54. Bedīye, al- / Khirbet al-Badaiyh | البدية / خربة البديّة

‘Ajlūn Governorate

Masjid.

JADIS no. 2118002

MEGA no. 2680

Coordinates: 32°16'25.4"N 35°43'04.0"E

32.273722, 35.717778

Plan: square, free standing; big courtyard (saḥn) with cistern adjacent to N wall; single entrance at N, on the E side of exterior N wall podium (ziyādeh) of 1.0-1.5 m height with steps from the E serving as minaret. In the interior miḥrāb in S wall, integrated into the masonry and not protruding from outside; immediately W of miḥrāb stone steps of the minbar. Four limestone column shafts may indicate a division of interior by transversal arches.

Measurements: ca. 56.25 m² 

Exterior: ca. 10 x 10 m.

Interior: ca. 7.50 x 7.50 m.

Building Materials: local light brown marl limestone. Construction details: In the interior three limestone column shafts of considerable heights; roughly dressed li-blocks with lime mortar, constructed in two sided masonry with rubble filling; several rusticated blocks of older date (Hellenistic / Roman). The interior walls and both sides of the miḥrāb show remains of plaster, also the floor was converted by plaster.

Preservation: ruined and excavated, walls standing up to five rows of masonry to a height of ca. 1-1.5 m.

Inscription(s): none reported.

Date(s): Umayyad; Ayyubid / Mamluk (Mac Kenzie 2002); “An absolute date cannot be determinate as treasure hunters have dug a large hole in the center and through the plaster floor where the top of the column was previously visible” (Muheissin 2006).

Traveler Reports: none known.

Bibliography: Mittmann 1970, 84 no. 209; Hatamleh 2000, 18-20. 23 fig. 3; Hatamleh - Qadi 2001, 10-13; Hatamleh 2002, 25-26; Michel 2001. 423; MacKenzie 2002, 617; Muheissin 2006, 90 fig. 5; Nahar2009, 73-75; 

Khouri 2009, 119 s.v. Khirbet el-Bediye (al-Badiyya).