Qasr Kharana
Qasr Kharana ( Arabic قصر خرّانة, DMG Qaṣr Ḫarrāna ), sometimes also referred to as Qasr al-Harrana , Qasr al-Kharanah , Kharaneh or Hraneh , is the best known and one of the best preserved desert castles in Jordan , a number of small forts and fortresses that are scattered in the eastern part of the country too are found. Its location is about 60 km east of the capital Amman and relatively close to the Saudi-Arabian border in the Amman governorate. Due to the visible influences of Sassanid architecture together with some graffiti in one of the upper rooms, it can be assumed that it was built as early as the later 7th century. It is thus one of the earliest examples of Islamic architecture in this region.
The original use of the facility is still unclear. Since the internal arrangement of the building does not indicate any military use, the term "castle", which is obvious due to its external appearance, is not an appropriate term for this building. Although found along its outer walls slots to loopholes may remember, they were not provided with any certainty for such a purpose. The building, on the other hand, could have been a caravanserai or a resting place for traders, but there is no water source for this, which would usually have to be located near such facilities. In addition, the Qasr Kharana is not on any of the important trade routes in this region.
Regardless of its original use, the structure is very well preserved. As it is not far from Amman and right on a main road, it is one of the most visited castles in the Jordanian desert. The archaeologist Stephen Urice dealt with the Qasr Kharana as part of his doctoral thesis and later published his findings in a book. Based on his studies, it was possible to restore the crumbling and weathered sections of the building in the late 1970s.
Location and structure
The desert castle of Qasr Kharana is located south of Highway 40, on one of the important connections that connects Amman with the town of Azraq, the Saudi Arabian border and the remote areas of eastern Jordan and Iraq. The building was erected on a slight elevation that raises it 15 m above the surrounding desert, which is why the building can be seen from afar.
A dirt road leads from the main road to a gravel yard south of the entrance that is big enough to hold a few cars and several buses. The area is fenced in at its southeast corner section. Here is the main entrance to the facility, which is connected to a visitor center.
The building takes up an area of 1225 m². Its floor plan is square with a side length of 35 m, with small projecting round towers at the corners. The main gate, the only access to the complex, is located on its south facade. The centrally located entrance is surrounded by two protruding, semicircular buttresses, which are connected at the top by a wide arch, which thus covers the inlet gate.
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The walls are made of rough limestone blocks held together by a mortar based on mud . A decorative line of ornaments made of flat stones that form a zigzag pattern runs along the upper third of the outer walls.
The building originally consisted of a total of 60 rooms, arranged on two floors around a central cream , in the middle of which a houz , a rainwater basin, was created. Two vaulted chambers, which must have served as stables and storage rooms, frame the entrance hall of the Qasr on both sides. The corridor ends in a central courtyard, which is bordered on three sides by the rooms on the ground floor. All rooms are grouped in so-called bayts , which are self-contained units that consist of a central hall, which are flanked to the right and left by two rooms that open to the central hall. Many of the rooms have small slits that let light into the room and aid ventilation. The rooms on the second floor contain almost all decorative details and are provided with decorative pilasters , with eye-catching stucco ornaments , medallions or with blind niches made of high -fire plaster. Due to some graffiti in one of the upper rooms, the construction of the building can be dated to before 710.
Architectural style
The Qasr Kharana combines various regional architectural elements with those that were influenced by the then new religion of Islam, which ultimately led to a new, independent style. The shape of the fort is determined by Syrian architectural elements, which were implemented using Sassanid construction techniques. It cannot therefore be ruled out that the building was built around 620, when the Persian Sassanids controlled the area; it is more likely that it was built in the Umayyad period with the help of Persian craftsmen.
The construction of the Qasr is inspired by the conception of Syrian houses, which in turn were influenced by late antique and Roman architecture . This can be seen, for example, in the division of the rooms, which are each arranged around a large magnificent room and which, like the entire building, are arranged around the central courtyard. As with other buildings that are of a Sassanid design, the structure of the building system is supported by belt arches supported by a barrel vault .
On the sides it was necessary to change the construction techniques slightly. The arches are not connected to the continuous wall here, instead they are placed on overlying arms. These elements are held together by the total weight of the structure. Some newer building materials, like lintels , appear to have been used to make the building more flexible and earthquake-resistant.
There must have been stone entrances to the upper floors on all sides, as can still be seen inside the palace on the east and west side of the courtyard. On the south and north sides, too, there are borders on the walls that indicate that there must have been two wooden roofs.
In the rooms, the Islamic ideas of public accessibility with sufficient privacy were implemented through narrow slits that allow a view to (and from) the outside. In addition, larger windows were installed on the inside and a northern terrace was designed that separates the two apartments. On the south side, a room was arranged out of the way, as it was reserved for prayers ( salāt ).
