Quseir Amra - The Castle in the Desert 🇯🇴 Jordan

Approximately 85 kilometers east of Amman, not far from the caravan trail which passes through Azraz, Karaneh and Touba, Khuzair Amra is one of the many residences which the Umayyad Caliphs built in the desert of present-day Syria and Jordan. Jordan is at the intersection of the Mediterranean region, Central Asia and the Arabian Desert. It enjoys diverse ecosystems ranging from woodlands to shrublands to deserts. Created by the Great Rift Valley, Wadi Araba also enjoys an Afro-tropical ecozone with a unique mix of Arabian wildlife and African vegetation. The eastern desert of Jordan deserts support a variety of vegetation including some trees, insects, reptiles and small mammals which are abundant in shady places. The dromedarian camel is superbly adapted to the desert, stores its fat in its hump and water in its bloodstream. He tolerates high temperatures, eliminating the need for panting and minimizing perspiration. To protect against dust, the camel has two rows of eyelashes, small hairy ears and nostrils that can close tightly. Their feet have flat, broad pads adapted for walking on sand. Domesticated around 3,000 years ago, they were used by Bedouins for transportation and as a source of milk, meat, skin and fibre. A total of 25 rodent species have been recorded in Jordan. They reproduce rapidly in most habitats, making them an important source of food for larger carnivores. During Roman times, Septimus Severus and Diocletian built a network of forts called the Limes Arabicus to protect the eastern border of their new province. While many fell into disrepair, some were later restored by the Umayyads and added to to create their own settlements in the desert. These castles of the desert had various roles. They were fortresses where garrisons could be lodged on at least an occasional basis. They were places of relaxation where the caliphs could come back into contact with the traditional existence of Bedouin nomads. Small and well-preserved, the Islamic Amrah Palace was built in the early 8th century AD. The fortress of Qusayr Amrah, which is square in shape, is in ruins with nothing more than the foundations remaining. But the small country house, with its three nave reception hall and hamam, still exists. Supplied by an aurea and an aqueduct, it resembles Roman baths with its three rooms, the changing room, the tepid bath and the hot bath, in addition to the service room. When the seat of power was moved from Damascus to Baghdad during the Abbasid period, everyone except the Bedouin abandoned the castles. A Hungarian Arabist, Alois Musil, rediscovered Qusayr Amrah in 1898. Although the ruins of several are open to the public, three of them, Qusayr Karana, Qusayr Amrah and Qusayr Azraq are special, due to the restoration of the site and because of their history. The well outside the Qusayr is 40 meters deep and was parrowed by draft animals, ensuring a source of water for the baths. Qusayr Amrah bears exceptional testimony to the Umayyad civilization, which was imbued with a pre-Islamic secular culture, whose austere religious environment only left behind insignificant traces in the visual arts and architecture. Qusayr means little castles, meaning that the structure was smaller than the others in the Umayyad network and it's thought to have been part of a larger complex originally built under Caliph Walid. What gives Qusayr Amrah its uniqueness, however, is the figurative painting decor of the walls and vaults of the reception hall and Haman. There are historical themes, like royal figures, who were defeated by Umayyad Caliph. There are also mythological representations, like the muses of poetry, philosophy and history, with their names in Greek. A zodiac, hunting scenes and Haman scenes, as well as some imaginary themes, like animal musicians and hunters being chased by a lion, are present in the room. The audience chamber, which was used for feasting, are joyous and fascinating, with evidence of Byzantine and Persian influences. The frescoes, which measure 350 square metres, were restored in the 1970s by a team of experts from the Madrid National Archaeological Museum. The materials used in the painting and preparation layers and in the wall plaster were characterised in order to clarify the painting technique. Different pigments have been identified on the pictorial layers. The original ones correspond to green earth, yellow and red ochre, realgar, bone black and lapis lazuli and others, such as titanium white and cobalt blue, ascribed to recent restoration works. Proteinaceous materials, egg or yolk, have been identified as binders for the pigments, indicating a temporary painting technique. Generally, paintings of the human figure in early Islam can tentatively be divided into two main phases. The first covers the Umayyad and early Abbasid era, between the late 7th and 10th century. The second begins in the late 10th century and covers Fatimid art in Egypt, and culminates with paintings in Mesopotamia. The two periods differ stylistically and iconographically, but they also share some common sources that are reflected not only in the style and figures, but also in the themes one of the earliest known representations of the sky on a curved surface. Amra houses some of the earliest examples of figurative art from the Islamic era, just predating the edict of who ordered the destruction of artistic images. Fortunately, the edict was primarily applied to religious buildings. The Umayyad castles, used for defence or relaxation, give a glimpse into a world few were privileged to see. Khuzair Amra is the best conserved architectural ensemble, if not the most complete, of all the Umayyad palaces and castles in Jordan and Syria.