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Qasr al-Qastal
The Umayyad site of al-Qastal is located 25 km due south of Amman, near the desert highway which leads to Queen Alia
International Airport.
The site comprises a conglomerate of separate and widely spaced units which
include: a qasr, a bath, a mosque, a village, a cemetery and numerous
underground cisterns as well as a substantial dam about 400 m long and 4,50 m wide.
The qasr is built of dressed limestone blocks, occasionally of megalithic size, with an
alternation of one stone showing its long side and another one showing its short
face, with a rubble core. The building originally had three quarter-round
buttresses at the corners and three half-round ones on each of the north, south
and west sides, with four on the east side, two of the latter are part of the
entrance gate. The entrance opens onto a long vestibule divided into two
squares bays by a transverse arch with bench and elbows-rests on either side. A
narrow door at the far end of the vestibule leads into a porticoed courtyard.
Around the courtyard are groups of six bayt (self-contained living
units), each consisting of a large main room with two smaller ones on either
side. The porticoes and most of the rooms were originally paved with colored
mosaics which can still be seen here and there. Many sculpted blocs in the
shape of niches with vegetal decoration have been found. They were probably
coming from the audience hall on the first floor, and remind the decoration of
the hall of the Umayyad
Palace in the Citadel of
Amman.
To the north of the qasr is a mosque
which has been rebuilt and restored more than once since the middle of the nineteenth century. Only the lower courses of the western and northern walls belong to the
original mosque. In the northwestern corner is a minaret with a cylindrical
shaft resting on a rectangular base. A projecting moulded cornice marks the
beginning of the second storey and serves as a base for channeled Corinthian
pilasters. The importance of this minaret lies in the fact that it is the
earliest minaret surviving from the Umayyad period with the one at Qasr al-Hayr
al-Sharqî. About 400 m
to the North-West of the qasr is a partially preserved structure with
splendid mosaic pavements uncovered in the course of Salvage excavations in the
year 2000. The building may have been part of a bath complex similar in plan to
Qusayr ‘Amra and Hammam al-Sarah.
The mosaic floors show, among other scenes, a
fierce lion that has just pounced on the back of a bulky bull trying to bring
him down, and a leopard devouring a gazelle. This type of decoration, inherited
from the Roman times, can also be seen in the baths at Khirbat al-Mafjar,
closed to Jericho.
The vitality of the animal scenes and the subtle gradation of color tones make
these mosaics superior to comparable floors and show considerable technical
skill.
Poetry of the Umayyad period associate Qastal
with the Caliph Yazid ibn ‘Abd al-Malik (r.720- 724) and his son al-Walid (r. 743-744).
By its plan and the presence of many structures in its surroundings, the palace
is very close to the other Umayyad ones. Its decoration is, like on other Umayyad
buildings, a kind of synthesis of Roman and Sasanian influences.
BIBLIOGRAPHY RELATED TO THE MONUMENT
Addison, E., “The Mosque at al-Qastal”, in ADAJ,
44, 2000, p. 477-490.
Bisheh, G., “Two Umayyad Mosaic Floors from
Qastal”, in Liber Annuus, L, 2000, p. 431-437.
Bisheh, G., “The Umayyad Minaret at al-Qastal
and its Significance”, in SHAJ, IΧ, 2007, 263-267.
Carlier, P., Morin, F.,
“Recherches Archéologique au château de Qastal (Jordanie)”, in ADAJ, 28,
1984, p. 343-52.
Carlier, P., “Qastal al-Balqā: An Umayyad Site
in Jordan”, in Proceedings of the
Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilad al-Sham During the
Umayyad Period, vol. II, Amman, 1989, p. 104-139.
Creswell, K.A.C., A Short Account of Early
Muslim Architecture, Revised and Supplemented by James W. Allan, Cairo, 1989, Aldershot Scholar
Press, p. 173-176.
Gaube, H., “Amman, Harane
und Qastal: Vierfruhislamische Bauwerke in Mittenjordanie”, in ZDPV, 93,
1977, p. 52-86.
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