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Khirbat Al-Mafjar
Hisham's Palace ( ar, قصر هشام '), also known as Khirbat al-Mafjar ( ar, خربة المفجر), is an important early Islamic archaeological site in the Palestinian city of Jericho, in the West Bank. Built by the Umayyad dynasty in the first half of the 8th century, it is one of the so-called Umayyad desert castles. It is located 3 km north of Jericho's city center, in an area governed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Spreading over , the site consists of three main parts: a palace, an ornate bath complex, and an agricultural estate. Also associated with the site is a large park or agricultural enclosure (''ḥayr'') which extends east of the palace. The entire complex - palace, baths, and farm - was connected by an elaborate water system to nearby springs. Excavation history The site was discovered in 1873. The northern area of the site was noted, but not excavated, in 1894 by F. J. Bliss, but the major source of archaeological information comes from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jericho Governorate
The Jericho Governorate ( ar, محافظة أريحا, Muḥāfaẓat Arīḥā) is one of 16 Governorates of Palestine. Its capital is Jericho. The governorate is located along the eastern areas of the West Bank, along the northern Dead Sea and southern Jordan River valley bordering Jordan. It spans west to the mountains east of Ramallah and the eastern slopes of Jerusalem, including the northern reaches of the Judaean Desert. The population of the Jericho Governorate is estimated to be 50,002, including 13,334 Palestinian refugees in the governorate's camps. Agriculture is important to the economy in the district, especially in the valley near Jericho, its capital. Jericho is often considered the oldest settlement in the world; its many historic and archaeological sites attract numerous tourists to the area. Ein as-Sultan (also known as "Elijah's Spring") is an oasis in Jericho that works as one of the main touristic spots in the area. Localities Cities * Jericho M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockefeller Museum
The Rockefeller Archeological Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum ("PAM"; 1938–1967), and which before then housed The Imperial Museum of Antiquities (''Müze-i Hümayun''; 1901–1917), is an archaeology museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ... located in East Jerusalem that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the excavations conducted in the region of Palestine, mainly in the 1920s and 1930s. With the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the Palestine Archaeological Museum was renamed "Rockefeller Museum", and it has since then been under the management of the Israel Museum. The museum today houses the head office of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The Museum's most priced collection, the Dead Sea S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Qastal, Jordan
Al Qastal ( ar, القسطل) is a town in the Amman Governorate of northern Jordan. Originally established as an Umayyad settlement, it remains the oldest and most complete such settlement in the Near East The remains of the minaret at Qastal is especially important as it is the only one extant from the Umayyad period, making it one of the oldest minarets in the world. Qasr al-Qastal, also located within the town, is considered one of the desert castles and is just 5 km from Qasr Mshatta. History Textual evidence from the poet Kuthayyir 'Azzah indicates that the Qasr al-Qastal complex was originally built by Caliph Yazid bin Abd al-Malik. The fact that the Qasr al-Qastal complex was finished, while the nearby Qasr Mshatta was never finished, indicates that Qasr al-Qastal may be the oldest Umayyad construction in the area. Tombstones from Al-Qastal indicate that after the fall of the Umayyads the site was used by the Abbasid Caliphate. When the Abbasid Caliphate fell, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghassanids
The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levant region. Some merged with Hellenized Christian communities, converting to Christianity in the first few centuries AD, while others may have already been Christians before emigrating north to escape religious persecution. After settling in the Levant, the Ghassanids became a client state to the Byzantine Empire and fought alongside them against the Persian Sassanids and their Arab vassals, the Lakhmids. The lands of the Ghassanids also acted as a buffer zone protecting lands that had been annexed by the Romans against raids by Bedouin tribes. Few Ghassanids became Muslim following the Muslim conquest of the Levant; most Ghassanids remained Christian and joined Melkite and Syriac communities within what is now Jordan, Israel, Palesti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qasr Burqu (North African form of the word)
{{disambiguation, geo ...
