Letter Z
‘Ammān governorate
Ḥājj fort / Qal‘a, with muṣallā in the second floor and an older Jāmi‘ to the E of the fort, both at the S side of the large ancient water reservoir (birket), figs. 439, 2-3.
JADIS no. 241 2005
MEGA no. 6893; birket: 2690
Coordinates: 31°42'03.6"N 35°57'10.0"E
31.701000, 35.952778
Plan: The prayer room the the second floor of the qaṣr has a broad rectangular plan with miḥrāb in the S wall (fig. 439.1); the niche is opened with a small window. The mosque mentioned by Tristram 1873 [21874] and by Brünnow and von Domaszewski (Arabia Petraea II) was, however, another separated building to the E of the castle. It was possibly destroyed when the Desert Highway Amman - Aqaba was enlarged for the second lane.
Measurements: unknown.
Exterior: unknown.
Interior: unknown.
Building Materials: local limestone with mortar.
Construction details: unknown.
Preservation: Intact. Since the qaṣr is presently used as a police station, access to the compound is not possible.
Inscription(s): For the mosque E of the qaṣr, Tristram 1873 [21874] reports on “Kufic”-inscriptions on both sides of the miḥrāb (figs. 439.3-4). These signs, however, are not decipherable.
Date(s): Ottoman (castle), the mosque E of the qaṣr older.
Traveler Reports: “The other castle, to the east of this, is apparently of the Roman age, and has been reduced to a ruinous state by the troops of Ibrahim Pasha. The external walls alone remain with a conspicuous inner niche alcove in the south face. It looks like an old temple utilized, first as a fort, and then as a mosque. In it is a beautiful carved lintel, of very rich late Byzantine, or perhaps Persian work; and other sculptured stones are built in, as well as some fragments of Kufic inscriptions” (Tristram 1873 [21874]).
Bibliography: Tristram 1873 (21874), 189; Provincia Arabia II, 91-92 with fig. 673; Khouri 1988b, 39-40; Petersen 2012, 63 fig. 10; Shqour 2016, 150-157; Shqour 2019, 326-335.
