Letter T
385. Tibne | تبنة
Irbid governorate
Masjid al-qadīm or Masjid az-Zaydāni
JADIS no. 212 0112
MEGA no. 5272
Coordinates: 32°28'32.0"N 35°43'41.5"E
32.475556, 35.728194
Plan: square, with entrance from N facing the miḥrāb, both of them not in the center of the walls but shifted to the W; one free standing pillar with corresponding buttresses along the walls and in the room corners divide the interior into four bays. The SE one is covered by a hemispherical dome, the other three by cross vaults. In the NW room corner a 90o angled staircase lead to the roof top, incorporated into the masonry of the wall. Under the E side of the mosque extends a natural cave which is accessible via a small garden to the E by a door in the foundation zone.
Measurements: 155 m2 (Shuqerat 1988).
Exterior: 12.5 x 12.5 m (Khammash 1986); 12.60-12.50 m (N-S) x 12.50-12.20 m (E-W, Shuqerat 1988).
Interior: 10.87-10.67 m (N-S,) x 10.85-10.34 m (E-W, Shuqerat 1988)
Building Materials: yellowish-red coarsely dressed marly limestone blocks with occasional insertion of small basalt stones with mortar. Some of the ashlars might be of pre-Islamic age. After the recent restorations the interior walls and pillars appear in exposed stone masonry while the cross vaults as well as the rebuilt dome are covered with a whitewashed plaster.
Construction details: masonry carefully laid in horizontal courses up to 18 (E) to 29 (S) rows of medium sized blocks in irregular isodomic bondage. At present, it is impossible to decide which part of the masonry is original and which has been reorganized during the recent renovation. In the upper sector of the E exterior side is a small projecting alcove supported by two corbels.
Preservation: According to Khammash 1986, the mosque was partly ruined in the 1980 by collapse of the dome but still used for prayer at that time. The entire building including the courtyard enclosure have been recently restored between 1997 and 2003 by TURATH company under the supervision of Professor R. Daher.
Inscription(s): none known.
Date(s): 18th century AD during the rule of the Zaydāni, the date given by the modern inscription is H 1185 = AD 1771/72. According to G. Schumacher (Steuernagel 1927), the fortress of the village is said having been constructed by Aḥmad ad-Daher, one of the sons of Zāḥir (Daher) al-’Umar az-Zaydāni (AD 1689-1775), who resided during the revolt of his brother ‘Uthmān against his father for seven years at Tibne.
Traveler Reports: “Called by the people of Tibneh ‘Ej Jame’a El Qadim’, it is one of Tibneh’s landmarks. It is built on a buff of rock, the southern edge of the tableland that forms the upper part of Tibneh’s site. This location makes the old mosque seen from a distance, and, because of the different nature of its stone, it is quickly distinguished from the houses of the village. Underneath the rock where the mosque is built lies a cave that is almost as big as the interior of the mosque. This cave is reached from the courtyard of a house northeast of the mosque and was once privately owned by Musa Tojeh. Simply and powerfully proportioned, the mosque’s plan is a perfect square. ..” (Khammash 1986).
Bibliography: For taxation of the village in the Ottoman registers see Hütteroth - Abdulfattah 1977, 166 s.v. Nāhiya Kūra, za‘āma wa tīmā, Tibna. For antiquities and the mosque specifically: Schumacher 1890 (repr. 2010) 186; Steuernagel 1927, A. 412; Mittmann 1970, 43-44; Khammash 1986, 59-61; Shuqerat 1988, 70-120; Daher 1997, 403-424; Daire 1988, 122 s.v. Tibne; Walmsley 2001, 536-537; Qudat 2005, 49-50. 99 plan 5. 122-127 figs. 36-44; Sqour - Abu Ghanimeh 2014, 4 with note 17;Ta‘an 2019, 127-128 figs. 3, 121-127.
