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The desert castles or qasrs are often called Umayyad desert castles, since the vast majority of these fortified palaces or were built by the in their province of , with a few Abbasid exceptions. The desert castles of 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 , and the (), and just one Abbasid exception in .


Name
What is known in English as a "desert castle" is known in as qaṣr (singular), quṣur being the plural.Khouri, R.G., The Desert Castles: A Brief Guide to the Antiquities. Al Kutba, 1988. pp 4-5 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".


Historical background
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 , now in Syria, their capital in 661. After the Abbasid revolution of 750, the capital moved to the newly built , and some of the buildings were never completed.

After the was abandoned by the , many of the continued to be in use.Michaela Konrad: Roman military fortifications along the Eastern desert frontier. Settlement continuities and change in North Syria fourth–eighth centuries A.D. In: Bart and Motz 2009, pp. 433–453 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.Ignacio Arche (2009): Hallabat: Castellum, coenobium, praetorium, qaṣr. The construction of a palatine architecture under the Umayyads I. In: Bartl and Moaz, 2009, pp. 153–182

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.


Description
The typical desert castle is a compound of various buildings including a substantial main residence along with other buildings such as a (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.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 Desert castles are typically situated near a wadi or seasonal water course.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 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.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

With a few exceptions, the desert castles conform to a common template consisting of a square structure similar to Roman castra Nomad Politics and the Residences of Abulmalik and Walid I, in Fred M. Donner (ed), The Articulation of Early Islamic State Structures, Oxon, Routledge, 2017 as their main building, typically boasting an elaborate entrance.Ettinghausen, R., Grabar, O. and Jenkins, M., Islamic Art and Architecture p 650 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.Petersen, A., Dictionary of Islamic Architecture, Routledge, 2002, p. 296 Some of the desert castles, for example Qasr Hallabat or Qasr Burqu', are rebuilt from remains of earlier Roman or structures; others are new constructions.


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. The earliest researchers, such as and , 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.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'' Https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah12066.pub2; The Lineaments of Islam: Studies in Honor of Fred McGraw Donner, BRILL, 2012, p. 430 Yet other scholars, investigating the geographic distribution of desert castles, note that they are principally situated along the or pilgrimage routes and may have operated as a type of . The Lineaments of Islam: Studies in Honor of Fred McGraw Donner, BRILL, 2012, p. 430

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.Shaw, I. and Jameson, E. (eds), A Dictionary of Archaeology, John Wiley, 2008, p. 487

According to a hypothesis developed by , 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. (1939): Remarques sur les monuments omeyyades. Chateaux de Syrie. I. Journal Asiatique, pp. 1–59 The Umayyads, however, increasingly oriented their political strategy towards a model of , of mutual interdependence and support.Donald Whitcomb (1995): Islam and the socio-cultural transition of Palestine - Early Islamic period (638–1099 C.E.) In: T. E. Levy (Ed.): The archeology of society in the Holy Land. London, Leicester University Press, pp. 488–501 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.

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 (between themselves or with the Umayyad governor), (retreats for the nobles) or caravanserais. A proliferation of desert castles appeared around the same time as the number of caravans increased substantially. Jordan: Annual, Volume 36, Dāʼirat al-Āthār al-ʻĀmmah, 1992, p. 317 (translated from French) Many seem to have been surrounded by natural or man-made and to have served as country estates or hunting lodges, given that hunting was a favoured pastime for the aristocracy.Meyers, E.M. (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Volume 5, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 241

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 . While the majority of quṣur are located in Jordan, examples can also be found in Syria, the West Bank and Israel, either in cities (), in relatively green areas (, ), or indeed in the desert (Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi and Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, Jabal Sais, Hisham's Palace).Teller, M., Jordan, Rough Guides, 2002 p. 200 The more isolated "desert castles" built in arid regions are chiefly located on the ancient trade routes connecting Damascus with and or adjacent to a natural oasis. 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 of people and their , and not least, impress travellers and local tribes with lavish displays of monumental architecture, baths and ponds in the middle of an arid landscape. The spatial analysis of a historical phenomenon: using GIS to demonstrate the strategic placement of the Umayyad "desert palaces". Mahmoud Bashir Abdallah Alhasanat, M. Sc. thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2009


Artistic value
The castles represent some of the most impressive examples of early and Islamic architecture, and some are notable for including many figurative and 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 's Rockefeller Museum (decorations from Hisham's Palace) and the of Berlin (the ).


