Letter T
377. Ṭafīlah, aṭ- | الطفيلة
aṭ-Ṭafīlah governorate
Jāmi‘ Ḥamīdī
JADIS no. none
MEGA no. none
Coordinates: 30°50'15.5"N 35°36'20.4"E
30.837639, 35.605664
Plan: broad rectangular with centralized main door in the N facing miḥrāb in the S wall which is protruding at the exterior thickly plastered S façade. The interior is subdivided by two massive pillars into two naves running parallel to the qiblah wall. They support transversal perpendicular arches which carry cross vaults and divide the naves into six approximately equal bays. in the N façade lateral doors additionally to the main portal. In the shorter E and W wall each two windows open in the middle of the two bays. The S wall is entirely closed, but in the centers of the lateral bays each one cupboard is inserted into the wall. Today the mosque has a new porch in front of the N façade and is surrounded by a courtyard with a gate in the NW.
Measurements: 252.7 m2 (mosque alone without courtyard)
Exterior: 19 x 13.3 m
Interior: 17 x 10.8 m
Building Materials: local brownish limestone with whitewashed plaster in the interior.
Construction details: The perpendicular and transversal arches raising from the interior pillars rest on wall brackets and have a bulky, slightly hanging semicircular curvature. The exterior N, E and W walls are clad with a revetment of regular isodomic limestone masonry. The window and door frames protrude and terminate in semicircular lunettes (with the key-stone of the arched frames slightly protruding). The main portal is recessed
between double pilasters and crowned by a ⅔-circular blind lunette. The door and its framing is plastered and whitewashed with some details emphasized by ochre-yellow paint.
Preservation: intact, still used for daily Muslim prayer.
Inscription(s): Above the courtyard entrance sits a repaired inscriptional stone (1a-b) with two slightly projecting and framed inscription fields, the upper one in the shape of a trapezoid acroterion, the lower one broad rectangular with a triangular upper end. The letters are executed in flat relief and the lines separated by elevated lines. The upper part has an inscription running on two lines (reading and transcription by NAt):
Translation: “A victory from Allāh and a near salvation (Q. 61 as-Saff, 13) The sculptor Waḥīd 1334 (H) (?).”
The lower part runs also on two lines and has some illegible incised letters in the triangular, pediment shaped upper end. It quotes a Quranic verse (Q 9 at-Tawba, 18) (transcription and reading by NAt):
Translation: “Allāh says: ‘Those who attend the mosques of Allāh are only those who believe in Allāh and the Last Day.”
The main building inscription (2) is mounted in the tympanum of the blind lunette above the main entrance door to the mosque. It is incised on a broad rectangular limestone slab and the letters are painted later in a dark turquoise color. Above the inscription are two oval cartouches with the words Allāhu Akbar framing a circular medallion with the Ottoman crescent and star, also painted in turquoise. A five-line lyric text follows below. The date is recorded line 6 (transcription by Nat ; translation by NAt and RS).
Translation: “ ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd started in the best age, for he revived the sharī‘ah in the country. By him the buildings of this constructed mosque were finished on the strongest foundation. He arranged it from his high ranked position as a shrine and approved his white-handed action. ‘Abd al-Ghanī strived it to enable people to do their regular prayer. By him the prayers were performed and by him it was dated: “It was established in piety for the worshippers”. Year 1315(H.).”
Date(s): Inscription no. 2 gives the date H 1315 / AD 1897/98 for the (re-?)building of the mosque which follows in its plan Ayyubid-Mamluk models widely distributed in NW Jordan, cf. the “Rēmūn-type” (no. 306). The work on the courtyard gate, has been executed by the sculptor Waḥīd, according to inscription no. 1a, probably in ca. H 1334/ AD 1916.
Traveler Reports: none known.
Bibliography: Hattab 2015, 202-203; Schick 2020, no. 121.
