63. Bēt Rās | بيت راس

Irbid Governorate

Masjid Bēt Rās al-qadīm

JADIS no. 2322001

MEGA no. 15988

Coordinates: 32°35'53.0"N 35°51'22.0"E

32.598056, 35.856111

Plan: Schumacher’s (1890) description of the mosque’s plan as “square” cannot be taken literally because he gives its measures as “78 feet long from east to west, and 43 feet 2 inches wide.” The old part today preserved is definitively of rectangular plan, divided by two free standing Roman twin-columns in two naves in E-W direction, each of them forming three bays covered by cross vaults resting on corresponding buttresses at the long and short interior walls. The old entrance with stepped threshold is not exactly centered but slightly shifts to E. In the middle of the S wall is the small miḥrāb integrated into the masonry, not protruding outside. In the S wall of the lateral W and E bays each one small window, both in centered position. In N wall of the W bay a further window slightly shifted to E. In the W room corner a small wall niche corresponding to a similar niche in the N wall of the E nave. Modern extensions to both the E and W side: Two modern entrances with stepped thresholds open in the W wall into the recently added W prayer hall. In the E wall three further doors to the E prayer hall.

Measurements: occupied area ca. 186,9 m²

Exterior: The old part of the mosque measures almost 10.5m x 17.8 m (Ta‘an 2018). Steuernagel (1927) gives as dimensions 23.8 x 13.2 m.

Interior: unknown.

Building Materials: local basalt. Schumacher (1890) mentions that the pillars of the arcades are composed of carefully hewn stones with open joints – "a form peculiar to ‘Ajlûn - and a simple cornice above; the mortar used is of good quality.” Today the old masonry consists of black basalt combined with whitish limestone (used for the new additions) with the occasional use of Roman spolia out of basalt such as the lintel above the main entrance with a tabula ansata flanked by two rosettes.

Construction details: In 1890 G. Schumacher described the N wall as an arcade of pointed arches, severely ruined at his time. In its modern version, this open (?) arcade has entirely disappeared. The construction of the old building of Schumachers’s time was obviously of considerable quality. The rectangular miḥrāb in the plan version of Schumacher was constructed on the stylobate for the double columns of the mosque in its present condition, and it has since then moved S-ward to the qibla wall. Thus, there were significant modifications in plan and construction during the past 120 years.

Preservation: in use for Friday prayer .

Inscription(s): Above the Roman basalt lintel with a tabula ansata flanked by two rosettes spanning over the main entrance (fig. 63.5) sits a rectangular slab measurements 29 cm x 36 cm) with an Arabic inscription (1) on four lines (Dwekat 2003) It cites verse Q. 61 as-Saff, 12 in lines 2-3 and gives the date in line 4 according to the Muslim calendar H 732 (= 1332 AD). Transcription (Dwekat 2003):

Translation: “In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Help from Allāh and a near victory. On 2 Muḥarram 732.” (DT, edited by RS). At the lateral entrance, a second Arabic inscription (2) is written on a longer rectangular limestone slab (measurements 40 cm x 90 cm) on four lines. It cites Q. 9 at- Tawbah, 17 in lines 2 and 3 followed by the date H 1342 = 1924 AD in line 4 (Dwekat 2003, 37 fig. 19-21):

Translation: “The mosques of Allāh are only to be maintained by those who believe in Allāh and the Last Day. Who helps in building a mosque, God will prepare for him the paradise, year 1342 H.” (DT).

Date(s): H 732 / 1332 AD, Mamluk (Dwekat 2003), with a renovation dating to H 1342 / 1924 AD. However, the 732 date cannot be correct. The inscription looks like it dates to the early 20th century. One obvious clue that it is not a Mamluk inscription is the date recorded in numerals, not written out in words. If the inscription dated to 732, the date would be recorded as “two and thirty and seven hundred”. Writing out dates in words is used virtually without exception in the Mamluk period, while recording a date with numerals is a feature mainly of the 20th century (RS). May-be the number also reads 1342.

Traveler Reports: “Close to the main street, in the interior of the town, are the remains of a jâma’ , or mosque. It is a square building, 78 feet long from east to west, and 43 feet 2 inches wide, divided in the width into two naves, the northern of which has a prayer-niche in the southern wall. The north façade has arcades with pointed arches of which but one yet remained intact, the others, as also the walls of the Mosque, being now almost entirely ruined. The pillars of the arcades are composed of carefully-hewn stones with open joints – a form peculiar to ‘Ajlûn – and a simple cornice above; the mortar used is of good quality. To the west of Jâma’ a sort of terrace (A) is added (as usual in the Haurân). This is built up with columns and large hewn stones, and the whole forms a stairway. The remains of the Jâma’ show fragments of ancient building stones and also mosaics, with other carved designs. The pillars are covered with Bedawîn tribe-marks (“Wasm”); they were mostly the Tawâka, the Wasm of the ‘Ashîret ibn Fâiz, a branchtribe of the Beni Sakher; the marks called El-Mghzal, the Wasm of the ‘Akama, a branch tribe of Ej Ja’bna and El-Ehlâl (or Halâl), the mark of the El-Ejbûr tribe were also found. These Wasms prove that these tribes once levied the khuwwât (Brotherhood tax) upon Beit Râs and its vicinity.” (Schumacher 1880, reprint 2010). “An die Kirchenruine schließt westlich unmittelbar an die Ruine einer Moschee, die von Osten nach Westen 23.8 m mißt bei einer Breite von 13,2 m: die Gebetsnische befindet sich in der Südwand des nördlichen Schiffes; die Nordwand zeigt Spitzbogenarkaden, von denen jedoch nur ein Bogen völlig erhalten ist. Die Westseite ist, wie dies bei alten Moscheen des Hauran üblich ist, eine Art Terrasse angefügt, die aus Säulen und großen behauenen Steinen aufgebaut ist, wie denn auch in die Moschee allerhand antikes Material eingebaut ist” (Steuernagel 1927, A. 479).

Bibliography: Schumacher 1890 (reprint 2010) 157-159; Steuernagel 1927, A. 137. 479; AJ II, 193-196 (C. J. Lenzen - A. McQuitty); Dwekat 2003, 58-62; plans and sections on pp. 152 -154; figs. 18-32; Salem 2005, 73 fig. 21; 78 fig. 33; Ta‘an 2019, 67-70 figs. 3. 19-23.