Letter Z
442. Zūbya | زوبيا
Irbid governorate
Masjid Zūbiya al-qadīm
JADIS no. none
MEGA no. 5872; 71088
Coordinates: 32°26'02.0"N 35°46'04.8"E
32.433889, 35.768000
Plan: broad rectangular with originally three entrances from the N, today enlarged by two additional halls in concrete skeleton technique; centralized miḥrāb built separately with minbar in the S wall of the central S bay. The prayer hall is divided by two pillars into two naves with each three cross vaulted bays running parallel to the qibla wall. In the E and S wall two windows.
Measurements: 345.6 m2
Exterior: unknown.
Interior: ca. 21,6 x 16 m.
Building Materials: Bulky Hellenistic / early Roman stepped foundations of large limestone blocks along the E and S exterior façades (fig. 441.3). Smaller well-dressed cubic ashlars of early Roman date at the NE corner (fig. 441.6); exterior and interior walls widely covered by new whitewashed plaster; at the NE corner an isolated early Roman Ionic capital with astragal at the transition to the shaft of brown limestone. (fig. 441.7)
Construction details: The NE corner displays early Roman solid limestone masonry (fig. 441.6. 12) in header- and-stretcher bondage, preserved in 18 horizontal rows up to the modern concrete roof of the mosque. The curvature of the cross vaults is semicircular. The large windows terminate in segmental arches, their exterior rectangular frames protrude slightly.
Preservation: In the NW bay a closed balustrade has been added as a women prayer room. In front of the former N façade extend two additional halls of recent date.
Inscription(s): none known.
Date(s): Ayyubid-Mamluk with Ottoman restorations on foundations of an older building, possibly at the site of a Hellenistic/early Roman temple and a Byzantine church. The assumption that the mosque has been erected over the foundation of a Christian church is supported by Steuernagels notice on a surrounding cemetery with glasses in the burial contents of the graves. The plan of the old mosque follows the “Rēmūn-type” (no. 306).The cross vaults do not have pointed arches as frames of the bays.
Traveler Reports: “Antikes Material steckt auch in der großen, alten Moschee (dschâmi’) im Norden des Dorfes, die übrigens genau wie die in el-chanzîre ... angelegt, doch aus alten Bausteinen errichtet ist. Am Nordeingang finden sich Perlstäbe und Eierstäbe, in die Mauern sind große Bausteine und Säulentrommeln eingebaut. In der Nähe liegt ein alter Türsturz mit einem Kreuz und dem Buchstaben Φ(.) sowie mit einer Altarfigur(?). In der Umgebung wurden viele Gräber aufgedeckt, in ihnen gefundene Gläser wurden verkauft.” (Steuernagel 1927, A 411-412).
Bibliography: For taxation in the Ottoman registers see Hütteroth-Abdulfattah 1977, 169 s.v. Nāhiya Kūra, pādīshā, Zūbiya. For antiquities Steuernagel 1927, A. 135. 411-412; Mittmann 1970, 58 no. 134; Ta‘an 2019, 146-149 figs. 3. 158-165.
