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379:(Lawrence of Arabia) made the fortress his desert headquarters during the winter of 1917, during the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. His office was in the chamber above the entrance gatehouse. It had an additional advantage in modern warfare: the flat nearby desert was an ideal place to build an airfield.
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Lawrence wrote of their first night, "...when there rose a strange, long wailing round the towers outside. Then the cries came again and again and again, rising slowly in power, till they sobbed round the walls in deep waves to die away choked and miserable. Lawrence was told, "...the dogs of the
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boys...to cover with brushwood, palm-branches, and clay the ancient split stone rafters, which stood open to the sky." Ali ibn el
Hussein "took up his quarters in the south-east corner tower, and made that roof tight." The postern gate was shut each night, "The door was a poised lab of dressed
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Although very heavy — 1 ton for each of the leaves of the main gate, 3 tons for single the other — these stone doors can quite easily be moved, thanks to palm tree oil. The unusual choice of stone can be explained by the fact that there is no close source of wood, apart from
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times. At each corner of the outer wall, there is an oblong tower. The main entrance is composed of a single massive hinged slab of granite, which leads to a vestibule where one can see carved into the pavement the remains of a Roman board game.
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oasis, the only permanent source of fresh water in approximately 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi) of desert. Several civilizations are known to have occupied the site for its strategic value in this remote and arid desert area.
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basalt, a foot thick, turning on pivots of itself, socketed into threshold and lintel. It took a great effort to start swinging, and at the end went shut with a clang and crash which made tremble the west wall of the old castle."
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According to
Lawrence, "Azrak lay favourably for us, and the old fort would be convenient headquarters if we made it habitable, no matter how severe the winter. So I established myself in its southern gate-tower, and set my six
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Its strategic value came from the nearby oasis, the only water source in a vast desert region. The name of the fortress and associated town came from these. The settlement was known in antiquity as
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353:. The Romans built a stone structure using the local basalt stone that formed a basis for later constructions on the site, a structure that was equally used by the
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and is a square structure with 80 metre long walls encircling a large central courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard is a small mosque that may date from
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was built in the middle. It did not assume its present form until an extensive renovation and expansion by the
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Qasr al-Azraq underwent its final major stage of building in 1237 CE, when 'Izz ad-Din Aybak, an emir of the
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Lawrence of Arabia's War: The Arabs, the
British and the Remaking of the Middle East in WWI
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Qasr al-Azraq is often included on day trips from Amman to the desert castles, along with
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and the Romans were the first to make military use of the site, and later an early
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based his operations here in 1917–18, an experience he wrote about in his book
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The strategic significance of the castle is that it lies in the middle of the
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which makes the castle darker than most other buildings in the area.
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armies during that empire's hegemony over the region. During the
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559:. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 273,367–368,426.
540:. Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. pp.
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Roman Period, Umayyad Period, 13th–16th century, 1917–18
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people and around 200 CE fell under the control of the
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wood, which is very soft and unsuitable for building.
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13th-century establishments in the
Ayyubid Sultanate
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267:in the 13th century, using locally quarried
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16:Castle in Azraq, Zarqa Governorate, Jordan
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375:Turks stationed a garrison there, and
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1006:Roman legionary fortresses in Jordan
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174:early 4th century, rebuilt 1237 CE
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135:Jordanian Ministry of Antiquities
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499:University of Pennsylvania Press
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274:Later, it would be used by the
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143:Jordanian Ministry of Tourism
588:American Center of Research
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1001:Nabataean sites in Jordan
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42:Main entrance from inside
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371:In the 16th century the
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555:Faulkner, Neil (2016).
536:Seven Pillars of Wisdom
532:Lawrence, T.E. (1935).
289:Seven Pillars of Wisdom
749:Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
744:Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi
634:Umayyad desert castles
584:Photos of Azraq Castle
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73:Location within Jordan
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991:Ayyubid architecture
854:Amathus, Transjordan
207:Garrison information
240:. It is one of the
103:31.8802°N 36.8275°E
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140:Controlled by
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29:Azraq, Jordan
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874:Kerak Castle
717:Umm al-Walid
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675:Qasr Kharana
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650:Qusayr 'Amra
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512:. Retrieved
495:Philadelphia
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485:Falls, Cyril
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467:. Retrieved
464:Rough Guides
460:"Qasr Azraq"
414:Qasr Kharana
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300:Architecture
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166:Site history
148:Open to
786:Al-Sinnabra
685:Al-Muwaqqar
665:Qasr Burqu'
402:Beni Hillal
280:Arab Revolt
189:In use
106: /
82:Coordinates
980:Categories
949:Qasr Burqu
944:Qasr Bayir
924:Qasr Azraq
754:Jabal Sais
660:Qasr Bayir
544:, 434–436.
441:References
234:قصر الأزرق
214:commanders
94:36°49′39″E
91:31°52′49″N
954:Qasr Tuba
768:Palestine
707:Qasr Tuba
418:Qasr Amra
361:empires.
355:Byzantine
347:Nabataean
327:palm tree
197:Materials
158:Condition
514:June 12,
487:(1964).
469:June 12,
424:See also
366:Ayyubids
294:tourists
265:Ayyubids
122:fortress
595:at the
586:at the
393:Haurani
373:Ottoman
359:Umayyad
333:History
318:Umayyad
276:Ottoman
764:Israel
642:Jordan
563:
505:
351:Romans
314:basalt
269:basalt
261:mosque
238:Jordan
230:Arabic
201:Basalt
183:Romans
736:Syria
408:Today
339:Azraq
257:Basie
250:Amman
246:Azraq
171:Built
132:Owner
766:and
561:ISBN
516:2009
503:ISBN
471:2009
416:and
357:and
212:Past
119:Type
542:414
153:yes
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228:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
