Qasr Kharana

Qasr Kharana is an early Umayyad-era desert complex located in the eastern Jordanian desert. The rectangular, fortress-like building dates to the early 8th century CE and is one of the best-preserved of the Umayyad desert ‘castles’ outside major urban centres.

The complex contains a series of vaulted rooms around a central courtyard and solid external walls with projecting corner towers. The mudbrick structure sits on a stone base and retains internal plaster and some decorative features that illustrate early Islamic architectural practices.

Scholars place its construction in the first decades of the Umayyad caliphate, and its design is commonly compared with other desert complexes built for administrative, residential or caravan-support purposes. Over time it has been used as a landmark for travelers crossing the Syrian-Arabian desert.

Qasr Kharana lies in the eastern desert of Jordan, east of Amman along routes that historically linked the capital with desert regions to the east and north.

• Architecture: The building is roughly square with buttressed corners and towers, and many of its interior rooms have barrel or cross vaulting typical of early Umayyad desert structures.
• Function: Built in the early 8th century, its original function is debated - it may have served as a caravan stop, assembly hall or rural palace rather than a fortified military fortress.