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.
Name
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".
Brief description
The Umayyads erected a number of 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 new 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]
The typical desert castle is more than a single residence; rather it is a compound of various building including a substantial main residence along with other buildings such as a hammam (bath-house), storage areas and other agrarian structures and possibly a mosque, all within a large enclosure.[2] Desert castles are typically situated near a wadi or seasonal water course.[3]
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.[4]
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 (Syria), for example, sits within a vast agricultural estate and the buildings include structures associated with the production of olive oil.[5]
Layout and decoration
With a few exceptions, the desert castles conform to a common template consisting of a square structure similar to Roman forts ("castra")[6] as their main building, typically boasting an elaborate entrance.[7][dubious –
discuss][6] Other buildings in the complex would include a
hammam (bath house), a mosque, and often an agricultural enclosure (walled areas for animals, dedicated buildings for processing produce such as olive oil), and a water reservoir or dam.[7] 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.[8]
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.[6]
Purpose
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.[6] The earliest researchers, such as
Musil and
Lammens, suggested 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.[9] Yet other scholars, investigating the geographic distribution of desert castles have noted that they are principally situated along the silk road or pilgrimage routes and may have operated as a type of
caravanserai.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12][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).[13] 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.[14]
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.[8]
Ukhaidir is a double exception: it was built in 775 by an Abbasid prince,
Isa ibn Musa (c. 721–783/4), and is the only qasr outside the region of
greater Syria.[35]
Gallery
Qasr Kharana, Jordan
Qasr al-Azraq, Jordan
Quseir Amra, Jordan
Qasr al-Hayr ash-Sharqi, Syria
Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, Syria (1950)
Khirbat al-Mafjar, "Hisham's Palace", Jericho: floor mosaic in bathhouse
^
abcKhouri, R.G., The Desert Castles: A Brief Guide to the Antiquities. Al Kutba, 1988. pp 4-5
^Genequand. D., “Ummayid Castles: The Shift from Late Antique Military Architecture to Early Islamic Palatial Building” in: Hugh N.Kennedy (ed), Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria: From the Coming of Islam to the Ottoman Period, Brill, 2006, pp 3 -13
^Bartl, K., “Water management in Desert Regions: Early Islamic Qasr Mushash,” in: Stephen McPhillips and Paul D. Wordsworth (eds), Landscapes of the Islamic World: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016, pp 50-52
^Meinecke, K., “The Encyclopedic Illustration of a New Empire: Graeco-Roman-Byzantine and Sassian Models on thed Façade of the Qasr al-Mshatta,” In: Stine Birk, Troels Myrup Kristensen, Birte Poulsen (eds), Using Images in Late Antiquity, Oxbow Books, 30 Apr 2014, pp 283-300
^Shaw, I. and Jameson, E. (eds), A Dictionary of Archaeology, John Wiley, 2008, p. 487
^
abcdNomad Politics and the Residences of Abulmalik and Walid I, in Fred M. Donner (ed), The Articulation of Early Islamic State Structures, Oxon, Routledge, 2017
^Genequand. D., “Ummayid Castles: The Shift from Late Antique Military Architecture to Early Islamic Palatial Building” in: Hugh N.Kennedy (ed),Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria: From the Coming of Islam to the Ottoman Period, Brill, 2006, pp 3 -13; The Articulation of Early Islamic State Structures, Routledge, 2012; Genequant, D., “Desert castles, Umayyad,” in: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah12066.pub2; The Lineaments of Islam: Studies in Honor of Fred McGraw Donner, BRILL, 2012, p. 430
^The Lineaments of Islam: Studies in Honor of Fred McGraw Donner, BRILL, 2012, p. 430
^Jordan: Annual, Volume 36, Dāʼirat al-Āthār al-ʻĀmmah, 1992, p. 317 (translated from French)
^Meyers, E.M. (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Volume 5, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 241
^Umm Al-Walid at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024.
^
abBujard, Jacques; Genequand, Denis; Trillen, Wilfried (2001).
"Umm al-Walid et Khan az-Zabib, deux établissements omeyyades en limite du désert jordanien". Conquête de la steppe et appropriation des terres sur les marges arides du Croissant fertile. Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen (in French). Vol. 36. Lyon: Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux. pp. 189–218. Retrieved 2 March 2024. Concise but comprehensive article with plans and reconstructions.
^Hoyland, Robert (2017). "Two New Arabic Inscriptions: Arabian Castles and Christianity in the Umayyad Period". In Nehmé, Laïla; Al-Jallad, Ahmad (eds.).
To the Madbar and Back Again: Studies in the languages, archaeology, and cultures of Arabia dedicated to Michael C.A. Macdonald. Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. BRILL. p. 327-337 [330].
ISBN9789004357617. Retrieved 8 March 2021. 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]
^
abJacobson, David M. (1985-86).
"Upper Herodium: A Fortress or a Château?" In Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society5, pp.56-68 [63-64]. Accessed 31 March 2024 via academia.edu.
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.