Archeological excavation works that are carried out by a specialized team of Antiquities Sector of SCTH on the restoration project of Al Mem’ar Mosque in the Historic Jeddah center, recently discovered the water source of Al Mem’ar Mosque well, which is believed to have been dug at the time of the mosque’s establishment about 160 year ago.
The well is located five meters away on the eastern part of the mosque. The excavation team removed the earth from inside the well down to its bottom until reaching the water level where the water supply is still available.
Dimension of the discovered well is 1.60 m by 3.00 m, down to the water surface. The well is paved by cut stones that are famous locally and named as Al Mangabi and used in building of old houses in Jeddah extracted from the Red Sea coast or the surrounding environment.
Al Mem’ar Mosque is considered as one of the oldest mosques in Historic Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where historic sources indicate that it was built by Ottoman ruler Mostafa Muamar Basha in 1263-1284 Hijri. This mosque comes after Al Shafi Mosque in terms of its importance in the historic mosques map.
Mem’ar Mosque restoration and rehabilitation project enjoys high attention and follow up from His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, President of SCTH.
Also it falls under the Historic Mosques Caring Program in which SCTH collaborates with the Ministery of Islamic Affairs and Al Turath foundation in an effort to preserve and take care of the historic mosques in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as highlighting their religious, architectural and cultural importance.
Noteworthy, Endowment of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz for His Parents had signed a contract with the Heritage Construction Company to study and implement restoration and rehabilitation project of Al Mem’ar Mosque in Historic Jeddah.
