Letter S

340. Ṣarfah / Ṣerfa / Ṣarfat al-Māl | صرفا

al-Kerak Governorate

Maqām Yōsha ibn Nūn

JADIS no. 2108050

MEGA no. 5051

Coordinates: 31°19'46.5"N 35°39'09.7"E

31.329583, 35.652694

 

 

Plan: rectangular with entrance at the N short side.

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: local limestone with basalt.

Construction details: The rectangular chamber has transversal arches constructed with limestone voussoirs, covered by perpendicular long basalt slabs (fig. 340.4).

Preservation: ruined.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date: As the sanctuary had been visited by ‘Alī ibn Abī Bakr al-Harawī himself (see traveler reports), hence the tradition of the venerable tomb of Yōsha ibn Nūn traces back at least to the 12th / early 13th centuries AD. This prophet has a number of tombs in Palestine and Jordan: Two other shrines dedicated to him in Jordan are located near as-Salṭ (no. 326) and Abū Makhtūb (no. 5).

Traveler Reports: Harawī (18, 3): “Dans le village de Sarafa, une tombe que l’on prétend être celle de Yūša‘ b. Nūn; nous l’avons précédemment visitée, mais c’est celle-ci la véritable” (translated by Sourdel-Thomine 1957, 47 with note 2).

Bibliography: Majali 2005, 249-50 fig. 12 a-b; Schick 2020, no. 111.

 
Fig. 340.1 General view of the sanctuary with the tomb under the bar- rel vaulted construction (Majali 2005, 249 fig. 12a).
 
Fig. 340.2-3 Tomb, view of short sides from E and W (TMW-K 2020).
 
Fig. 340.4 Detail of transversal arch with basalt slab ceiling (NAt).

Figures

[Fig. 340.1 ]
General view of the sanctuary with the tomb under the bar- rel vaulted construction (Majali 2005, 249 fig. 12a).

[Fig. 340.2-3 ]
Tomb, view of short sides from E and W (TMW-K 2020).

[Fig. 340.4 ]
Detail of transversal arch with basalt slab ceiling (NAt).