List of sites
Partial alphabetical list by main name (without Qasr, Khan, etc.) andwithout article (al-, etc.):


Jordan
  • Qasr Ain es-Sil, Qasr Ain es-Sil at Archiqoo, with satellite view. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. an Umayyad farming estate with an attached bathing complex in the , east of Amman
  • Qusayr 'Amra, Qasr Amra at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. a "desert castle" about east of Amman, important for frescos
  • , a "desert castle" about east of Amman Qasr Azraq at Archiqoo, with satellite view. Accessed 2 Apr 2024.
  • constructed in AD 743 by
  • Qasr Burqu', Qasr el Burqu at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. a preexisting structure converted into a qasr by , about east of Amman
  • , a "desert castle" about northeast of Amman. Qasr Hammam As Sarah at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024.
    • aka as-Sarkh, the bath complex of Qasr al-Hallabat, about northeast of Amman
  • , Qasr al Humayma at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. site with a qasr where the Abbasid family resided while plotting their rebellion against the Umayyad caliphs, ousting them in 750
  • , a "desert castle" about east of Amman Qasr Kharana at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024.
  • , Qasr Al-Mshatta at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. a "desert castle" about southeast of Amman; a large part of is on display at the in
  • , Qasr Mshash at Archiqoo, with satellite view. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. qasr on the historical caravan route between Amman and Azraq via Qusayr 'Amra, some 20 km east of Muwaqqar
    (2025). 9780812292763, University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • , Qasr Al-Muwaqqar at Archiqoo, with satellite view. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. a "desert castle" southeast of Amman on the caravan route to Azraq
  • , a "desert castle" about south of Amman Qasr Al-Qastal at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024.
  • , Qasr Tuba at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. a "desert castle" about southeast of Amman
  • The , a qasr on the of Amman Umayyad Palace, Amman at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024.
  • , Umm Al-Walid at Archiqoo, with satellite view and photo. Accessed 2 Apr 2024. site of 3 Umayyad qusur with a mosque and an agricultural settlement near Concise but comprehensive article with plans and reconstructions.
  • Khan az-Zabib, site of two Umayyad qusur with a mosque and a pastoral village, 25 km southeast of Umm al-Walid


Syria


Israel and Palestine


Lebanon


Iraq
  • 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 .


Gallery
File:Qasr Kharana in Jordan.jpg|Qasr Kharana, Jordan File:Qasr Al-Azraq.jpg|Qasr al-Azraq, Jordan File:Qasr Amra.jpg|Quseir Amra, Jordan File:Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi.jpg|Qasr al-Hayr ash-Sharqi, Syria File:Ruïnes van Qasr Al Hair, Bestanddeelnr 255-6064.jpg|Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, Syria (1950) File:Arabischer Mosaizist um 735 001.jpg|Khirbat al-Mafjar, "Hisham's Palace", Jericho: floor mosaic in bathhouse File:Horvat Minya, Israel 17.jpg|Qasr al-Minya, Israel File:Anjar, Lebanon, Umayyad city.jpg|Anjar, Umayyad city with qasr, Lebanon


See also
  • Islamic architecture
    • Umayyad architecture
  • List of castles in Jordan
  • Painting of the Six Kings


Furtht reading
  • Kennedy, David; and Riley, Derrick (2012; first edition: 1990). Rome's Desert Frontier from the Air, Routledge, pp. 8–91 provide a comprehensive list of castles, forts, mosques and other major edifices.


External links

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