Letter B
aṭ-Ṭafīlah Governorate
Maqām al-Ḥarīth bin ‘Umaīr al-Azādi (locally called Shēkh Ḥudhēfā)
JADIS no. 2101021
MEGA no. 9835, Maqām no. 42 852
Coordinates: 30°44'21.0"N 35°37'42.0"E
30.739167, 35.628333
Plan: The old mausoleum of rectangular plan was located in an enclosure shaded by a number of trees (figs. 77.1-2). The stone construction was first replaced by the mid of the 20th century by a concrete building on the same plan (figs. 77.3-4), followed in the earlier 2000s by a sumptuous pilgrim complex (fig. 77.5-7) which includes a mosque near the tomb, a library, a dwelling for the imām and other pilgrim facilities.
Measurements: unknown.
Exterior: unknown.
Interior: unknown.
Building Materials: local limestone.
Construction details: unknown.
Preservation: see the remarks on the plan above. The modern sanctuary receives between 20.000 (Hattab 2015, 64) and 50.000 (Jordan Times July 11th, 2015) annual visitors.
Inscription(s): none known.
Date(s): The oldest stone constructed mausoleum dates to the Ottoman period (and even probably earlier) followed by new buildings around the mid of the 20th and the begin of the 21st centuries. The age of the venerated tomb (fig. 77.8), however, remains unknown.
Traveler Reports: “...the shrine of Ḥamed el-Ḥudēfi, near Busera, on the way to Petra” (Curtiss 1903 = repr. in: Provincia Arabia I, 111).
Bibliography: Provincia Arabia I, 111. Hiyyari 2008, 80; HSJ 62; Miettunen 2013,117 no. 42; 216 fig. 31; Hattab 2015, 61-65; Samman - Tabbah 2019, 76-77 no. 23; Schick 2020, no. 19.
