58. Belā‘mā, formery named Bil‘ām | بلعما

al-Mafraq Governorate

Masjid ‘Abū Ṭalāḥa al-‘Ansārī

JADIS no. 2518001

MEGA no. 7498

Coordinates: 32°14'02.5"N 36°05'14.0"E

32.234028, 36.087222

Plan: square (Rjoub – Housan 2013), in fact broad trapezoid, with a single centralized double entrance in N wall facing the miḥrāb. Two windows in E, W and S wall, in the NE corner door, but blocked today. The interior is divided by triple transversal arches into three aisles running parallel to qibla wall.

Measurements: 100 m²; measurements according to the GJU survey on February 23^rd, 2019: 246 m² (of the mosque in its original condition without new extensions).

Exterior: 10 x 10 m (Rjoub – Housan 2013);  according to the GJU survey on February 23^rd, 2019; exterior: 22.8 x 12 m

Interior: 22 x 11.2 m.

Building Materials: Rjoub – Housan (2013) mention basalt as building material and the floor out of mud. According to Steuernagel (1927) use of spoils out of limestone. M. Piccirillo (1981) mentions that some of the architectural decorative elements were preserved in the courtyard of the modern mosque. There are some basalt pilaster capitals and a drum of a column in front of the modern N extension entrance. The 1930 masonry consists of predominantly of yellowish limestone ashlars, in part of ancient origin. Few Roman basalt blocks have inserted into some courses of the masonry at the W and S elevation.

Construction details: The triple arches have been newly constructed in the 1930, resting on pillars with modern capitals. The southern lateral arches rest at the W and E walls on ancient basalt columns with Attic-Ionic bases. Other two basalt bases, upside-down, have been reused as capitals.

Preservation: In restored and extended condition in use for daily Muslim prayer (2019).

Inscription(s): none known.

Date(s): Rashidūn Caliphate (Rjoub – Housan 2013); according to Steuernagel (1927) probably constructed on a former church. The present mosque has been built, according to the narratives of local inhabitants, in the 1930s upon the ruins of an older mosque which had been constructed on the foundations of a Byzantine church. In its plan, the rebuilt mosque follows perhaps Mamluk templates such as the specimen at Fahl (no. 105), al- Khaṭābīye (no. 202), Listib (no. 227) and others; there is, however, no evidence for an apse in the E. The polychrome mosaic tiles which have been fixed to the wall on the left of the miḥrāb are not Byzantine but modern imitations.

Traveler Reports: “Im Südwesten stehen die Ruinen einer dschāmi‘ mit kleinem Spitzbogengewölbe, einem miḥrāb im Süden und einer Tür im Norden, auf deren Kalksteinsturz (Abb. 96) sich ein paar rätselhafte, buchstabenähnliche Zeichen befinden. Es soll früher eine christliche Kirche gewesen sein; ein chatib habe die Zeichen als griechische erkannt” (Steuernagel 1927).

Bibliography: Schumacher 1901, 5; Steuernagel 1927, A.135. 386 fig. 96; Rafik - Dajani 1966, 583-586; Piccirillo 1981, 98; Michel 2001, 423; Rjoub – Housan 2013, 477 no. 3.