QMI-INS-093 · 120 AH
Inscription of the Umayyad Market, Baysān
نقش سوق الأمويين ببيسان
Baysān, Jordan Valley, entrance gate of the Umayyad market
- بسم الله الرحمن
- الرحيم أمر بهذ[ا]
- البنيان عبد الله
- هشام امير المؤمنين
- على يد الامير اسحق
- بن قبيصة وفي؟ سنة
- [ ] ومئة
In the name of Allāh, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Ordered this building the servant of Allāh (ʿAbd Allāh) Hishām, Commander of the Faithful, [to be built] by the governor Isḥāq bin Qabīṣa (completed in ? the year) [ ] and one hundred.
The entrance gate of the Umayyad market at Baysān had two stone piers. Each bore a decorated stone frame and a gilded mosaic inscription. The second inscription, attached to the left pier, was uncovered in 1996. It measures about 135 cm in length and 120 cm in width. Its letters are the same size as those of the first inscription, and the spacing matches, so the two were planned together. The first inscription survives in four lines of prayer: the Basmala, the shahāda (“there is no god but Allāh, one, without associate”), and “Muḥammad is the messenger of Allāh”. Its lower part is lost. Khamis suggests the three missing lines held Qur’ān 9:33 (the verse on the religion of truth).
Source: Elias Khamis, “Two Wall Mosaic Inscriptions from the Umayyad Market Place in Baysān,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 64, no. 2 (2001): 159–176.