The desert castles or qasrs are often called Umayyad desert castles, since the vast majority of these fortified palaces or castles were built by the Umayyad dynasty in their province of Bilad ash-Sham, with a few Abbasid exceptions. The desert castles of Jordan represent a prominent part of this group of buildings, with most Umayyad "desert castles" being scattered over the semi-arid regions of north-eastern Jordan, with several more in Syria, Israel and the West Bank (Palestine), and just one Abbasid exception in Iraq.
What is known in English as a "desert castle" is known in Arabic as qaṣr (singular), quṣur being the plural. [1] However, qasr is a widely-used Arabic word for palace, castle or fortress, so only a few of the buildings called quṣur are "desert castles".
The Umayyads erected several characteristic palaces, some in the cities but mostly in the semi-arid regions, and some along important trading routes. The castles were built roughly between 660 and 750 under the Umayyad Caliphate, which had made Damascus, now in Syria, their capital in 661. After the Abbasid revolution of 750, the capital moved to the newly-built Baghdad, and some of the buildings were never completed. [1]
After the Limes Arabicus was abandoned by the Roman Empire, many of the castra continued to be in use. [2] This continuity was subject to archaeological investigations in the fort of Qasr al-Hallabat, which at different times served as a Roman castrum, Christian cenobitic monastery, and finally as an Umayyad qasr. [3]
Most of the desert palaces were abandoned after the Umayyads fell from power in 750, leaving many projects uncompleted, and others were left to decay. [4]
The typical desert castle is a compound of various buildings including a substantial main residence along with other buildings such as a hammam (bath-house), storage areas and other agrarian structures (walled areas for animals, dedicated buildings for processing produce such as olive oil), and possibly a mosque, all within a large enclosure. [5] [6] Desert castles are typically situated near a wadi or seasonal water course. [7] The inner part of the main residence typically consists of two-storeys, arranged around a central courtyard. The main residence is often richly ornamented with mosaics, frescoes and stucco reliefs. [8]
With a few exceptions, the desert castles conform to a common template consisting of a square structure similar to Roman castra [9] as their main building, typically boasting an elaborate entrance. [6] [ dubious – discuss ] [9] The interior rooms of the main structure were ornately decorated with floor-mosaics and wall paintings featuring designs that exhibit both eastern and western influences. [4] Some of the desert castles, for example Qasr Hallabat or Qasr Burqu', are rebuilt from remains of earlier Roman or Ghassanid structures; others are new constructions. [9]
The function and use of the buildings are today not entirely clear, and scholarship has suggested that they might have served a variety of defensive, agricultural, residential, recreational and commercial purposes. [9] The earliest researchers, such as Musil and Lammens, suggest that desert castles were primarily used for recreational purposes: to escape bad air associated with city living to escape epidemic outbreaks; to indulge hedonic pleasures or for use as hunting lodges. [10] Yet other scholars, investigating the geographic distribution of desert castles, note that they are principally situated along the Silk Road or pilgrimage routes and may have operated as a type of caravanserai. [11]
Archaeologists have investigated the role of these desert castles, with the traditional view that they served as country estates or hunting lodges for the use of aristocratic families during the winter season. However, recent scholarship has suggested a much greater diversity of roles, including as agricultural estates or military forts. The complex at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi in Syria, for example, sits within a vast agricultural estate and the buildings include structures associated with the production of olive oil. [12]
According to a hypothesis developed by Jean Sauvaget, the Umayyad quṣūr played a role in the systematic agricultural colonisation of the uninhabited frontier areas, and, as such, continue the colonisation strategy of earlier Christian monks and the Ghassanids. [13] The Umayyads, however, increasingly oriented their political strategy towards a model of client politics, of mutual interdependence and support. [14] After the Umayyad conquest, the quṣūr lost their original function and were either abandoned or continued to serve as local market places and meeting points until the 10th century. [2]
Given the variety observed in the archaeological record, it is unlikely that one single theory can explain the range of purposes of all the buildings. These functions include fortresses, meeting places for Bedouins (between themselves or with the Umayyad governor), badiyas (retreats for the nobles) or caravanserais. A proliferation of desert castles appeared around the same time as the number of caravans increased substantially. [15] Many seem to have been surrounded by natural or man-made oases and to have served as country estates or hunting lodges, given that hunting was a favoured pastime for the aristocracy. [16] [ dubious – discuss ]
The generic term "desert castle" is not ideal, since it artificially separates similar quṣur according to their location. Jordan possesses at least one urban Umayyad qaṣr: the Amman Citadel. While the majority of quṣur are located in Jordan, examples can also be found in Syria, the West Bank and Israel, either in cities (Jerusalem), in relatively green areas (al-Sinnabra, Khirbat al-Minya), or indeed in the desert (Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi and Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, Jabal Sais, Hisham's Palace). [17] The more isolated "desert castles" built in arid regions are chiefly located on the ancient trade routes connecting Damascus with Medina and Kufa or adjacent to a natural oasis. [1] Their location along major routes and next to the very scarce water sources seems to indicate that they enabled the Umayyads to control the roads militarily, monitor and tax the seasonal movement of people and their livestock, and not least, impress travellers and local tribes with lavish displays of monumental architecture, baths and ponds in the middle of an arid landscape. [18]
The castles represent some of the most impressive examples of early Islamic art and Islamic architecture,[ citation needed ] and some are notable for including many figurative frescos and reliefs depicting people and animals, less frequently found in later Islamic art on such a large and public scale. Many elements of the desert palaces are on display in museums in Amman, in Jerusalem's Rockefeller Museum (decorations from Hisham's Palace) and the Pergamon Museum of Berlin (the Mshatta Facade).
