DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45606#0030
IO.
KALCAT IZ-ZERKA.
Fragment in a wall. Kal at iz-Zerka is a fortified khan standing on a small
isolated hill and visible for a long distance, about 20 kilometers north-east of Am-
man. It is situated on the border of the desert, but the Nahr iz-Zerka, the Jabbok
of the Old Testament, flows near by and provides a sufficient water supply, all the
year round. The darb il-hadjj, or Pilgrims’ Road, passes near here, and the castle has
served many centuries as a station for the pious Mohammedans making their pilgrimage
to Mekkah. Such fortified khhns are found all along this road a day’s journey distant
from one another. Wherever there is no running water, cisterns or reservoirs are made
within the walls of the castle. Formerly certain Beduin tribes were the “guards” of
these places (Zzarzk); Kafat iz-Zerka, for instance, was “guarded” by the Beni Hasan.
The Mekkah railroad, which is at present being built by the Ottoman Government,
has of course caused a change in these conditions. It has, therefore, been possible
for certain Mohammedans from the Caucasus to settle here protected by the Govern-
ment and push the border of the cultivated land farther to the East. It is known
that the Circassians have settled at a number of places east of the Jordan (il-Kunetrah,
Djerash, "Amman, Khirbit Hadid, Wadi is-Sir, Na'ur). At Kafat is-Zerka other families
of the Russian Caucasus have settled, who call their home Daghistan and themselves
Tchotchun: they belong, therefore, to the Tchetchentzes, a Caucasian tribe. A family
of these people are now the guardians of the castle. This must have been rebuilt
several times, and the original plan is no longer recognizable. It has now two courts,
arched stables and a structure of several stories with a tower. Over the entrance to
this structure there is a late Arabic inscription, much weathered and very fragmentary,
and too high to be read without the aid of a telescope. In the tower itself, over the
highest door, which opens on the roof, there is the Latin fragment published herewith.
It is evidently broken at both ends and the letters are much damaged. Copying was
rather difficult on account of the bad light, and the biting- smoke which was coming
up the stairway and irritated my eyes. Under more favourable circumstances more
letters might be read from the stone. The fragment is 96 cm. long and 37 cm. high.
Hight of letters 4—4I/2 cm. — Copy of the author.
P. Savignac, in Revue Biblique 1905, p. 94. — Briinnow, Provincia Arabia, II, p. 336. — Clermont-
Ganneau, Recueil (ΓArcheologie Orientate, VII, p. 205.
.... Domini nostri] Aug(usti) tu[t]e[lae] gratia ex Palaestfina ... in provinciam
ArabiaJmJ?) tran[st]ulerun[t cjastra quoque a solo oppo[.exstrjuxerunt per Aur(e-
lium) Aeflium Theone]m(?) leg(atum) Aug(usti).
Vixit a[nnis]
KALCAT IZ-ZERKA.
Fragment in a wall. Kal at iz-Zerka is a fortified khan standing on a small
isolated hill and visible for a long distance, about 20 kilometers north-east of Am-
man. It is situated on the border of the desert, but the Nahr iz-Zerka, the Jabbok
of the Old Testament, flows near by and provides a sufficient water supply, all the
year round. The darb il-hadjj, or Pilgrims’ Road, passes near here, and the castle has
served many centuries as a station for the pious Mohammedans making their pilgrimage
to Mekkah. Such fortified khhns are found all along this road a day’s journey distant
from one another. Wherever there is no running water, cisterns or reservoirs are made
within the walls of the castle. Formerly certain Beduin tribes were the “guards” of
these places (Zzarzk); Kafat iz-Zerka, for instance, was “guarded” by the Beni Hasan.
The Mekkah railroad, which is at present being built by the Ottoman Government,
has of course caused a change in these conditions. It has, therefore, been possible
for certain Mohammedans from the Caucasus to settle here protected by the Govern-
ment and push the border of the cultivated land farther to the East. It is known
that the Circassians have settled at a number of places east of the Jordan (il-Kunetrah,
Djerash, "Amman, Khirbit Hadid, Wadi is-Sir, Na'ur). At Kafat is-Zerka other families
of the Russian Caucasus have settled, who call their home Daghistan and themselves
Tchotchun: they belong, therefore, to the Tchetchentzes, a Caucasian tribe. A family
of these people are now the guardians of the castle. This must have been rebuilt
several times, and the original plan is no longer recognizable. It has now two courts,
arched stables and a structure of several stories with a tower. Over the entrance to
this structure there is a late Arabic inscription, much weathered and very fragmentary,
and too high to be read without the aid of a telescope. In the tower itself, over the
highest door, which opens on the roof, there is the Latin fragment published herewith.
It is evidently broken at both ends and the letters are much damaged. Copying was
rather difficult on account of the bad light, and the biting- smoke which was coming
up the stairway and irritated my eyes. Under more favourable circumstances more
letters might be read from the stone. The fragment is 96 cm. long and 37 cm. high.
Hight of letters 4—4I/2 cm. — Copy of the author.
P. Savignac, in Revue Biblique 1905, p. 94. — Briinnow, Provincia Arabia, II, p. 336. — Clermont-
Ganneau, Recueil (ΓArcheologie Orientate, VII, p. 205.
.... Domini nostri] Aug(usti) tu[t]e[lae] gratia ex Palaestfina ... in provinciam
ArabiaJmJ?) tran[st]ulerun[t cjastra quoque a solo oppo[.exstrjuxerunt per Aur(e-
lium) Aeflium Theone]m(?) leg(atum) Aug(usti).
Vixit a[nnis]