Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi (Eastern al-Hayr Palace or the "Eastern Castle") is a castle in the middle of the Syrian Desert. It was built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 728-29 CE in an area rich in desert fauna.[1] It was apparently used as a military and hunting outpost.[2] The palace is the counterpart of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, a nearby castle palace built one year earlier.[1]
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[edit] Location
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharq is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from al-Sukhnah and 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Sergiopolis (Rusafa), near Bishri Mountain near Palmyran Middle Mountains.
[edit] Architecture
The palace consists of a large open courtyard surrounded by thick bulwarks and towers guarding the entrances as well as each corner.[3] The palace consists of two square structures, one with a diameter of 300m and the other of 100 metres (330 ft). The palace(s) contains remnants of rooms, arches and columns which seem to be parts of a huge royal complex. Some of the decorated parts have been moved to the National Museum of Damascus while the gate has been reconstructed in the Deir ez-Zor Museum.[4]
The bigger palace has been several floors, with a huge gate and many towers. Towers were not built as defensive measures. There were also olive yards. The palaces were supplied with water by nearby Byzantine church by a canal 5,700 metres (6,200 yd) long. The palaces contained bathrooms, water reservoirs, mosques and gardens.
[edit] World Heritage Status
This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on June 8, 1999 in the Cultural category.[5]
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Qasr al-Heir al-Sharqi |
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Constable, O.R. (2003). Housing the Stranger in the Mediterranean World: Lodging, Trade, and Travel in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 56. ISBN 0521819180.
- ^ Un Château du désert: Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi - UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
- ^ Un Château du désert : Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- ^ Bonatz, Dominik; Kühne, Hartmut; Mahmoud, As'ad (1998). Rivers and steppes. Cultural heritage and environment of the Syrian Jezireh. Catalogue to the Museum of Deir ez-Zor. Damascus: Ministry of Culture. OCLC 638775287.
- ^ "Un Château du désert: Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1298/. Retrieved 2009-03-04.[dead link]
