Mosque Name: Mushatta Palace
Country: Jordan
City: Amman
Year of construction (AH): 125 AH
Year of construction (AD): 743 AD
GPS: 31°44’17.42”N 36° 0’35.95”E
ArchNet: http://archnet.org/sites/4135
Gibson Classification: Petra
Rebuilt facing Mecca: never
For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here
Description:
One of the largest and most impressive of the Umayyad palaces, Mushatta Palace is an unfinished, brown limestone and brick complex which includes an entrance hall, internal mosque, audience hall, and residential quarters. It is located in the Jordan desert approximately 32 kilometers south of Amman, a short distance from the Queen Alia International Airport.
A product of the late Umayyad period, it is speculated by several scholars that the Umayyad caliph al-Walid II built Mushatta during his brief reign (743-44) in an effort to commemorate his authority. Construction ended in 744 when he was assassinated. Massive in size-at 144 sq. meters-it provided accommodation for a large group of people for ceremonial performances and lodging. Byzantine and Sassanian influence is evident in the stone and brickwork, and its plan and design.
Mushatta Qibla
A product of the late Umayyad period, it is speculated by several scholars that the Umayyad caliph al-Walid II built Mushatta during his brief reign (743-44) in an effort to commemorate his authority. Construction concluded in 744 when he was assassinated. Massive in size-at 144 sq. meters-it provided accommodation for a large group of people for ceremonial performances and lodging. Byzantine and Sassanian influence is evident in the stone and brickwork, and its plan and design.
The entire complex, including the internal mosque are all oriented towards a Petra Qibla.
The most beautiful feature of Mushatta, however, remains in the rich and intricately carved features on its southern exterior, a significant section of which was given to Kaiser Wilhelm as a gift from the Ottoman sultan 'Abd al-Hamid just before World War I and today is located in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The main palace is still standing but much of the rest of the complex is covered with sand.
Many stones have been robbed from this site and used elsewhere.
Many structures exist only as bases. The rest of the building has been removed.
Much of Mushatta was made by bricks and cut stones.
A small amount of restoration work has been carried out.
References
Cramer, Johannes, Perlich, Barbara, and Günther Schauerte (eds.), 2016. Qasr al-Mschatta: Ein frühislamischer Palast in Jordanien und Berlin, 2 volumes, Berliner Beiträge zur Bauforschung und Denkmalpflege 16, Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag.
Genequand, Denis, 2012. Les établissements des élites omeyyades en Palmyrène et au Proche-Orient, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 200, Beirut: IFPO, 222, Fig. 217. https://www.ifporient.org/978-2-35159-380-6/
Bisheh, Ghazi, 1987. “Qasr al-Mshatta in the Light of a Recently Found Inscription”, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 3: 193-197. http://publication.doa.gov.jo/Publications/ViewChapterPublic/947
Genequand, Denis, 2009. “Trois sites omeyyades de Jordanie centrale: Umm al-Walid, Khan al-Zabib et Qasr al-Mshatta (travaux de la Fondation Max van Berchem 1988-2000)”, in: Karin Bartl and Abd al-Razzaq Moaz (eds.), Residences, Castles, Settlements, Orient-Archäologie 24, Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf, 125-151.
Also see: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apaame/albums/72157622924070607
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