44. ‘Azraq, al-, Qaṣr / Basienis | قصر الأزرق

az-Zarqā’ Governorate

Masjid

JADIS no. 321 4001

MEGA no. 58074

Coordinates: 31°52'49.0"N 36°49'39.0"E

31.880278, 36.827500

Plan: The exterior terrain slopes from N to S; plan rectangular, with entrance from E, two windows high in S wall to both sides of the miḥrāb which projects in a semicircular plan at the S exterior wall. Interior divided by two rows of triple transversal arches into three naves running parallel to the qibla wall. The interior imposts of the arches rest upon two ancient basalt column drums positioned in front of the miḥrāb.

Measurements: 15.6 m²

Exterior: 12.75 x 9.31-9.7 m.

Interior: 7.50 x 8.10 m. The thickness of the walls is in average ± 1.50 m.

Building Materials: Basalt, with use of ancient basalt column drums in the interior. The niche of the miḥrāb consists of carefully dressed blocks probably dating to a later Ottoman embellishment  phase. Further blocks of half- column bases with curved lateral faces of niches from the same manufacture have been reused in the late 19th century for the enclosure wall of the maqām Shēkh Mubārak ash-Shishāni in south ‘Azraq (see here no. 47).

Construction details: The exterior walls have been constructed up to at least 14 courses of coarsely cut, semi dressed basalt ashlars of different shapes and sizes in two-faced masonry with rubble fill. At the exterior elevations dressed ashlars of large sizes dominate in the foundation and lower masonry courses. There is no doubt that these are the remnants of the earliest construction phase which remains undated due to the lack of conclusive archaeological evidence. These large ashlars clearly distinguish in their sizes and surface patination (light grey) from more regular blocks of rectangular  shape and smaller dimensions which are laid in horizontal courses. In the masonry of the N exterior wall six longer protruding basalt bars have been inserted to serve as steps for climbing the roof top for the prayer call.

Preservation: after several restoration interventions intact, but not anymore used as a mosque. The anatomy of the raising walls of all  four exterior elevations betray various repairs and renovation phases, the latest of whose  dates most probably to the later Ottoman period. The floor of the interior is covered by a mud, rubble and dust package of about 0.6 m height. The original floor level therefore laid about half a meter below the surface niveau of the surrounding  terrain. The ceiling of the prayer hall is constructed in the vernacular Ḥaurān technique with corbels resting upon the crowns of the transversal arches (fig. 44.7). They hold longer monolithic basalt beams which cover the room and hold a package of smaller basalt flakes, rubble and earth. The mosque has been restored in the 2009 by the DoA.

Inscription(s): Above a blocked window in the S sector of the exterior W wall of the castle, a short basalt block  with an Arabic inscription has been reused during a very  recent restoration. The text cites Q. 61 as-Sāf, 13 with slight alterations (transcription and translation by NAt):

Translation: “Help from Allāh. The salvation is near. 352 H(ijri))” (= 962 / 963 AD).”

Date(s): The reused Arabic inscription probably dating to the ‘Abbasid period has no firm relevance for the chronology of the mosque, because it is out of its original context. It cannot excluded, however, that it once belonged to an earlier phase of the present masjid. The mosque is generally dated without firm evidence to the Mamluk period with subsequent Ottoman and recent restorations. Its plan with the supporting columns positioned in front of the miḥrāb is repeated by three parallels, all of them in the vicinity of Petra: Beidha (no. 56), ar-Rājif (no. 296) and aṭ-Ṭaybeh (no. 382). In a reduced version the double transversal arch with the column in front of the miḥrāb occurs already in the small Umayyad mosque on Jabal Seis (cf. O’Kane 2005, 195).

Traveler Reports: None known.

Bibliography: Kennedy 2000; Tenconi - Karatasios et alii 2018, 100- 116.