Ajloun Castle ( ar, قلعة عجلون;

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

: Qalʻat 'Ajloun), medieval name Qalʻat ar-Rabad, is a 12th-century Muslim castle situated in northwestern

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. It is placed on a hilltop belonging to the Mount Ajloun district, also known as Jabal 'Auf after a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...

tribe which had captured the area in the 12th century. From its high ground the castle was guarding three

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

s which descend towards the

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

. It was built by the

Ayyubids The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin ...

in the 12th century and enlarged by the

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

in the 13th.

Names

The name 'Ajlun goes back to a Christian monk who lived on this mountain in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

period. The castle has been the nucleus of a settlement which has grown to become the present town of Ajloun. The castle's developing

faubourg "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, ...

led to its second name, Qalʻat ar-Rabad, "the castle of the faubourg" or "the castle with the suburbs". This name still resonates in the surname of a large and reputable Christian family owning most of the agricultural lands in the direct vicinity of the castle until this day, the Al-Rabadis.

History

Byzantine monastery

Ajlun Castle is located on the site of an old monastery, traces of which were discovered during archaeological excavations. Tradition has it that the name 'Ajlun goes back to a Byzantine-period monk who lived in the area.

12th-century Ayyubid castle

Purpose

It was rebuilt as a castle in 1184 by

Izz al-Din Usama Izz al-Din Usama was a 12th-century Ayyubid ''emir'' and a nephew of Saladin. Emir of Ajlun and Kawkab In 1183, he was ordered by Saladin to build the Rabbadh Fortress at Ajlun in northern Jordan (known as '' al-Urdunn'' at the time) with the pur ...

, a general in the army of

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt an ...

. The castle controlled traffic along the road connecting

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. According to Saladin's historian

Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Rāfiʿ ibn Tamīm ( ar, بهاء الدين ابن شداد; the honorific title "Bahā' ad-Dīn" means "splendor of the faith"; sometimes known as Bohadin or Boha-Eddyn) (6 March 1145 – 8 Novem ...

, the fortress was primarily built in order to help the authorities in Damascus control the Bedouin tribes of the Jabal 'Auf. These enjoyed enough autonomy as to ally themselves to the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, and had at one point set up a 100-tent camp next to the Hospitaller castle of Belvoir on the opposite side of the Jordan Valley.Joseph M. Delaville Le Roulx, '' Cartulaire général de l'ordre des Hospitaliers de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem (1100-1301)'', vol. I, Paris 1894, p 395-396, No. 582 of 28 April 1180 As such, Ajlun Castle is one of the very few Muslim fortresses built by the Ayyubids to protect their realm against Crusader incursions, which could come from

Beisan Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is be ...

or Belvoir in the west and from Karak in the south. From its location, the fortress dominated a wide stretch of the northern

Valley, controlled the three main passages that led to it (Wadi Kufranjah, Wadi Rajeb and Wadi al-Yabis), and protected the communication routes between southern Jordan and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. It was built to contain the progress of the

Latin Kingdom The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader states, Crusader state th ...

, which with the , Lordship of

Oultrejordain The Lordship of or ( Old French for "beyond the Jordan", also called Lordship of Montreal) was the name used during the Crusades for an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan River, an area known in ancient times as ...

had gained a foothold in Transjordan, and as a retort to the castle of Belvoir a few miles south of the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...

. Another major objective of the fortress was to protect the development and control of the iron mines of Ajlun.

Original outline

The original castle had four corner towers connected by curtain walls and a double gate. Arrow slits were incorporated in the thick walls and it was surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

averaging 16 meters (about 52 feet) in width and 12–15 meters (about 40–50 feet) in depth.

13th century: expansion, Mongol destruction, restoration

After Usama's death, the castle was enlarged in AD 1214–15 by Aibak ibn Abdullah, the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

governor. He added a new tower in the southeast corner and built the gate. The castle lost its military importance after the fall of Karak in AD 1187 to the

. In the middle of the 13th century AD, the castle was conceded to Yousef ibn Ayoub, emir of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

and Damascus, who restored the northeastern tower and used the castle as an administrative center. In 1260 AD, the Mongols destroyed sections of the castle, including its battlements. Soon after the victory of the Mamluks over the Mongols at Ain Jalut, Sultan ad-Dhaher

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...

restored the castle and cleared the fosse. The castle was used as a storehouse for crops and provisions. When Izz ad-Din Aibak was appointed governor, he renovated the castle as indicated by an inscription found in the castle's south-western tower.

Ottoman period

During the Ottoman period, a contingent of fifty soldiers was set inside the castle. During the first quarter of the 17th century, Prince Fakhr ad-Din al-Ma'ni II used it during his fight against Ahmad ibn Tarbay. He supplied the castle with a contingent and provided provisions and ammunition. In 1812, the Swiss traveller

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...

found the castle inhabited by around forty people.

Earthquakes and restoration

Two major destructive earthquakes struck the castle in 1837 and 1927. Recently, the Department of Antiquities of Jordan has sponsored a program of restoration and consolidation of the walls and has rebuilt the bridge over the fosse.

Tourism

Ajlun castle is open for tourism. Many areas of the castle can be explored. Tourists in Jordan often visit the castle. Inside there is also a museum exhibition with many interesting artifacts from the various time periods of the region.

Gallery

File:Ajloun Castle (Top of the Mountain).jpg, General view of the castle atop Jabal 'Auf File:Ajlun Castle Mountain-01.jpg, General view, castle and mount File:Ajlun Castle Night.jpg, General view at night File:Ajluncastle.jpg, Castle walls from outside File:Ajlun Castle (9778784803).jpg, Moat, bridge, and outer gate File:Ajloun Castle (Bridge).jpg, Bridge over the moat, outer gate File:Ajloun Castle (Entrance).jpg, Second gate File:Ajlun Castle 01.jpg, Passage (stairs) ascending from inner gate, door to museum File:Jordan Ajlun Castle 2013 0959.jpg, Castle hall housing the museum File:Ajloun Castle carved door.jpg, Museum: stone-carved door of ancient grave File:Jordan Ajlun Castle 2013 0948.jpg, Ajloun Castle Museum: ancient multi-wick oil lamp File:Jordan Ajlun Castle 2013 0951.jpg, Ajloun Castle Museum: Christian oil lamp, Byzantine period File:Jordan Ajlun Castle 2013 0955.jpg, Ajloun Castle Museum: Roman glass vessel File:Jordan Ajlun Castle 2013 0954.jpg, Ajloun Castle Museum: Roman glass object File:Ajloun Castle Mosaic.jpg, Ajloun Castle Museum: preserved Byzantine mosaic floor File:Ajloun Castle (Interior).jpg, Inner view (corridor) File:Ajlun Castle 02.jpg, Inner view (door between corridor and room) File:Ajlun Castle 03.jpg, One of the watchtowers File:Ajlun Castle 04.jpg, Vaulted ceiling File:Ajlun Green.jpg, Ajloun Mountains File:Ajlun Green 02.jpg, Ajloun Mountains

References

Bibliography

External links

A brief video of the history of Ajloun Castle

About 50 pictures of the castle inside and out
{{Castles in Jordan Buildings and structures completed in 1185 Ayyubid architecture Castles in Jordan Mamluk castles Tourism in Jordan Ajloun Governorate