ethnography and urban morphology
This oldest part is designated as Al-Jwar and is located above the ‘Ayn al-Lathba spring. Not much is left of this settlement and nothing is known about its inhabitants, but at present the ruins of Al Jwar are composed of the remains (foundations, walling) of buildings executed as dry masonry underneath the cliff face located above the spring. Below the house remains, the remains of terraces can be discerned. Those seem to have been agricultural terraces, an understanding that is confirmed by local people’s interpretation. The oldest still partially inhabited quarter of the oasis is Al-Bilad. People do not know to which century the first houses of this residential quarter can be dated. What everybody agrees upon is that the ‘Abriyīn had long been settled and farming in Misfāt (: Al-Abri 1959: 15), when the falaj of Al-Hamra was dug and the associated settlement started to be built in the mid-seventeenth century AD under the Ya’arubi ruler Sultan bin Saif (Sulaimani et.al. 2007:3). The next younger residential quarters are those of Al-Da’ayne and Ambarbu’ in the north, respectively north-west of Al-Bilad. Their oldest buildings date back to the late 19th or early 20th century. The most recent residential quarter in Misfāt is that of As-Siban on the southern side of the ravine dropping down into Wādi Misfāt. As-Siban has been steadily growing with villa type mansions as concrete structures since the 1990’s. This is where most inhabitants of Al-Bilad have moved. Several large private sablah buildings with enormous window openings overlooking the plantations
are currently under construction next to the owners’ villas. Located in As-Safil above the Lejil as-Safil and two ablution facilities above the falaj is an old mosque, called Masjid as-Safil. The main access to the mosque is from the northeast, into the walled open courtyard of the mosque. A second wall opening in the southwest leads over a steep staircase down to the falaj, lejil and ablution facilities. The mosque is built from stone and sarooj with the roof resting on beams of olive tree wood. Masjid as-Safil has recently been restored by Ahmed al-Abri and is used by several residents of Harat as-Safil. Collectively termed Masjid al-‘Ali two small mosques are located close to one another along the main falaj channel northeast of the village. In front of the mosque furthest from the village is an inscription in one of the stone slabs of the stairs leading to the mosque’s terrace. The inscription has not been deciphered so far. A small mosque further up the falaj channel is named Masjid al-Qantara after the bridge (qantara) over the falaj channel. Located on the steep bank above the wādi in proximity to the spring ‘Ayn al-Lathba are the remains of Masjid al-‘Ayn. The people of the village consider it to be the oldest mosque in Misfāt, located close to the ruins of Al-Juwar quarter. The walls of the small prayer rooms built from unhewn rocks and rubble against the slope are preserved to a height of up to approximately one meter. No prayer
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