Qasr Kharana
Encyclopedia
Qasr Kharana sometimes Qasr al Harrana, Qasr al Kharanah, Kharaneh or Hraneh, is one of the best-known of the desert castle
s located in present-day eastern Jordan
, about 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) east of Amman
and relatively close to the border with Saudi Arabia
. It is believed to have been built sometime before the early 8th century, based on a graffito
in one of its upper rooms, despite visible Sassanid
influences. A Greek or Byzantine
house may have existed on the site. It is one of the earliest examples of Islamic architecture
in the region.
Its purpose remains unclear today. "Castle" is a misnomer as the building's internal arrangement does not suggest a military use, and slits in its wall could not have been designed as balistraria
, or arrow slits. It could have been a caravanserai
, or resting place for traders, but lacks the water source such buildings usually had close by and is not on any major trade routes.
It remains very well-preserved, whatever its original use. Since it is located just off a major highway and is within a short drive of Amman, it has become one of the most visited of the desert castles. Archaeologist Stephen Urice
wrote his doctoral dissertation, later published as a book, on Qasr Kharana, based on his work restoring the building in the late 1970s.
with Azraq
, the Saudi Arabian border and remote areas of Eastern Jordan and Iraq. It sits on a slight rise just 15 metres (49.2 ft) above the surrounding desert. The only other structures in the area are power lines.
The area is fenced off with a visitors' center on the southeast corner, where the main entrance to the castle area is located. An unpaved driveway leads from the highway to a dirt parking lot large enough for cars and several buses located just south of the entrance.
The building itself is a square 35 metres (114.8 ft) on each side, with small projecting corner towers and a projecting rounded entrance on the south side. It is made of rough limestone
blocks set in a mud-based mortar. Decorative
courses
of flat stones run through the facing.
On the inside the building has 60 bayt, or rooms on two levels arranged around a central courtyard
, with a rainwater pool
in the middle. Many of the rooms have small slits for light and ventilation. Some of the rooms are decorated with pilaster
s, medallions and blind niches finished in plaster
. A graffito
in one of the upstairs rooms has allowed the building to be dated to ca. 710.
influenced the design of the castle, with Sassanid building techniques applied.
The layout follows Syrian houses, themselves influenced by Byzantine
and Roman
customs. Several rooms are arranged around a saloon
, with the house and another apartment arranged around a central courtyard. Like Sassanid buildings, the castle's structural system is transverse arches supporting barrel vault
s.
The site made it necessary to modify those building techniques slightly. The arches are not connected to the carrying wall, instead placed on bearing arms. The overall weight of the structure keeps these elements together. Some newer building materials, such as wooden lintels, were used, allowing the building to be more flexible and resist earthquakes.
Islamic concepts of public and private were satisfied through the narrow slits offering views to (and from) the outside, larger windows on the inside and the north terrace separating the two apartments. A room on the south side was set aside for prayer.
The wall slits could not have been used by archers as they are the wrong height and shape. Instead they served to control dust and light and took advantage of air pressure differentials to cool the rooms, via the Venturi effect
.
Walid I whose dominance of the region was rising at the time. Qasr Kharana is an important example of early Islamic art and architecture
.
Scholarship has suggested that Qasr Kharana might have served a variety of defensive, agricultural and/or commercial agendas similar to other Umayyad palaces in greater Syria. Having a limited water supply it is probable that Qasr Kharana sustained only temporary usage and there are different theories concerning the function of the castle, it may have been a fortress, a meeting place for Bedouins (between themselves or with the Ummayyad governor), or used as a caravenserai. The latter is unlikely as it is not directly on a major trade route of the period and lacks the groundwater source that would have been necessary to sustain large herds of camel.
In later centuries the castle was abandoned and neglected. It suffered damage from several earthquake
s. Alois Musil
rediscovered it in 1901, and in the late 1970s it was restored
. During the restoration some changes were made. A door in the east wall was closed, and some cement and plaster was used that was inconsistent with the existing material. Stephen Urice
wrote his doctoral dissertation on the castle, published as a book, Qasr Kharana in the Transjordan, in 1987 following the restoration.
2 to the site during daylight hours. A Bedouin
merchant is also allowed to sell handcrafts and drinks in the parking lot, as at many other Jordanian tourist sites
.
Inside, a large interpretive plaque in Arabic and English is located just inside the main entrance. Visitors are free to explore the entire building, although some of the corridors overlooking the courtyard on the second story do not have guardrails and those who walk there must be careful.
Desert castle
The Desert castles consist of a number of minor castles and fortresses scattered over the desert in eastern Jordan. Most of the remaining castles are situated east of the capital Amman.-History:...
s located in present-day eastern Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, about 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) east of Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
and relatively close to the border with Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. It is believed to have been built sometime before the early 8th century, based on a graffito
Graffito
Graffito is the singular form of the Italian graffiti, meaning "little scratch".Graffito may also refer to:*Graffito *Graffito...
in one of its upper rooms, despite visible Sassanid
Sassanid architecture
Sassanid architecture refers to the Persian architectural style that reached a peak in its development during the Sassanid era. In many ways the Sassanid dynastic period witnessed the highest achievement of Persian civilization, and constituted the last great Persian Empire before the Muslim...
influences. A Greek or Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
house may have existed on the site. It is one of the earliest examples of Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
in the region.
Its purpose remains unclear today. "Castle" is a misnomer as the building's internal arrangement does not suggest a military use, and slits in its wall could not have been designed as balistraria
Balistraria
An arrowslit is a thin vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows....
, or arrow slits. It could have been a caravanserai
Caravanserai
A caravanserai, or khan, also known as caravansary, caravansera, or caravansara in English was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey...
, or resting place for traders, but lacks the water source such buildings usually had close by and is not on any major trade routes.
