| Qasr Burqu' | |
|---|---|
 Qasr Burqu' from the south | |
  Location within Jordan | |
| General information | |
| Town or city | Al Mafraq Governorate |
| Country | Jordan |
| Coordinates | 32°36′30″N37°57′45″E / 32.608436°N 37.96237°E |
| Construction started | 707 |
| Completed | 715 |
| Technical details | |
| Material | basalt |
Qasr Burqu' is a set of ruins and an archaeological site in the badia of eastern Jordan and is the site of one of the earliest of the Umayyad desert castles.
Under the Umayyad Caliphate, nobles and wealthy families belonging to the Umayyad dynasty erected new complexes or adapted preexisting ones for a multitude of purposes, many being suggested: to control the roads, monitor and tax the seasonal movement of people and their livestock, impress travellers and local tribes, establish nuclei for the development of new cities, develop agriculture in semi-arid areas, and enjoy desert retreats for relaxation and hunting (see Desert castles).
Ghadir Burqu (Arabic : غدير البرقع) has been occupied since prehistoric times, with archaeological surveys documenting sites dating to the Epipalaeolithic, Early Neolithic, and Late Neolithic periods. [1] The most substantial prehistoric remains are from the Late Neolithic period (c. 7th–6th millennium BCE), when the lake was used by nomadic herders to pasture flocks of sheep and goat, probably in the summer months when water was scarce elsewhere. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Archaeological excavations reveal that a Roman fort was established on the site and a monastery was built there during the Byzantine period. [5] It became an Umayyad castle complex in around 700 CE when al-Walid I, who was still emir, rather than caliph, either built it, or repaired existing structures to form a new palace complex. [6]
Qasr Burqu' is one of the earliest of the Umayyad desert castles in Jordan. [7]
Although it is often described as one of the Umayyad desert castles, Svend Helms notes "it is neither a castle, nor is it in the desert" and most of the structures predate the Umayyad Caliphate. [8] It counts as one of the lesser desert castles in Jordan. [9]
Qasr Burqu' is located in the far northeast of Jordan and is one of a number of Umayyad desert castles in the semi-arid region. It is situated in the black basalt desert, about 100 km east of ad-Diyatheh, 70 km south-east of an-Namara, and about 2 km from the Wadi Minqat, which holds water from the winter rains. [10] It sits on the edge of an oasis formed on the edge of a basalt region in eastern Jordan. [11] The site was important due to its natural shallow basin, which collected rain waters in ponds. [12] Various water-catchment systems, of uncertain origin and unknown date, have been added to the site over time, in order to sustain larger populations that may have lived in the area at different times. [13]
The site's most significant surviving structure is a 5-metre tower, probably of Roman origin, and originally estimated to have been 13 metres in height. [14] The early Islamic palace complex was constructed around the Roman tower. [12]
The enclosures are constructed of basalt, and were used to pen animals by nomadic peoples attracted to the location to water their herds. [15] Rock-carved inscriptions show that Bedouin tribes used the site as a seasonal encampment each spring throughout the Medieval period. [16]
The Burqu Nature Reserve, a 900 km2 protected area centred on Burqu', was established by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) in 2020. [17] [18] The RSCN hopes to encourage ecotourism in the area, [19] opening an eco hotel near Qasr Burqu' [20] and promoting it together with Azraq Wetland Reserve and Shaumari Wildlife Reserve as part of the "Eastern Badia Trail". [21] Previously, the site was not well-known and difficult to access, being located nearly 20 km from the nearest paved road. [22]
Qusayr 'Amra or Quseir Amra, lit. "small qasr of '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).
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.
Azraq is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq.
Jordan is a sovereign Arab state in the Middle East. The capital, Amman, is Jordan's most populous city as well as the country's economic, political and cultural centre.
The Ḥarrat al-Shām, also known as the Black Desert, is a region of rocky, basaltic desert straddling southern Syria and the northern Arabian Peninsula. It covers an area of some 40,000 km2 (15,000 sq mi) in the modern-day Syrian Arab Republic, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Vegetation is characteristically open acacia shrubland with patches of juniper at higher altitudes.
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 very 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.
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-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 it's opulent owners may be found within the remains of the palace. Many decorations and artwork from the complex are kept at the National Museum in Damascus. Some items found within include richly decorated floor frescoes, stucco walls, and figural reliefs.
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.
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.
There are at least seven nature reserves in Jordan. In 1966, the organization that would later start Jordan's nature reserves, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, was founded. RSCN's first efforts involved bringing back severely endangered species. In 1973, RSCN, was given the right to issue hunting licenses, giving RSCN an upper hand in preventing extinction. The first step was the founding of Jordan's first nature reserve, Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, in 1975. The primary purpose was to create means to breed endangered species, specifically: the Arabian oryx, gazelles, ostriches and Persian onagers in their natural environment.
Khirbat al-Minya, also known as Ayn Minyat Hisham (Arabic) or Horvat Minnim (Hebrew) is an Umayyad-built palace in the eastern Galilee, Israel, located about 200 meters (660 ft) west of the northern end of Lake Tiberias. It was erected as a qasr complex, with a palace, mosque, and bath built by a single patron.
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.
Alison Venetia Graham Betts is a Scottish archaeologist and academic, who specialises in the "archaeology of the lands along the Silk Roads" and the nomadic peoples of the Near East. Since 2012, she has been Professor of Silk Road Studies at the University of Sydney.
Wadi Feynan or Wadi Faynan is a major wadi and region in southern Jordan, on the border between Tafilah Governorate and Aqaba and Ma'an Governorates. It originates in the southern Jordanian Highlands with the confluence of Wadi Dana and Wadi Ghuweyr, and drains into the Dead Sea via Wadi Araba.
Dhuweila is an archaeological site in the Badia of eastern Jordan. It contains the remains of a small hunting camp, which was first built and occupied in the Early Neolithic and reoccupied, after a hiatus, in the Late Neolithic. The Early Neolithic occupation dates to between 7360 and 7080 BCE.
