Letter S
342. Ṣarrūt, Khirbet | خربة صرّوت
az-Zarqā’ Governorate
Jāmi‘
JADIS no. 2417024
MEGA no. 7173
Coordinates: 32°08'45.0"N 35°57'28.0"E
32.145833, 35.957778
Plan: broad rectangular, almost square, with door in the middle of the N wall, flanked by two windows, facing the miḥrāb with two windows on each side of it in the S wall. The miḥrāb projects to the exterior of the S wall as a mantled cubic risalit.
Measurements: 42 m2
Exterior: 8.50 x 7.35 m, N-S extension with cubic miḥrāb risalit 8.60 m.
Interior: 6.00 x 7.00 m.
Building Materials: yellowish to brown limestone.
Construction details: The old N and S walls are constructed of carefully dressed limestone blocks of ancient origin, arranged in horizontal courses and isodomic bondage. The E and W walls consists of more randomly laid rows of coarse or semi-dressed stones with rich use of concrete mortar. The entire N wall was covered in recent time with a revetment of industrially fabricated limestones. The roof consists of a large concrete slab which rests on a single concrete skeleton beam running from above the door to the miḥrāb in N-S direction. The interior is entirely covered by whitewashed concrete plaster.
Preservation: The mosque is intact but it has been recently abandoned. It is presently used as a storage room containing furniture and old prayer carpets. Not used anymore for Muslim prayer.
Inscription(s): Above the entrance in the exterior N wall two broad rectangular limestone blocks showing each one two framed lines in Arabic relief script (Photo, transcription and translation by NAt):
Translation: “In the name of Allāh, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate (bismillāh). Those who maintain the mosques of Allāh are only those who believe in Allāh and the Last Day. This mosque was established in the year 1360 H(ijri) - Please God, forgive the one who worked to construct this mosque”.
Date: The date of 1360 H (=1942 AD) given by the inscription refers certainly to the latest renovation of a much older mosque. During the GJU survey on December 7th, 2019, a large quantity of pottery sherds have been observed in the immediate vicinity of the mosque: They indicate that the site was occupied already in the late Roman and Byzantine periods. Significant for the date of the predecessor of the present mosque is the large amount of decorated Ayyubid-Mamluk and glazed Ottoman wares (figs. 342.1-2).
Traveler Reports: none known.
Bibliography: unpublished; for historic kermes oaks in the area, not related to the mosque see Nueimat - Alkilani 2002, 27.
