Preface
“Jordan has been blessed with a rich religious history. Located between Mecca al-Mukarrama, the holiest place on earth for Muslims, and al-Quds (Jerusalem), which is sacred to each of the three great monotheistic religions, Jordan has played a central role in the history of the ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book).”[1]
Several thousand archaeological and historical sites have been registered on the territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan during recent decades. Given this abundance of cultural Heritage, it is surprising that there are still larger groups of monuments that have not yet been perceived neither by experts nor the general public. The more is it astonishing, since this concerns in particular religious monuments of Islam.
The catalogue of the “Islamic Heritage Sites of Jordan” presented here in its second, improved and slightly enlarged electronic edition comprises bit more 450 of these religious sites from the time of the Rashidun caliphs to the decline of the Ottoman Empire (early 7th to early 20th centuries AD). According to our cautious estimate, this might be about 30 to 40% of the total stock of monuments of this category preserved in Jordan. While sincerely striving for full coverage in future, this gazetteer in its actual edition offers, therefore, only a small segment of the country’s rich cultural Islamic heritage. This predominantly includes religious monuments, but not at first hand secular buildings such as fortresses, schools, baths or markets.
In in this study the adjective “Islamic” does not want to be understood so much in a chronological sense. Rather, it emphasizes the religious character of the monuments under discussion. The catalogue contains in alphabetical order the sites of mosques, tombs of the Prophet’s companions or local Saints and other memorials of Jordan's rich Islamic history. Only a part of these monuments is preserved as archaeological ruins. By far the greater amount comprises buildings and memorials that have been handed down and maintained from generation to generation for centuries. Many of them still occupy a central place in the Islamic faith and the population’s daily life today. Therefore, it is justified to speak of vivid monuments with a deep meaning for Islamic identity of the present population of Jordan.
This may also be the deeper reason why the study of these scarcely known Islamic monuments fascinated the students of the German-Jordanian University within the framework of the courses of the academic years 2017 to 2020. With great commitment, future architects and heritage conservators of the country’s young generation dedicated themselves to this project. During numerous excursions, which were carried out thanks to the financial support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation and the EuropeanUnion (EUNIC Jordan), the students made ground plans, sections, elevations and other drawings of these monuments under the guidance of the editors. The different temperaments and talents explain the uneven handwriting of these drawings. The teachers deliberately accepted the inadequacies and sketchy character of these drawings.
The aim of the course was to teach the students the basics of scientific documentation in the field, which would form the prerequisite for further research. According to German academic tradition the results achieved to date have been yielded from the teaching activities of Thomas M.Weber-Karyotakis at the German-Jordanian University of Amman.The present electronic edition of free access through the net aims at adding a brilliant tessera to the colorful mosaic of cultural heritage of Jordan. The cultural heritage is the very property of each people, which must be carefully maintained. However, one can only preserve and care only for what one is aware of. This publication might develop in future an encyclopedic textbook for the course of study in “architectural conservation.” Colleagues and students also from other universities in the Hashemite Kingdom are should be encouraged to collaborate on this.
We extend our gratitude for support to a number of personalities and institutions: The Foreign Ministry of The Federal Republic of Germany, The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), The Gerda Henkel Foundation, The School of Architecture and Built Environment (SABE) at The German-Jordanian University Amman (GJU), The Department of Antiquities of Jordan (DoA), The Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places of Jordan, The European Union, National Institutes of Archaeology, The Embassy of The Federal Republic of Germany, The Municipalities,Imams, Shekhs and people of cities and villages in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Nader Atiyeh and Robert Schick supported the work in the field and in the editorial office with their broad knowledge of the topography and epigraphy of Jordan. The Gerda Henkel Foundation Düsseldorf included this publication in its electronic publication series of the "EDIT" platform, for which we would like to express our grateful appreciation. The formatting of the texts and images was done by Hussein al-Aza`at (al-Harf Company, Amman) and Nedhal Jarrar (a GJU graduated Conservation Architect), who are hereby thanked for the high quality of the present product.
Princeton, NJ - Amman, in February 2022
Thomas M. Weber - Ammar Khammash
