Letter A
Jabal Luwēbdeh, Dārat Funūn (‘Ammān Governorate)
Church of Saint George / most probably also used as maqām al-Khidhr (Augustinović 1972, 43; Bikai et alii 1994, 411-412)
JADIS no. 2316159
MEGA no. 2737
Coordinates: 31°57'13.7"N 35°55'50.7"E
31.9538452, 35.9310000
Plan: Three aisled basilica oriented with the apse to E, divided by two colonnades into three naves. At the W front a decentralized door leads from the narthex into the assembly room (naós) of the church. This was separated by chancel screens from the altar room. At the N nave a cave is subject of Christian and Muslim veneration. In axis to it at the S nave a rectangular recess with an additional door.
Measurements: ca. 185 m2 + ca. 70 m2 (cave).
Exterior: unknown.
Interior: Hall of church 14.8 x 12.5 m. Cave 8 x 8.7 m.
Building Materials: Brownish local limestone, in great part reused from older buildings. The colonnades of the naós consist of older brown-yellow conglomerate monolithic shafts combined with late Roman Corinthian capitals and Attic-Ionian bases in light grey limestone. The floor was covered with colored mosaics displaying (as far preserved) geometric and floral motifs.
Construction details: Two sided masonry with rubble fill. Preservation: ruined, not in use for prayer, inorporated into the garden of the Dārat Funūn.
Inscription(s): A number of Greek, Safaitic and (one) Arabic inscriptions have been found in context with the church. They are partly still in place. A pagan Greek inscription on a red granite pedestal reads according to P.- Gatier: “The Council and the People honour Martas, son of Diogenes, gymnasiarch,[ ... ] for life, constructor of the Herakleion, councilor and president, as proof of esteem.” A Greek Christian inscription was found by F.- Abel in 1908 near the altar: “By the willingness of God and the intention of the humble priest of St. George for the good health and long life of our sovereigns and thanks to his generosity, this temple was built under the Saint Bishop Polieuctus and for the good cure of Talassamachia ” (Abel 1908, 570-573). The early Arabic inscription is widely illegible, only the word “Allāhumme" (= “God of all”) can be deciphered. All inscriptions are quoted here after Bikai et alii 1994, 401. 407). Date(s): Possibly a pagan sanctuary of Heracles in origin, the building has been converted in the 6th or early 7th century AD into a chapel of Saint George. An use as a maqām of al-Khidr can only hypothetically be concluded.
Traveler Reports: “The apse, the window in the south wall, and three pillars of the aisles remain, with four [columns] which belonged to a porch 10 feet wide in the clear.” (Conder 1889).
Bibliography: Conder 1889, 56; Milik 1960, 167-168; Bagatti 1971, 274; Augustinović 1972, 43; Bikai et alii 1994, 401-415; Bikai et alii 1998, 89-141.
