Ajloun Castle (), medieval name Qalʻat ar-Rabad, is a 12th-century Muslim castle situated in northwestern
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
. 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 pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
tribe which had captured the area in the 12th century. From its high ground the castle was guarding three
wadi
Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...
s which descend towards the Jordan Valley. It was built by the
Ayyubids
The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, 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 ori ...
in the 12th century and enlarged by the
Mamluks
Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-sold ...
in the 13th.
Names
The name Ajloun goes back to a Christian monk who lived on this mountain in the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
period.
Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes
Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes (15 December 1862 – 12 August 1957) was a French Arabist, a specialist in Islam and the history of religions.
His best known works are his historical and religious studies on Hajj and Muslim institutions. He also tr ...
, ''La Syrie à l'époque des Mamelouks d'après les auteurs arabes'', Bibliothèque archéologique et historique du Service des Antiquités et des Beaux-Arts en Syrie et au Liban, vol. III, Paris 1923, p 66
The castle has been the nucleus of a settlement which has grown to become the present town of Ajloun. The castle's developing faubourg 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
Ajloun Castle is located on the site of an old monastery, traces of which were discovered during archaeological excavations. Tradition has it that the name Ajloun 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, a general in the army of
Saladin
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
. The castle controlled traffic along the road connecting
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
and
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. According to Saladin's historian
Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad
Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Rāfiʿ ibn Tamīm (; the honorific title "Bahā' ad-Dīn" means "splendor of the faith"; sometimes known as Bohadin or Boha-Eddyn) (6 March 1145 – 8 November 1234) was a 12th-century Arabic j ...
, 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 at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
, 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. As such, Ajloun 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 or Belvoir in the west and from Karak in the south.
From its location, the fortress dominated a wide stretch of the northern Jordan 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, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. It was built to contain the progress of the Latin Kingdom, which with the Lordship of Oultrejordain 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 (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...
. Another major objective of the fortress was to protect the development and control of the iron mines of Ajloun.
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 dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
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 1214–1215 by Aibak ibn Abdullah, the
Mamluk
Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
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
Ayyubids
The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, 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 ori ...
. In the middle of the 13th century AD, the castle was conceded to Yousef ibn Ayoub, emir of
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
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 (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...
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, the
Lebanese Druze
The Lebanese Druze () are an ethnoreligious group constituting about 5.2 percentFakhr 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 traveler
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
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The destructive Galilee earthquake causes thousands of deaths in Ottoman Syria.
* January 26 – Michigan becomes the 26th state admitted to the United States.
* February 4 – Seminoles attack Fo ...
and
1927
Events January
* January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...
. 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
Ajloun 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.
Ajloun Cable Car
The Ajloun Cable Car was inaugurated in June 2023, managed by the Jordan Free and Development Zones Group (JFDZ), in order to boost tourism and improve infrastructure.
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