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Mosque Name: Qasr Al-Hallabat Mosque

Country: Jordan

City: Desert Castle

Year of construction (AD): 705-740 AD Set according to texts

GPS: 32° 5’35.51”N 36°19’40.96”E

Gibson Classification: Mecca


Description:

This Qasr was originally located in an isolated spot in the eastern desert, but now modern development is starting to surround it. It began as a Roman fortress, built on the road linking Azraq to the Via Nova Triana under the reign of Emperor Caracalla. About two kilometers away is a bathhouse known locally as Hammam Al-Sarrah.

Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abdul Malik (742 CE / 124 AH) ordered the demolishing of the Roman fortress in the 8th century AD and ordered new developments of a grand palace. (Wan Hussin, 2010). It is unclear if this actually happened as the Roman fortress seems t be mostly intact. Perhaps the Qasr was simply upgraded, and instead a large mosque added. The external mosque dates to 212 AH / 827 CE when the rebuilding was to take place. One inscription dates some construction to as late as 529 AH. The main fortress does not seem to have a Qibla direction, probably due to its Roman origins. The mosque for the Qasr is in the bottom left corner of the photo below. The mosque Qibla is clearly defined by a mihrab, and faces Mecca. (0.68°)


The mosque is to the left with a clearly defined mihrab niche.

The mosque is to the left with a clearly defined mihrab niche.



The Qiblas of the Qasr, (red) and the mosque (blue). Mecca is green.

The Qiblas of the Qasr, (red) and the mosque (blue). Mecca is green.


References

Bisheh, Ghazi, 1980. “Excavations at Qasr al-Hallabat, 1979”, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 24: 69-77. http://publication.doa.gov.jo/Publications/ViewChapterPublic/1732

Genequand, Denis, 2012. Les établissements des élites omeyyades en Palmyrène et au Proche-Orient, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 200, Beirut: IFPO. https://www.ifporient.org/978-2-35159-380-6/


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