364. Ṣoffāḥa Aḥwar, aṣ- / Khirbet at Kūr / ‘Aīn ‘Irāq | الصوفاحة ( الشيخ ) الأحور

Ma‘ān Governorate

Maqām Shēkh Aḥwar.

JADIS no. none

MEGA no. none

Coordinates: 30°27'37.5"N 35°27'18.8"E

30.460417, 35.455222

Plan: The mosque is located on a prominent peak of a rocky summit at the N sector of the long extended Jabal aṣ-Ṣoffāḥa with a direct sight contact with the maqām on Jabal Ḥārūn which is in a distance of about 40km S as the crow flies. The shrine is set in a marked older precinct: About 15 m west of the main building a foundation wall of an enclosure with a possible entrance gate runs N to S. The maqām consists of a rectangular open enclosure-oriented N to S with a narrow door in the middle of the N wall. In the W sector of the interior (fig. 364.2) was the tomb of Shēkh Aḥwar (probably the head of the Zewāyde-tribe [Miettunen 2013]), looted and badly destroyed today; in the S wall, facing the entrance, a rounded miḥrāb niche is incorporated into the masonry and oriented according the qibla direction to SSE.

Measurements: 47.52 m²

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: 7.2 x 6.6 cm.

Building Materials: sandstone and limestone blocks from an older building identified as a pre-Christian Nabataean shrine. Beside the niche was a long wooden beam which belonged assumingly to the older building (Miettunen 2013).

Construction details: low wall of reused semi-dressed blocks in various courses, partly occupying the foundations of an older building. The S sector of the enclosure consists predominantly of boulders and coarsely broken stones heaped randomly on each other without the use of mortar. In contrast to this, the miḥrāb has been carefully constructed by dressed stones (fig. 346.6). The entrance preserves a block of a jamb which indicates the existence of a former lockable door.

Preservation: ruined and vandalized. According to the narratives of the local guides of the ‘Amarēn-tribe on the GJU survey on October 12th, 2019, the area is frequented by men for illegal hunting Ibex, rabbits and birds. The maqām is occasionally visited by worshippers of the local community asking for intercession of the saint to God after the birth of babies, in case of illness and in any kind of family conflicts. In this context, animal sacrifices and vows are still today accustomed (see below under local narratives).

Inscription(s): none known.

Date: Early Ottoman (?) on the site of a preceding Nabataean sanctuary, according to F. Zayadine (oral communication to Miettunen [2013, 96 note 366]) for the worship of the planets and especially Zeus. During the GJU survey on October 12th, 2019, a large amount of unpainted Iron Age pottery sherds (A) has been collected with scarce pieces of Nabataean fine pottery (B) and little late-Roman / Byzantine material (C) including a modern animal bone (D, of a recent sacrifice?). Astonishingly, during the GJU survey, no firm Islamic pottery was observed (fig. 341.7). As also other important ruins in the area such as Khirbet Ghatās witness, aṣ-Ṣoffāḥa was more densely settled in the Nabatean / Roman period than today (fig. 341.1).

Traveler Reports: none known; according the the guides of the GJU survey on October 12th, 2019 (all of them members of the Amarēn-tribe), Shēkh Aḥwar lived in the time of the Ottoman Empire. He was the imām anguardian of the mosque which became later his burial shrine. He was renowned for his charity and intercession to Allāh by the local population. People used to bring new born babies and patients to the shrine demanding Allāh’s blessing. They offered sacrifices from their flocks of sheep and goats, selecting those of the animals that entered through the gate or jumped on the walls. After the slaughter, the meat of the sacrifice was distributed among other pilgrims who had arrived at the sanctuary by feet, on donkeys or camels, and the meal was immediately taken in the community of the fiddles. This custom disappeared about 50 years ago. Today the younger male Bedouins go to the area of the shrine for hunting the chukar patridge (arab.: shonar; alectoris chukar), the rock hyrax / rabbit (arab.: wabar, procavia capensis) and the wild goat (arab.: badn; capra ibex). The place is also appreciated for its panoramic view and for the trees (Arabic arar). Their branches give an aromatic smell when burned (oral information collected by HAJ 2019).

Bibliography: Lindner - Knauf et alii 1998, 225-240; Lindner 2001, 561-568; Lindner 2003, 228; Hübner - Lindner 2003, 225-233; Hübner 2006, 19 with note 12; Miettunen 2013, 95-96 no. 3; 205 fig. 4; Schick 2020, no. 118.