Qusayr 'Amra or Quseir Amra, sometimes also named Qasr Amra, is the best-known of the desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan. It was built some time between 723 and 743, by Walid Ibn Yazid, the future Umayyad caliph Walid II, whose dominance of the region was rising at the time. It is considered one of the most important examples of early Islamic art and architecture.
Zarqa Governorate is the third largest governorate in Jordan by population. The capital of Zarqa governorate is Zarqa City, which is the largest city in the governorate. It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the Jordanian capital Amman. The second largest city in the governorate is Russeifa.
Hisham's Palace, also known as Khirbat al-Mafjar, is an important early Islamic archaeological site in the Palestinian city of Jericho, in the West Bank. Built by the Umayyad dynasty in the first half of the 8th century, it is one of the so-called Umayyad desert castles. It is located 3 km north of Jericho's city center, in an area governed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
The Mshatta Facade is the decorated part of the facade of the 8th-century Umayyad residential palace of Qasr Mshatta, one of the Desert Castles of Jordan, which is now installed in the south wing of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It is part of the permanent exhibition of the Pergamon Museum of Islamic Art dedicated to Islamic art from the 8th to the 19th centuries. This was only a relatively small section of the full length of the facade, surrounding the main entrance; most of the wall was undecorated and remains in situ.
Qasr al-Azraq is a large fortress located in present-day eastern Jordan. It is one of the desert castles, located on the outskirts of present-day Azraq, roughly 100 km (62 mi) east of Amman.
Qasr Harrana, sometimes Qasr al-Kharana, Harana, Qasr al-Harrana, Qasr al-Haranah, Haraneh, Khauranee, or Hraneh, is one of the best-known of the desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) east of Amman and relatively close to the border with Saudi Arabia. It is uncertain when the palace was constructed, but it likely originates from the Umayyad Dynasty. An inscription on an upper wall dates the building to before 710 CE. A Greek or Byzantine house may have existed on the site. The purpose of the building is a subject of debate among scholars. Theories as to the qasr's purpose include a Crusader's castle, a military stronghold, agricultural outpost, and resting place for caravan travelers. The current scholarly consensus is that the building was used as for meeting between local Bedouin leaders.
Jordanian art has a very ancient history. Some of the earliest figurines, found at Aïn Ghazal, near Amman, have been dated to the Neolithic period. A distinct Jordanian aesthetic in art and architecture emerged as part of a broader Islamic art tradition which flourished from the 7th-century. Traditional art and craft is vested in material culture including mosaics, ceramics, weaving, silver work, music, glass-blowing and calligraphy. The rise of colonialism in North Africa and the Middle East, led to a dilution of traditional aesthetics. In the early 20th-century, following the creation of the independent nation of Jordan, a contemporary Jordanian art movement emerged and began to search for a distinctly Jordanian art aesthetic that combined both tradition and contemporary art forms.
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi is a castle (qasr) in the middle of the Syrian Desert. It was built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 728-29 CE in an area rich in desert fauna. It was apparently used as a military and hunting outpost. The palace is the counterpart of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, a nearby castle palace built one year earlier. It is one of the so-called desert castles.
Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi is a Syrian desert castle or qasr located 80 km south-west of Palmyra on the Damascus road. The castle is a twin palace of Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 727 CE. It was built in the Umayyad architectural style. As the complex was believed to be an estate owned by someone of wealth, it is no surprise that some decorations for its opulent owners may be found within the remains of the palace. Some of the items found within include richly decorated floor frescoes, stucco walls, and figural reliefs. Many decorations and artwork from the complex are kept at the National Museum in Damascus. Like other desert palaces, Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi was not Hisham's primary residence. The structure served as a secondary lodging for the Caliph, while the expanse of flat desert land surrounding it was used for leisurely activities such as hunting and racing. Noblemen other than the Caliph would have stayed in tents around the palace when they visited.
Al-Muwaqqar is a district in the Amman Governorate of north-western Jordan. The village contains the scant ruins of an Umayyad palace, the Qasr al-Muwaqqar, one of the desert castles. Little remains of the palace today except several acanthus leaf capitals and gauge of a water reservoir.
Al Qastal is a town in the Amman Governorate of northern Jordan. Originally established as an Umayyad settlement, it remains the oldest and most complete such settlement in the Near East The remains of the minaret at Qastal is especially important as it is the only one extant from the Umayyad period, making it one of the oldest minarets in the world. Qasr al-Qastal, also located within the town, is considered one of the desert castles and is just 5 km from Qasr Mshatta.
Qasr al-Hallabat is an Umayyad desert castle, with the associated bath house of Hammam as-Sarah east of it. The nearby modern town, named after the castle, is part of the Zarqa Governorate of north-western Jordan, north-east of the capital of Amman.
Qasr Mushatta is the ruin of an Umayyad winter palace, probably commissioned by Caliph Al-Walid II during his brief reign (743-744). The ruins are located approximately 30 km south of Amman, Jordan, north of Queen Alia International Airport, and are part of a string of castles, palaces and caravanserais known collectively in Jordan and the wider Southern Levant region as the Desert Castles. Though much of the ruins can still be found in situ, the most striking feature of the palace, its facade, has been removed and is on display at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The complex was never completed.
Hammam al-Sarah is an Umayyad bathhouse (hammam) in Jordan, built in connection with the complex of Qasr al-Hallabat, which stands some 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the west. Along with examples in the other desert castles of Jordan, it is one of the oldest surviving remains of a Muslim bathhouse.
Qasr Tuba is an 8th-century Umayyad qasr or castle in the Amman Governorate of northern Jordan.
Umayyad architecture developed in the Umayyad Caliphate between 661 and 750, primarily in its heartlands of Syria and Palestine. It drew extensively on the architecture of older Middle Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations including the Sassanian Empire and Byzantine Empire, but introduced innovations in decoration and form. Under Umayyad patronage, Islamic architecture began to mature and acquire traditions of its own, such as the introduction of mihrabs to mosques, a trend towards aniconism in decoration, and a greater sense of scale and monumentality compared to previous Islamic buildings. The most important examples of Umayyad architecture are concentrated in the capital of Damascus and the Greater Syria region, including the Dome of the Rock, the Great Mosque of Damascus, and secular buildings such as the Mshatta Palace and Qusayr 'Amra.
The Umayyad Palace is a large palatial complex from the Umayyad period, located on the Citadel Hill of Amman, Jordan. Built during the first half of the 8th century, it is now largely ruined, with a restored domed entrance chamber, known as the "kiosk" or "monumental gateway".
The Painting of the Six Kings is a fresco found on the wall of Qasr Amra, a desert castle of the Umayyad Caliphate located in modern-day Jordan. It depicts six rulers standing in two rows of three. Four of the six have inscriptions in Arabic and Greek identifying them as the Byzantine emperor, King Roderic of Spain, the Sasanian emperor, and the King of Aksum. The painting, now substantially damaged, is thought to be from between 710 and 750, commissioned by the Umayyad caliph or someone in his family. It is one of the most famous frescoes in the Qasr Amra complex.
ʿUmar ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik was an Umayyad prince, commander in the Arab–Byzantine wars and the governor of Jund al-Urdunn during the reign of his father al-Walid I. He may have patronized the Umayyad desert palaces of Khirbat al-Minya in modern Israel and Qasr Kharana in modern Jordan.
The palatial residence in Dumayr, of which the date and history are still uncertain (Byzantine or early Islamic)
It is difficult to make a convincing case for a Ghassanid owner, since we have no residential buildings that can be confidently ascribed to a Ghassanid or any Arab tribal leader from the pre-Islamic period, whereas we have numerous examples of Umayyad palatial residences (Genequand 2003). [Referring to the "rather fine castle" at Khirbat al-Bayda', modern southern Syria]
Kennedy, David; and Riley, Derrick (2012; first edition: 1990). Rome's Desert Frontier from the Air, Routledge, pp. 8-91 provides a comprehensive list of castles, forts, mosques and other major edifices.