Qasr Um Jemal & Congregational Mosque

Mosque Name: Qasr Um Jemal & Congregational Mosque

Country: Jordan

City: Um Jemal

Year of construction (AH):

Year of construction (AD): 7th century

GPS: 32°19’29.56”N 32°19’29.56”N

Gibson Classification: Petra

Rebuilt facing Mecca: never

For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here

Description:

Nabataean merchants were among the first to build permanent buildings in the area in the first century AD. Their settlement was mainly a stopping place on the trade route that connected Petra and Bostra. As the city grew from a simple caravansary to town, farming was established in the area. Though the evidence for this early village survives only in fragments, there are numerous Nabataean inscriptions from this period, mostly tomb stones. At least two men mentioned on these served as members of the Bostra City Council. (Bert de Vries et al, Umm el-Jimal: A Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic Town in Northern Jordan, Vol. I, Supplement, Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1998.) Both the Nabataean and Greek versions of the god Dushara can be seen inscribed on the die (middle section) of an altar, found in the western area of the ruins.

Um el-Jemal became an extensive rural settlement, with buildings constructed of black basalt from the lava lands east of Mafraq, which flow down from Jebel Druze, a mountain 50 km to the northeast.

The name Um el-Jimal (ام الجمال‎) means Mother of Camels, presumably a reference to the camel caravans that stopped there. The name is also written: Umm ej Jemāl, Umm al-Jimal or Umm idj-Djimal. It is approximately 17 kilometers east of Mafraq, in Jordan.

The most striking building in the town is a large structure known as the Castellum. This structure has had several uses over the years. It began as a Nabataean structure, but after 106 AD was used by the Romans army. Diocletian’s imperial reorganization of the army included the re-construction of the castellum.

There is evidence of Roman religious influence from this time period. Zeus Epikoos is mentioned on an altar, found in a courtyard. The name is a mixture of Zeus and the local deity Epikoos. Mention of the deity Solomos can also be found. But this god is not known elsewhere and may also be a local deity, perhaps only worshiped by the people of Um el-Jimal and the immediate surrounding area. His name is found only once, on an altar inscription in the main ruins of Um el-Jimal. Because this is the only known evidence of the worship of Solmos, it is reasonable to believe his worshipers were relatively few and localized. There is evidence on tombstones and small altars scattered throughout the site that suggests the worship of other deities, perhaps personal or familial gods not worshiped communally.

What is fascinating to note that the most imposing building in Um Jimal, the Qasr or Castellum, has an orientation that faced towards Petra.

The Islamic era began in Um Jimal with the arrival of the Muslim armies in 640 AD. Once the Rashidun Caliphs took control of the area, much remodeling was done throughout the city so as to repurpose buildings to suit their own needs. During this time the castellum acted as an Arab Qasr. Whether it was rebuilt for this purpose or repurposed is up for debate.

Archaeologists at Um Jimal also debate the idea that some of the churches in Um el-Jimal were converted into mosques. There is some evidence that in some former churches, the apse was blocked off and the focus of the structure’s space was shifted to the south wall. True to early Rashidun architecture, no mihrabs were constructed early on. Later, two houses were converted to mosques with typical late Umayyad plans and a small tower on the exterior of its west face indicating the presence of a minaret.

Early archaeologists working on the site identified the structure attached to the east wall of the Qasr (Castellum) as a chapel. This is not surprising as there is nothing that would identify it as a mosque, except for it’s orientation. I would like to suggest that it has been wrongly identified and that it is actually a Rashidun era Congregational Mosque. Since there is no mihrab, it is not surprising that the archaeologists did not recognize it as a mosque. None of its walls faced Mecca, and there are no other indications except that the far wall, upon entering the structure) faced Petra.

True to other Rashidun mosques of the period, the columns are square, and the internal small square room appears to be the base of a short minaret.

For a study of the Mihrab please see this page.