Qasr al-Azraq
Qasr al-Azraq ( Arabic قصر الأزرق, DMG Qaṣr al-Azraq ) is a castle in the east of today's Jordan . It is one of the Jordanian desert castles and is located about 100 kilometers east of Amman on the road to the Iraqi border.
architecture
The castle has a square floor plan with walls around 80 meters long around a large central square and is made of black basalt . In the middle of the square is a small mosque , probably built during the Umayyad times . There are four rectangular towers at the corners of the outer walls. The main entrance consists of a massive, swiveling granite slab. Directly behind it you get to a vestibule, in which you can see the remains of a Roman board game scratched on the floor.
history
The castle was of particular strategic importance due to its location in the middle of the Azraq oasis , the only permanent fresh water source in a desert region of around 12,000 km². This led to multiple conquests by different groups.
Originally the area was inhabited by Nabataeans and came under Roman control around 300 AD during the reign of Diocletian . The Romans built a stone structure from local basalt, which formed the basis for later buildings during the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyad dynasty on the same site.
Qasr al-Azraq got its final appearance from 1237, when the Mamelukes , also under Izz ad-Din Aibak , redesigned it and expanded it into a castle.
In the 16th century the Ottomans built a garrison here. In the winter of 1917, Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) set up his headquarters here during the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. His office was in the chamber above the gatehouse.
Wetlands
The wetlands near Qasr al-Azraq provide shelter for a number of migratory birds. Numerous ducks, larks and lapwings, but also eagles use the wetlands on their journey to Africa. The wetlands were once much more extensive - but the big cities like Amman claimed so much water that the wetland in the middle of the desert has shrunk more and more. Today the government is again trying to preserve the remains of the swampy landscape.
literature
- Alistair Duncan: Castles of Jordan / Aq-Qalaten fi al-Urdun , Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Amman February 1975, pp. 14-17.
Web links
- The Desert Castle Loop on the official website of The Royal Hashemite Court
- Desert Castles Tour (Universes in Universe - Worlds of Art)
Coordinates: 31 ° 52 ′ 47.9 " N , 36 ° 49 ′ 38.7" E