It remains very well-preserved, whatever its original use. Since it is located just off a major highway and is within a short drive of Amman, it has become one of the most visited of the desert castles. Archaeologist Stephen Urice
Stephen Urice
Stephen K. Urice , Director of the Project for Cultural Heritage Law & Policy, is an internationally recognized expert in cultural property law and a former trusts and estates practitioner....
wrote his doctoral dissertation, later published as a book, on Qasr Kharana, based on his work restoring the building in the late 1970s.
Building
The castle is just south of Highway 40, an important desert road that links AmmanAmman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
with Azraq
Azraq (Jordan)
Azraq is a small town in the province of Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, 100 km east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9021 persons in 2004.- History :...
, the Saudi Arabian border and remote areas of Eastern Jordan and Iraq. It sits on a slight rise just 15 metres (49.2 ft) above the surrounding desert. The only other structures in the area are power lines.
The area is fenced off with a visitors' center on the southeast corner, where the main entrance to the castle area is located. An unpaved driveway leads from the highway to a dirt parking lot large enough for cars and several buses located just south of the entrance.
The building itself is a square 35 metres (114.8 ft) on each side, with small projecting corner towers and a projecting rounded entrance on the south side. It is made of rough limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
blocks set in a mud-based mortar. Decorative
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
courses
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
of flat stones run through the facing.
On the inside the building has 60 bayt, or rooms on two levels arranged around a central courtyard
Sahn
A sahn , in Islamic architecture, is a courtyard. As per the traditional Islamic architectural style, almost every mosque has a sahn, which is surrounded by an arcade from all sides. In Persian architecture, the sahn usually contains a howz, a symmetrical pool, where ablutions are performed...
, with a rainwater pool
Howz
In traditional Persian architecture, a howz is a centrally positioned symmetrical axis pool.If in a sahn of a mosque, it is used for performing ablutions. If in a traditional house or private courtyard, it is used for bathing, aesthetics or both....
in the middle. Many of the rooms have small slits for light and ventilation. Some of the rooms are decorated with pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, medallions and blind niches finished in plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
. A graffito
Graffito
Graffito is the singular form of the Italian graffiti, meaning "little scratch".Graffito may also refer to:*Graffito *Graffito...
in one of the upstairs rooms has allowed the building to be dated to ca. 710.
Aesthetics
Qasr Kharana combines different regional traditions with the influence of the then-new religion of Islam to create a new style. Syrian building traditionsVernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
influenced the design of the castle, with Sassanid building techniques applied.
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
and Roman
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
customs. Several rooms are arranged around a saloon
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
, with the house and another apartment arranged around a central courtyard. Like Sassanid buildings, the castle's structural system is transverse arches supporting barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
s.
The site made it necessary to modify those building techniques slightly. The arches are not connected to the carrying wall, instead placed on bearing arms. The overall weight of the structure keeps these elements together. Some newer building materials, such as wooden lintels, were used, allowing the building to be more flexible and resist earthquakes.
Islamic concepts of public and private were satisfied through the narrow slits offering views to (and from) the outside, larger windows on the inside and the north terrace separating the two apartments. A room on the south side was set aside for prayer.
The wall slits could not have been used by archers as they are the wrong height and shape. Instead they served to control dust and light and took advantage of air pressure differentials to cool the rooms, via the Venturi effect
Venturi effect
The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi , an Italian physicist.-Background:...
.
History
The castle was built in the early Ummayyad period by the Umayyad caliphCaliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Walid I whose dominance of the region was rising at the time. Qasr Kharana is an important example of early Islamic art and architecture
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
.
Scholarship has suggested that Qasr Kharana might have served a variety of defensive, agricultural and/or commercial agendas similar to other Umayyad palaces in greater Syria. Having a limited water supply it is probable that Qasr Kharana sustained only temporary usage and there are different theories concerning the function of the castle, it may have been a fortress, a meeting place for Bedouins (between themselves or with the Ummayyad governor), or used as a caravenserai. The latter is unlikely as it is not directly on a major trade route of the period and lacks the groundwater source that would have been necessary to sustain large herds of camel.
In later centuries the castle was abandoned and neglected. It suffered damage from several earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s. Alois Musil
Alois Musil
Alois Musil was an Austro-Hungarian and Czech theologist, orientalist, explorer and writer.Musil was the oldest son born into the family of a poor farmer...
rediscovered it in 1901, and in the late 1970s it was restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
. During the restoration some changes were made. A door in the east wall was closed, and some cement and plaster was used that was inconsistent with the existing material. Stephen Urice
Stephen Urice
Stephen K. Urice , Director of the Project for Cultural Heritage Law & Policy, is an internationally recognized expert in cultural property law and a former trusts and estates practitioner....
wrote his doctoral dissertation on the castle, published as a book, Qasr Kharana in the Transjordan, in 1987 following the restoration.
Qasr Kharana today
The castle is today under the jurisdiction of the Jordanian Ministry of Antiquities. The kingdom's Ministry of Tourism controls access to the site via the new visitor's center, charging an admission fee of JDJordanian dinar
The dinar is the currency of Jordan. The dinar is divided into 10 dirham, 100 qirsh or 1000 fils....
2 to the site during daylight hours. A Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
merchant is also allowed to sell handcrafts and drinks in the parking lot, as at many other Jordanian tourist sites
Tourism in Jordan
Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Jordan's economy. In 2010, 8 million tourists from various countries visited Jordan, with tourist receipts amounting to about 3.5 billion dollars...
.
Inside, a large interpretive plaque in Arabic and English is located just inside the main entrance. Visitors are free to explore the entire building, although some of the corridors overlooking the courtyard on the second story do not have guardrails and those who walk there must be careful.