Abstract
The Umayyad qusour (desert palaces) are monumental structures built during the reign of the first caliphate of Islam. Usually dismissed as “pleasure palaces” or “hunting lodges,” some scholars are beginning to argue that these prominent structures were strategic interventions in the landscape. Until now, historians have relied mainly on textual, architectural and art-historical analyses of the qusour in order to understand Umayyad state architecture. This research proposes the use of spatial analysis through GIS to lend a new dimension to the discussion. The results of the analysis show that Umayyad qusour are carefully situated at routes of transhumance and water sources. The distribution pattern of the Umayyad qusour is clustered at the outlet of Wadi Sarhan, and there is actually line-of-sight communication between Azraq, Amra, Haranah, Muwaqqar, Umm al Walid, Mushatta, and Qastal. There is also a positive association between Umayyad qusour and their water sources. These results support the argument that the Umayyad qusour were built strategically at perennial water sources in order to monitor routes of transhumance amongst the socio-political centers of the period.
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Notes
The word qasr (pl. qusour) is not directly translatable into English. These structures functioned as official reception houses, retreats, residences and centers of government administration for the first Islamic caliphate. Usually the translation is "palace," and so the Umayyad qusour are often referred to as the "desert castles" or "desert palaces."
While there are rich Umayyad remains in Syria (e.g., the Umayyad Great Mosque in Damascus, Qasr Khair al-Gharbi and Qasr Khair al-Sharqi, Qasr Jabal Sais) and increasing evidence of Umayyad remains in Israel/Palestine (e.g., the recently excavated Umayyad dar al-idara associated with the Umayyad mosque al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, Khirbet al-Minya, Khirbet al-Mafjar, Khan al-Tuqqah), only Jabal Sais, Khair al-Sharqi, Khair al-Gharbi, Mafjar and Minya fit the general definition of the fortified, secular qusour (Milwright 2010).
It is beyond the scope of this paper to delve into the matter of definitions of early Islamic architecture, but the Umayyad qusour are primarily secular, walled and fortified structures, which integrated a diverse range of architectural influences from the Hellenistic and Sasanian worlds.
Most do include a mosque, but their primary purpose is secular, in contrast to Umayyed monumental structures such as the Umayyad mosque of Damascus or the Mosque al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
The bilad ash-sham is the Arabic expression which refers to the area north of the Hijaz mountains and west of `Iraq, now roughly the area of Syria, Jordan and Palestine.
There are possibly earlier examples of church towers converted to minarets, e.g., Sabha Sirhan or the Umayyad mosque of Damascus. It is possible that there were earlier examples, which have now vanished. The construction of the minaret at Qastal, however, is planned around the internal spiral staircase to the pillared platform which crowns it: it was built to be a minaret. There are no earlier examples documented.
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Alhasanat, M.B., Kabir, S., Wan Hussin, W.M.A. et al. Spatial analysis of a historical phenomenon: using GIS to demonstrate the strategic placement of Umayyad desert palaces. GeoJournal 77, 343–359 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-010-9392-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-010-9392-4