398. ‘Udhruḥ, Jabal Taḥkīm, on the way to Jerbā | أذرح / جبل التحكيم

Ma‘-ān Governorate

Maqām Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī

JADIS no. 2097004

MEGA no. 4766

Coordinates: 30°20'40.0"N 35°35'53.3"E

30.344444, 35.598139

Plan: two ruins of rectangular plan, the N one oriented N to S with entrance probably in the S. The S building is shifted to the W and its entrance is in alignment with the W wall of the N structure. The S building contains a looted chest tomb embedded in its N wall with scattered human bones of recent date. E. Brünnow and A. von Domaszewski (Provincia Arabia) mention that this building had a door frame and a voussoir of an arch (in the W).

Measurements: unknown.

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: crystalline limestone and chert. A small fragment of a carefully cut corner cornice profile was found on the surface (fig. 398,7).

Construction details: Two sided megalithic masonry of coarsely cut stone without the use of any mortar at the exterior, in the interior fill of rubble.

Preservation: ruined, not in use for Muslim prayer. Burials seem still to be accustomed in the S building. The two ruins are a landmark on top of Jabal Taḥkīm north of ‘Udruh on the way to Jerbā.

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): The collected surface pottery (early Roman to Byzantine) confirms the old age of the megalithic masonry. The site, however, has an important tradition for early Islamic history as the place of the arbitration between ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ and Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī as adherents of Mu‘āwiya ibn Abī Sufyān and the Caliph ‘Alī in the year 657 AD according to Yāqūt II 46 (cf. Tabarī I. 3341; otherwise Dūmat al-Jandal in al-Jōf is claimed for this event, cf. Yāqūt II 628, 4, 5).

Traveler Reports: “rechts auf dem zweiten Hügel die formlosen Ruinen von el-Ğerba. Darunter ein speculum, 10 Schritte im Quadrat, mit einer Quermauer. Schlechte Mörtelmauern. Südlich davon auf einem Beduinengrab die Reste eines Türstockes. Westlich von der Mauer liegt der Schlußstein eines Bogens...” (E. Brünnow - A. von Domaszewski, in: Provincia Arabia I (1904).

Bibliography: Provincia Arabia I, 463; Glueck 1934, 77; Killick 1983, 127; HSJ 67; Hiyyari 2008, 88; Salameen - Falahat et alii, 2011, 19; Miettunen 2013, 305 no. 15; Driessen - Abudanah 2013, 46-47; Hattab 2015, 154-155; Driessen - Abudanah 2015, 299 with note 6; Tabbah - Taylor 2016, 234-235; Samman - Tabbah 2019; Schick 2020, no. 130.