Qasr ( ar, قصر, lit=palace/castle/fortress, plural ''qusur''), from Latin ''castrum'', may refer to: Individual ''qusur'' and places named after a ''qasr'' * * Particular types of ''qusur'' * Alcázar (cognate Spanish term; also ''Alcácer'' or ''Alcàsser'') * Alcazar (other) *Desert castles, Umayyad ''qusur'', whose names all have the form Qasr XY *Ksar Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: wiktionary:قصر, قصر ''qṣer'' or ڭصر ''gser'', plural ''qṣur''; Berber language, Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ ''aghrem'' or ''ighrem'', plural: ''igherman''), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is the Nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Castle
The Umayyad desert castles, of which the desert castles of Jordan represent a prominent part, are fortified palaces or castles in what was the then Umayyad province of Bilad al-Sham. Most Umayyad "desert castles" are scattered over the semi-arid regions of north-eastern Jordan, with several more in Syria, Israel and the West Bank (Palestine). Name What is known in English as a "desert castle" is known in Arabic as ''qaṣr'' (singular), ''quṣur'' being the plural.Khouri, R.G., ''The Desert Castles: A Brief Guide to the Antiquities''. Al Kutba, 1988. pp 4-5 However, ''qasr'' is a widely-used Arabic word for palace, castle or fortress, so only a few of the buildings called ''quṣur'' are "desert castles". Brief description The Umayyads erected a number of characteristic palaces, some in the cities, but mostly in the semi-arid regions, and some along important trading routes. The castles were built roughly between 660 and 750 under the Umayyad Caliphate, which had made Damascus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Walid II
Al-Walīd ibn Yazīd (709 – 17 April 744) ( ar, الوليد بن يزيد) usually known simply as Al-Walid II was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 743 until his assassination in the year 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Birth and background Al-Walid was the son of Umayyad caliph Yazid II and his wife Umm al-Hajjaj bint Muhammad al-Thaqafi in 709. His mother was the daughter of Umayyad official Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi. His father, Yazid II ruled the Caliphate from 720 to January 724. Yazid II died in Irbid in the Balqa (i.e. Transjordan) subdistrict of Jund Dimashq (military district of Damascus) on 26 Sha'ban 105 AH (28 January 724 CE). His son al-Walid or half-brother Hisham led his funeral prayers. Yazid had intended to appoint al-Walid as his immediate successor, but was persuaded by Maslama to appoint Hisham instead, followed by al-Walid. Early life As al-Walid grew older, Hisham became increasingly displeased with his nephew's behaviour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hisham Ibn Abd Al-Malik
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, هشام بن عبد الملك, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; 691 – 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). His father was the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (). His mother was A'isha, daughter of Hisham ibn Isma'il of the Banu Makhzum, a prominent clan of the Quraysh, and Abd al-Malik's longtime governor of the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. According to the history of al-Tabari (d. 923), Hisham was given the '' kunya'' (patronymic) of Abu al-Walid. There is scant information about Hisham's early life. He was too young to play any political or military role during his father's reign. He supposedly led the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca once during his brother al-Walid I's reign () and while there, he met the respected descendant of Caliph Ali (), Zayn al-Abidin. He is held ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostracon
An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of stone that have writing scratched into them. Usually these are considered to have been broken off before the writing was added; ancient people used the cheap, plentiful and durable broken pieces of pottery around them as convenient places to place writing for a wide variety of purposes, mostly very short inscriptions, but in some cases very long. Ostracism In Classical Athens, when the decision at hand was to banish or exile a certain member of society, citizen peers would cast their vote by writing the name of the person on the shard of pottery; the vote was counted and, if unfavorable, the person was exiled for a period of ten years from the city, thus giving rise to the term ''ostracism''. Broken pottery shards were also used for anal hygi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ma'an News Agency
Ma'an News Agency (MNA; ar, وكالة معا الإخبارية) is a large wire service created in 2005 in the Palestinian territories. It is part of the Ma'an Network, a non-governmental organization media network created in 2002 in the Palestinian territories among independent journalists throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It has partnerships with eight local television stations and twelve local radio stations. Ma'an News Agency publishes news 24 hours a day in Arabic, Hebrew and English, and claims to be one of the largest wire services in the Palestinian territories, with over three million visits per month. Ma'an News Agency also publishes feature stories, analysis and opinion articles. The agency's headquarters are based in Bethlehem and it has an office in Gaza. History The Ma'an Network was launched in 2002 as a partnership between Bethlehem TV and local Palestinian media organizations. The name ''Ma'an'' is the Arabic word for "together". The group is run by Ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
