439. Zaḥār an-Naṣārā | زحر

Irbid governorate

Jāmi‘

JADIS no. 222 1008

MEGA no. 2904; mosque 17410

Coordinates: 32°34'00.7"N 35°46'38.4"E

32.566861, 35.777333

Plan: broad rectangular with entrance in the middle of N wall facing the corbelled wall impost supporting the two cross vaults. They divide the interior hall into two approximately square bays. The corners of the E bay have supporting buttresses. The miḥrāb is shifted out of the axis of the door to the E beside the pilaster. Due to the position of the door, the corresponding pilaster on the N wall has been drifted slightly to the W. This caused an asymmetry of the two cross vaults. The windows are pierced in the center of the W wall and in the western bay of the N wall. There are small wall niches in the S and E walls. An exterior staircase ascends from the N to the NW corner of the flat roof top which allows climbing up for the prayer call.

Measurements: 72.54 m²

Exterior: unknown.

Interior: 11.7 x 6.2 m (DT).

Building Materials: limestone.

Construction details: The masonry of the old mosque is two sided with rubble fill. Today it is almost entirely covered by a revetment of industrially fabricated limestones The former main entrance door (accessible now through the recently added N hall) is framed by a recessed segmental arch. All three windows (N and W wall) have rounded upper frames and deep sills. They have been restored as double windows.

Preservation: rebuilt since Mittmann‘s visit in 1970 and recently restored in the exterior and interior. The former courtyard in the N has been used for a modern extension of the prayer hall. The free staircase adjacent now the W wall of this addition. The exterior walls have been cladded by modern limestone slabs while the interior is plastered and white washed.

Inscription(s): A fragment of an ancient architrave with Greek inscription was reported by Mittmann (1970) lying in the ruin of the mosque. It cannot be relocated anymore on the compound of the mosque.

Facsimile:

Transcription (Mittmann 1970):

[...]τὸ πᾶν ἒργον τῶν [...]

Translation: “... the whole work of the...”.

Date: late Ottoman, cf. mosque at Umm Qēs (no. 407).

Traveler Reports: “Im Winkel der Talbiegung liegt die Ruine eines Gebäudes, das die Gebetsnische in der Südwand als Moschee ausweist. Unter den Trümmern befinden sich Säulenbruchstücke und zwei Fragmente eines Architraves, von denen das eine den Rest einer griechischen Inschrift trägt.” (Mittmann 1970).

Bibliography: Schumacher 1890 (reprint 2010), 181; Steuernagel 1927, A. 481; Glueck 1951, 179-180 site 106; Mittmann 1970, 33-34. 173 no. 9 fig. 23; Khouri - Abu-Azizeh - Steimer-Herbet 2006, 128 site 10/3; Khouri 2009, 80 s.v. Khirbet Zahar, Zahar en-Nasara; Ta‘an 2019, 143-145 figs. 3. 154.