Jabal Says
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Jabal Sais ( also known as Qasr Says is a
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
desert fortification or former palace in
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 ...
which was built 707-715 AD. The fortification sits near an extinct volcano. Jabal Says is mountain peak next to the fortification which sits 621 meters above sea level.


History

Built from 707-715 AD and located in the Syrian Desert. The location was dependent on the seasonal supply of water which pooled next to the volcano crater. The palace is now just a vestige. The settlement at Jabal Says has existed since 528 AD. According to the historian Jere L. Bacharach,
al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...
built Jabal Says, likely as 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 ...
summer encampment between his base of operations in
al-Qaryatayn Al-Qaryatayn (), also spelled Karyatayn, Qaratin or Cariatein, is a town in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate located southeast of Homs. It is situated on an oasis in the Syrian Desert. Nearby localities include Tadmu ...
and another of his desert forts, Qasr Burqu'.


Jebel Usays inscription

The site contains a famous inscription known as the Jebel Usays inscription composed either in 528 or 532/3 AD. It describes the Jafnid leader
Al-Harith ibn Jabalah Al-Ḥārith ibn Jabalah (; known in Byzantine sources as Flavios Arethas (Greek: ) and Khālid ibn Jabalah () in later Islamic sources), was a king of the Ghassanids, a pre-Islamic Arab Christian tribe who lived on the eastern frontier of the Byz ...
with the leader ''al-malik'', corresponding to how the title is spelt in Syriac texts from the time.


See also

*
Desert castle The desert castles or ''qasrs'' are often called Umayyad desert castles, since the vast majority of these fortified palaces or castles were built by the Umayyad dynasty in their province of Bilad ash-Sham, with a few Abbasid exceptions. The des ...
s *
List of castles in Syria This is a list of castles in Syria. Key List of castles See also * List of castles * List of Crusader castles References Sources * * * * * * * {{Castles in Syria Syria Castles Castles Syria Castles A castle is a type of f ...


Notes

8th-century fortifications Umayyad architecture in Syria Umayyad palaces Castles in Syria Palaces in Syria Buildings and structures in Homs Governorate 8th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate 715 establishments {{Syria-struct-stub