Two open-type mosques were discovered at a large nomadic site in a wide valley, 500 meters east of Be'er Karkom. The discovery of two open-type mosques in this settlement can be explained by its size, it being one of the largest sites dating back to the sixth till eighth centuries CE in the southern Negev Highlands, and by its proximity to Be'er Karkom, one of the few water sources in the region. These mosques have no building on them. They are simply land cleared away and stones laid out, so that the faithful can pray.
Remove Ads
Why we're running ads?
The Madain Project is a very unique resource of Abrahamic History & Archaeology; reaching more than half a million readers a month. Until February 2021 all the operational and management costs were being paid by the volunteers working on the project. But, the increase in the userbase and the overall costs of servers and other services and equipment that are needed to remain live forced us to look for other avenues of inflow.
We apologise about it.
We apologise for the inconvenience that ads bring to your reading experience; we're working on a membership model for the Madain Project which will provide you with an absolute ads-free reading.
Please send us an email to [email protected] if you'd like to sponsor us.
Want to use our images?
The Madain Project owns the copyright to the Madain Project (en) including (i) the artwork and design of the www.madainproject.com website (Madain Project Website); and (ii) all electronic text and image files, audio and video clips on the Madain Project Website (MP Material) excluding material which is owned by other individuals or organizations as indicated.
Users who would like to make commercial use of Madain Project Material must contact us with a formal written request (i) identifying the MP Material to be used; and (ii) describing the proposed commercial use. Madain Project will review such requests and provide a written response. The Madain Project reserves the right to charge a fee for any approved commercial use of Madain Project Materials.
The Madain Project has an extensive archive of photographs, which is only partially featured on our website. If you cannot find the photographs you're looking for; just send us an email detailing the required site, structure or even illustration. The archives department will definitely assist you in finding the best possible image for your new project.
Be'er Karkom Mosque (A)
The open-type mosque of Karkom is located in the middle of the site, near the edge of the wadi. Nearly rectangular in shape, measuring 3.4 x 5.2 meters, it was constructed of medium sized, roughly hewn fieldstones.
The mosque also has a mihrab niche at the midpoint on the southern side (depth 1 meter width 0.9 meter), with a large upright stone (width 0.5 meter, height 0.45 meter) in its interior wall.