AMMAN -- The discovery of a centuries-old mosque in the heart of the Roman ruins of Jerash is shedding new light on the city's history and the early relations between Muslims and Christians following the 7th century Islamic conquest.
"This mosque has given us a very different picture of the arrival of Islam," said Alan Walmsley, the archaeologist heading up the Islamic Jerash Project -- a joint venture between the University of Copenhagen and the Department of Antiquities in Jordan.
"We always think of thundering hordes coming out of Arabia and destroying Christian civilisation, chopping off the heads of people who aren't Muslim. But it turns out it's nothing like that at all," he said.
Instead, this discovery of the mosque which culminated after years of detective work following clues from Jerash's previous 70 years of excavations has led him to believe that the city, and others, continued to thrive after the arrival of Islam. What's more, Muslims and Christians lived side by side in relative harmony, each free to practise their own religion in a society that adapted to accommodate both faiths.
"The problem with archaeology is there are a few popular works that talk about the Arab conquest and the destruction of Christian communities. This has become so entrenched in literature and in people's minds that it's very difficult to prove this is not the case," said Walmsley.
Most history books describe the Persian invasion of 614CE as the beginning of the end of Jerash, followed by the Muslim conquest of 635CE and ensuing decline of the city. Yet, several factors suggest the urban community continued to function well into the early 8th century. The first factor being the listing of Jerash as an administrative centre in the 9th century geographical works and the second, the discovery of Greek and Arabic coins minted in Jerash during the early Islamic period.
"Everyone always associates the city with its Roman history. When excavations started here all people were interested in discovering the greatness of European civilisation and its influence on Jerash," Walmsley said. "Jerash has been denied part of its Islamic history."
He knew the presence of a mint operation meant that there had to be an administrative centre and if it existed after the rise of Islam, then those officials would have needed a public building to pray in; they would have needed a mosque -- but where was it located ?
Walmsley found his clue in an old aerial photograph of the Roman ruins. He noticed the north wall of a building protruded from the ground at an odd angle to the well-established Roman grid.
"I saw that it was twisted and I thought, who in their right mind would deliberately build off the grid unless it was done for a specific reason?" he said.
When he checked his compass and discovered the wall faced the direction of Mecca, he knew he had his excavation site.
Over the past four years the Islamic Jerash team have uncovered a 45- by 50-metre congregational mosque dating back to the Umayyad period (661-750CE), built on top of a Byzantine bathhouse and modelled after the Grand Mosque of Damascus. They have identified many significant features, like the qibla wall, a main mihrab and possible second mihrab, a courtyard and a semi-circular staircase entryway.
They also found a line of shops alongside the mosque's eastern wall built in a way that hides the mosque's crooked wall from the main thoroughfare.
Walmsley says the mosque's existence is indicative of social continuity in Jerash and possibly other areas in the Levant during the late Antique and early Islamic periods.
"You can see from the construction they tried very hard to make it fit into the urban plan. And because we know churches continued to function as churches, there were obviously Muslims and Christians living side by side," he said.
The biggest change after the Persian invasion, he said, was a new ruling elite. The bishops negotiated the terms of surrender that ensured some basic rights for the Christian population, including the right to keep their churches and continue to practise their religion.
"Suddenly we have a very different idea of what happened in the past. People believe it was a violent and physical conquest, but really it was more of a social expansion and peaceful submission," Walmsley said.
His team has yet to determine how long the mosque was used for but in 2005 the discovery of early Mamluk pottery at the site suggests the continued use of the mosque into the 12th to 13th century CE, or its restoration around that time period.
Since the construction of a mosque usually signals urban growth, Walmsley believes Jerash saw a period of expansion after its takeover and before its ultimate demise. But, he asks, if the Muslim conquest wasn't responsible for the city's downfall, then what was?
"Now we have to revisit the theories behind Jerash's abandonment. The massive earthquake [in 746CE] probably had something to do with it, but now we don't know for sure."
The excavation of the mosque and surrounding areas will continue next year when the team plans to begin restoration of the site and will install information panels for tourist use.
Walmsley believes this is just the beginning of Jerash's Islamic history.
"It's so far only one mosque but it's such a small piece of what I'm sure is a much larger picture," he said.
By Grace Peacock
© Jordan Times 2006
