Qasr Al Mshatta
I had to do an airport run today so I thought I’d divert by no more than a couple of kilometres to a place called Qasr Al Mshatta (variations - Qasr al-Mshata, Qasr al-Mushata, Qasr el-Meshatta, Qasr al-Mushatta', al-Mushata,) which is just at the side of the airport itself.
It’s one of the places in Jordan that tends to get overlooked due to the attraction of the major sites like Petra, Dead Sea, Karak etc. In fact there are many overlooked places that I’ve already posted reports on but in one way it is justified in that this place leaves quite a bit to the imagination – plus the most interesting thing about it is missing.
Around Jordan are a number of desert castles – a misnomer in itself in that they aren’t really castles. More like caravanserai/manor houses/hunting lodges/palaces. But the name has stuck and it is easy enough to do a day trip from Amman and see a good selection of them.
Qasr Mshatta was reputed to be one of the best Umayyad palaces and was constructed by Caliph al-Walid II around 744AD, but it remained unfinished. During that time the Umayyads were fighting against the next empire, that of the Abbasid Caliphate, plus Caliph a Walid II was assassinated – always a good reason to stop building something.
The palace was re-discovered around 1840 by Sir Austen Henry Layard and was in a very ruined state mainly due to an earthquake in ancient times. In recent years, if not months, it is gradually being renovated and rebuilt.
This is an overview photo that shows the layout (from the internet) but doesn’t show the recent additions to try and bring it back to some semblance of glory –
I had to do an airport run today so I thought I’d divert by no more than a couple of kilometres to a place called Qasr Al Mshatta (variations - Qasr al-Mshata, Qasr al-Mushata, Qasr el-Meshatta, Qasr al-Mushatta', al-Mushata,) which is just at the side of the airport itself.
It’s one of the places in Jordan that tends to get overlooked due to the attraction of the major sites like Petra, Dead Sea, Karak etc. In fact there are many overlooked places that I’ve already posted reports on but in one way it is justified in that this place leaves quite a bit to the imagination – plus the most interesting thing about it is missing.
Around Jordan are a number of desert castles – a misnomer in itself in that they aren’t really castles. More like caravanserai/manor houses/hunting lodges/palaces. But the name has stuck and it is easy enough to do a day trip from Amman and see a good selection of them.
Qasr Mshatta was reputed to be one of the best Umayyad palaces and was constructed by Caliph al-Walid II around 744AD, but it remained unfinished. During that time the Umayyads were fighting against the next empire, that of the Abbasid Caliphate, plus Caliph a Walid II was assassinated – always a good reason to stop building something.
The palace was re-discovered around 1840 by Sir Austen Henry Layard and was in a very ruined state mainly due to an earthquake in ancient times. In recent years, if not months, it is gradually being renovated and rebuilt.
This is an overview photo that shows the layout (from the internet) but doesn’t show the recent additions to try and bring it back to some semblance of glory –
It’s made of limestone and brick it was both a place to show off ceremonially as well as having a large amount of lodging.
This is what it now looks like on approach –
A little closer and then closer still –
Note the addition of the bulldozer through the central arch. Just suddenly appeared.
Anyway, a quick check I’m in the right place –
As I walk towards the entrance I look left and right –
It is just on the edge of an industrial estate and the boundary of the airport, neither which I hope encroach over time.
You can see vaguely a number of the small towers that would have ringed the complex on the external wall –
An attempt has been made to show where walls would have been surrounding the area, the white stone is modern –
I first made a circuit of the outside to take in the old building material that might one day be re-installed –
On my way round I saw the walls were covered in graffiti. All the walls, every where. I’ve obviously now way of knowing how ancient or modern this is or what it says –
There is though still a certain amount of decoration –
Is it just me or does this remind anyone of an arsehole? –
Continuing on around there were various parts that I couldn’t identify except the building site –
The brickies weren’t too bad back in the old days –
Here we come to a small sign showing the cooperation of the Berlin Institute of Technology and Museums of Berlin in Germany –
Why, you may well ask. Why them? Feeling guilty because...........?
The facade was a gift from the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II to Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. A large part of it was brought to the then Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (now the Bode Museum) in Berlin in 1903. It was reconstructed as a 33 metres long, 5 metres high facade, with two towers, and parts of a central gateway. In 1932 it was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum.
This is the facade that is missing from the palace –
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Pergamon_Museum_Berlin_P3.jpg
An attempt has been made recently to show what the main entrance would have looked liked with a re-build of the arches. Behind you can just see the second arch –
Inside, as would be expected, is now very bare. The brick roofs are the main attraction for me. A few shots as I wander round –
I’ll leave you with the thought of how a modern builder uses probably exactly the same technique to build an arch as his ancestor somewhere around forty generations ago –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qasr_Mshatta
Till next time.
Till next time.