1948 AD. It  starts with the quotation of Q. at-Tabwah, 18:

 
 
 

Translation: “The mosques of Allāh shall be maintained by who believes in Allāh and the Last Day. In the reign  of His Hashemite Majesty, King ‘Abd Allāh ibn al- Ḥussein. Ḥājj ‘Umar al-Mu‘albakī constructed this minaret. Year 1367 H.” (NAt, edited by RS).

Date(s): The Shapsōgh family was among the first Circassian settlers who arrived to ‘Amman. As merchants the Shapsōghs developed the S-slope of the citadel hill to a prospering dwelling and commercial area. The installation of the old mosque with a wooden minaret followed the construction of the Ḥusseini mosque in the down-town center on the ruins of the Umayyad predecessor after 1932 (here no. 30). Shortly after the period of the Emirate, about 1948 AD, the Shapsōgh mosque was built as a sophisticated stone structure in the design fashion of that time. The plan resumed older local models with two free standing support elements in the prayer hall, frequently attested in NW Jordan already during the ‘Ayyubid-Mamluk periods (“Rēmūn-type”, see no. 306). In the context of the refurbishment a stone built  minaret with a concrete cast spiral staircase replaced  the  older timberwork construction. The present building’s enlargement toward the N, E and S sides was executed between the 1980s and the 1990s. These additions adjusted the ground plan to the cadastral layout of the city  which follows the Roman Hippodamic orthogonal principle, oriented to the cardinal directions N to S and E to W.

Traveler Reports: none known.

Bibliography: Abuirhaiem 2018, 61.

 
Fig. 32.1 Sketch ground plan: The post-1932 structure with the free standing stone minaret of H 1367 / 1948 AD in black, later additions of the 19880-1990s in grey (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 32.2 Location of the Shapsōgh mosque with free standing minaret opposite the Roman theatre on the N bank of the sayl ‘Ammān, around the late 1940s (Abuirhaiem 2018, 61 fig. 3,10.1).
Fig. 32.3 Exterior elevation of the 1948 mosque with more recent additions in the second floor (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 32.4 Exterior view of N elevation of the 1948 mosque (NAt 2019).
Fig. 32.5 Interior view of the S nave of the 1948 mosque with miḥrāb and wooden minbar, columns with “Tuscan” capitals and pentagonal bases (TMW-K 2019).
Fig. 32.6 Interior view of the S nave of the 1948 mosque with miḥrāb and wooden minbar, view from SE  (TMW-K 2019).

Figures

[Fig. 32.1 ]
Sketch ground plan: The post-1932 structure with the free standing stone minaret of H 1367 / 1948 AD in black, later additions of the 19880-1990s in grey (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 32.2 ]
Location of the Shapsōgh mosque with free standing minaret opposite the Roman theatre on the N bank of the sayl ‘Ammān, around the late 1940s (Abuirhaiem 2018, 61 fig. 3,10.1).

[Fig. 32.3 ]
Exterior elevation of the 1948 mosque with more recent additions in the second floor (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 32.4 ]
Exterior view of N elevation of the 1948 mosque (NAt 2019).

[Fig. 32.5 ]
Interior view of the S nave of the 1948 mosque with miḥrāb and wooden minbar, columns with “Tuscan” capitals and pentagonal bases (TMW-K 2019).

[Fig. 32.6 ]
Interior view of the S nave of the 1948 mosque with miḥrāb and wooden minbar, view from SE  (TMW-K 2019).