Figure 5 - available via license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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Shawbak castle, aerial view from east (photo by D. Kennedy, APAAME_20090930_DLK-0174). Reproduced with kind permission.
Source publication
This paper presents the results of a study of the 12th-century Crusader Lordship of Transjordan and discusses the traditional view that the principal role of this region was that of frontier of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The possibility of applying the concept of frontier to Transjordan is discussed in the context of a debate on the relationship bet...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... the kind of settlements that were able to support large castles and their populations. This exploratory phase was followed by a first phase of construction, marked by the important foundation, in 1115 AD, of the first fortress in Transjordan, Montreal (today al-Shawbak), a royal castle, and, presumably, a number of smaller local settlements (Fig. 5). The Frankish interest in settling permanently in the region is clear from the description given by the contemporary Fulcher of Chartres, who outlines specific long-term economic benefits and advantages for Christendom as a whole (Fulcher of Chartres, II.55, ed. Hagenmeyer 1913: 592-93). Shawbak had a safe location that controlled both ...
Context 2
... should also be noted that the main route to the pilgrimage site of St Catherine's Monastery (Fig. 15) in the 12th century AD was through Transjordan, and remained so until the Mamluk conquests in the mid-13th century AD. Thietmar, visiting the site in 1217-1218 AD, passed through Madaba, Karak, Shawbak, Jabal Harun and ʿAqaba ( Thietmar 8-22 in Pringle 2012a: ...
Citations
... In Jordan, Castles vary according to the era of their construction and expansion, so they can be divided into Islamic castles and Crusader castles, which differ in their characteristics, methods of construction, purpose, and architectural features [2,11]. The Crusader castles built by the Crusaders in Jordan in general are a prominent example of Crusader architecture. ...
Castles have always been considered the preoccupation of most civilizations in history, especially in Jordan, which is characterized by being a bridge linking civilizations. The architectural systems used in the formations and the design of the spaces that make up these castles formed the most important structural features of walls, ceilings, openings, and building materials, which are still standing until today. This makes it an experiment worth studying to deepen understanding and provide an additional benefit in Jordan's cultural heritage field. Castles in Jordan vary according to the era of their construction and expansion, so they can be divided into Islamic castles and Crusader castles, which differ in their characteristics, methods of construction, purpose, and architectural features. For more accurate details and thus the ability to compare these two categories depending on the determinants of the purpose of the castle building, the location, and the method of construction, this paper adopts the descriptive analytical method in addition to the comparative method. Ajloun Castle, Shobak Castle, Karak Castle, and Aqaba Castle were selected as case studies. The paper reviews a set of previous studies that contributed to documenting these castles, but none of them went into detail and provided a clear architectural comparison between these two types of castles, and here comes the importance of the paper. The study concludes with a set of differences between the castles in addition to a set of similarities. Despite the difference between these castles in some functional spaces, as the Islamic castles contain a chapel and the Crusader castles contain churches, many similarities were observed, which include the use of local building materials and the need for wells and fortified walls. These results contribute to increasing an understanding of the nature of castles in Jordan. This, therefore, helps decision-makers and designers to conserve and preserve the castles in Jordan by determining the main features and characteristics of the Islamic and the Crusader castles based on the function and the nature of their uses.
