The Attractions - where to go

- 73 km north of Amman, and a short journey northwest from Jerash, through a beautiful pine-forest and olive groves, brings you to the town of Ajloun, where Hadrian stayed over the winter of 129-30 AD, and built himself an arch well outside the town, leaving unbonded its sides for future city walls to come out to meet it.

- Here you will find the Castle of Ajloun or Qalaat Errabadh (Arabic for “Hilltop Castle”), from which there is a splendid view westwards into the Jordan Valley. It looks like a Crusader fortress, but it was built by Muslims in 1184-85 as a military fort and buffer to protect the region from invading Crusader forces. It was built on the orders of the local governor, Ezz Eddin Osama bin Munqethe, a nephew of the Ayyubid leader Salahuddin Al-Ayyoubi (Saladin), as a direct retort to the new Latin castle of Belvoir (Kawkab El-Hawa) on the opposite side of the valley between the Tiberias and Besan, and as a base to develop and control the iron mines of Ajloun.

- This superb example of Arab and Islamic architecture was built as a rectangle with four square towers and an entrance on the south side dominating a wide stretch of the north Jordan Valley and passages to it. From its hilltop position, the Castle of Ajloun protected the communication routes between south Jordan and Syria, and was one of a chain of forts, which lit beacons at night to pass signals from the Euphrates as far as Cairo.

- Ajloun Castle GateTwo years after it was completed the fortress’s original purpose had already been outlived, for Salahuddin defeated the Crusaders at the battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1189, which marked the beginning of the end of their occupation of the Holy Land.

- In 1214-15 the Castle of Ajloun was enlarged by Aybak bin Abdullah, majordomo of the Caliph Al-Muazham Isa; in 1260 it fell to the Mongols, but was later rebuilt by the Egyptian Mamluks. No longer needed for military purposes, it was used as an administrative center responsible to Damascus.

- Some of the stones with which the castle was built have crosses carved into them, giving credence to a tradition, recounted by a 13th century Arab historian that: “an ancient monastery once stood on the site, inhabited by a Christian named Ajloun; when the monastery fell into ruin, the castle took its place and the name of the monk”.

- The castle today is beautifully preserved and is a popular attraction for foreigners & Jordanians alike. The structures, towers, chambers, galleries and staircases that form part of the town as well as the beautiful scenery that surrounds the hills nearby will captivate you.

Outer Entrance

East Wall, Ajlun Castle

Ajlun Castle(Qalat al Rabad)

, Jordan

 

Ajlun, an Islamic castle, was built in 1183-1184, during the rule of Saladin. The castle was briefly taken by the Mongols in 1260, then reoccupied (1262) by the Mamlukes under Sultan Baybars.

Ajlun is located about 50km north of Amman, near Jarash. Its foundations measure about 100m on a side. The entrance was originally approached by a drawbridge, now a footbridge (D). Other defenses included machicolations (A), sloped glacis above a fosse (B), and arrow slits (C).

The Islamic Periods and the Crusades

 Abbasids

A powerful earthquake rocked Jordan in 747 CE, destroying many buildings and perhaps contributing to the defeat of the Umayyads by the Abbasids three years later. The Abbasids established their capital in Baghdad, leaving Jordan a provincial backwater far from the center of the empire. The Desert Castles were abandoned, and Jordan now suffered more from benign neglect than from the attentions of invading armies. However, recent excavations have shown that the population of Jordan continued to increase, at least until the beginning of the 9th century CE.

 Fatimids

In 969 CE, the Fatimids of Egypt took control of Jordan and struggled over it with various Syrian factions for about two centuries. At the beginning of the 12th century CE, however, a new campaign was launched which would once again place Jordan at the center of a historical struggle. The impetus for the Crusades came from a plea for help from the Emperor of Constantinople, Alexius, who in 1095 reported to his Christian European brothers that his city, the last bastion of Byzantine Christendom, was under imminent threat of attack by the Muslim Turks. The prospect of such a severe defeat prompted Pope Urban II to muster support for Constantinople as well as for the retaking of Jerusalem.

The so-called “Holy Wars” thus began in 1096 CE. They resulted in the conquest of al-Quds (Jerusalem) by Christian forces and the establishment of a kingdom there. The Crusaders’ interest then centered on the protection of the route to Jerusalem, prompting the Crusader King Baldwin I to build a line of fortresses down the backbone of Jordan. The most substantial of these were at Karak and Shobak. However, after having unified Syria and Egypt under his control, the Muslim commander Salah Eddinal-Ayyubi (Saladin) defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hittin in 1187 CE. This opened the way for the Muslim armies to liberate Jerusalem, effectively eliminating the foreign domination of Jordan.

 Ayyubid and Mamluks

Salah Eddin founded the Ayyubid dynasty, which ruled much of Syria, Egypt and Jordan for the next eighty years. In the year 1258 CE, an invasion of Mongols swept across much of the Near East. The marauding invaders were eventually turned back in 1260 CE by the Mamluk Sultan Baybars, who fought a successful battle at Ein Jalut. The Mamluks, who were from Central Asia and the Caucasus, seized power and ruled Egypt and later Jordan and Syria from their capital at Cairo.

Tomb of Abu-Suliman Dirini, a Mamluk architect, near Shobak Castle. © Michelle Woodward

The unification of Syria, Egypt and Jordan under the Ayyubids and Mamluks led to another period of prosperity for Jordan, as it once again occupied a key position between its two larger neighbors. Castles were constructed or rebuilt, and caravanseraiswere built to host pilgrims and strengthen lines of communication and trade. Sugar was widely produced and refined at water-driven mills in the Jordan Valley. However, another Mongol invasion in 1401 CE, combined with weak government and widespread disease, weakened the entire region. In 1516 CE, the Mamluks were defeated by the Ottoman Turks. Jordan became part of the Ottoman Empire and remained so for the next 400 years.