The slits in the wall look like loopholes, but were unsuitable for archers because they are too high for this and have an unfavorable shape. Instead, they were used to regulate the amount of dust and the incidence of light; Above all, however, they correspond to the two prevailing wind directions: the rooms were kept cool by differences in air pressure and the resulting Venturi effect .
history
The desert castle was probably built during the rule of the Umayyad dynasty, at the latest during the reign of Caliph Al-Walid I , which was between 705 and 715. According to Stephen Urice, the building can be dated even earlier and was probably between 661 and 684, the beginning of the dynasty. This suggests stucco work, which was typical for the decoration of Sassanid architecture and which differs from all other buildings of the Umayyads, which are dated to later periods. (The Sassanid Empire had perished in 651, but its culture exerted considerable influence on early Islam.) The Qasr Kharana is thus an important example of early Islamic art and architecture . Even a dating to the late Assanid period is, as already mentioned, not excluded, but unlikely.
In a room on the upper floor an inscription was left in Umayyad script, referring to the caliph Al-Walid I. From them, indications can be derived about the construction time of this building section and these give an indication that this room was possibly used as a guest house. However, due to the unusual way of dating, the authenticity of the inscription is controversial.
The Qasr Kharana may have served a variety of non-military, agricultural and / or commercial agendas, like other magnificent Umayyad buildings in Greater Syria . Due to the limited water supply, it is likely that the Qasr Kharana was only intended for temporary use. There are various theories about the function of the complex, which was used as a fortress, as a meeting place for Bedouins (among themselves or with the governor of the Ummayyad) or as a caravanserai . The latter is unlikely as it was not directly on one of the great trade routes of the time; In addition, there is no spring or well, which would have been necessary to feed large herds of camels.
In the centuries that followed, the complex was abandoned and neglected. In addition, several earthquakes left damage to the building structure. Many cracks widened to such an extent that the west and south walls were isolated from the rest of the building. The Austrian geographer Alois Musil finally rediscovered the desert castle in 1901, but extensive restoration work was not carried out on the building until the late 1970s . During the renovation there were some changes; a door in the east wall was locked and in some sections cement and plaster mixtures were used that did not match the originally used materials. Archaeologist Stephen Urice worked on the building between 1977 and 1981 and contributed to the renovation work on Qasr Kharana, which was carried out between 1976 and 1979. He then wrote his doctoral thesis on this topic and published it in 1987 as a book under the title Qasr Kharana in the Transjordan .
Current condition
The site is now under the jurisdiction and jurisdiction of the Jordanian Ministry of Antiquities. The Royal Ministry of Tourism is responsible for the new visitor center and controls access to the structure. The visit is subject to entry.
Surroundings
Within sight of Qasr Kharana there is an approximately 2 hectare site with sites from the Epipalaeolithic . During the excavation in Kharaneh IV , settlement structures that are 20,000 years old were uncovered.
literature
- Stephen K. Urice: Qasr Kharana: an early Islamic monument in the Transjordan . Harvard University, 1981.
- Stephen K. Urice: Qasr Kharana in the Transjordan . American Schools of Oriental Research, 1987, ISBN 0-89757-207-6 .
- Rina Talgam: The stylistic origins of Umayyad sculpture and architectural decoration . Part 1. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-447-04738-0 .
Web links
- Archnet article - Qasr Kharana
- Desert Castles Tour (Universes in Universe - Worlds of Art)
credentials
- ↑ a b Matthew Teller: Rough Guide to Jordan . Rough Guide Ltg., London 2002, ISBN 1-85828-740-5 , pp. 207-209 .
- ↑ AtlasTours Qasr Kharaneh, Jordan Desert Castles , (accessed October 1, 2011)
- ↑ Richard Ettinghausen, Oleg Grabar, Marilyn Jenkins: Islamic Art and Architecture, 650-1250 . Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut 2001, ISBN 0-300-08869-8 , pp. 39 .
- ^ A b Andrew Petersen: Dictionary of Islamic Architecture . Routledge , London 2002, ISBN 0-203-20387-9 , pp. 139 .
- ↑ a b c Mediterranean Heritage ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed October 1, 2011)
- ↑ a b c d e f g The Development of Structural Concept and Architectural Form in Qasr Kharana UNESCO (PDF file; 126 kB), (accessed October 1, 2011.)
- ↑ Rina Talgam: The stylistic origins of Umayyad sculpture and architectural decoration . Part 1. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-447-04738-0 , p. 39 .
- ^ Art-and-archeology , (accessed October 3, 2011)
- ↑ Christrex Excursion to Jordan ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , (Accessed October 1, 2011)
Coordinates: 31 ° 43 ′ 44 ″ N , 36 ° 27 ′ 46 ″ E