Jabal Sais ( ar, جبل سايس also known as Qasr Says is a
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
desert fortification or former palace in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
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
Jere L. Bacharach (born 1938 in New York) is Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Academia
Bacharach attended Trinity College, receiving his B.A. in 1960, Harvard University receiving his M.A. ...
,
al-Walid I
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ( ar, الوليد بن عبد الملك بن مروان, al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān; ), commonly known as al-Walid I ( ar, الوليد الأول), was the sixth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad ca ...
built
Jabal Says
Jabal, Jabel, Jebel or Jibal may refer to:
People
* Jabal (name), a male Arabic given name
* Jabal (Bible), mentioned in the Hebrew Bible
Places
In Arabic, ''jabal'' or ''jebel'' (spelling variants of the same word) means 'mountain'.
* Dzhebel, ...
, likely as a
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
summer encampment between his base of operations in
al-Qaryatayn
Al-Qaryatayn ( ar, ٱلْقَرْيَتَين, syr, ܩܪܝܬܝܢ), 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 t ...
and another of his desert forts,
Qasr Burqu'
Qasr Burqu' is a set of ruins and an archaeological site in the ''badia'' of eastern Jordan and is the site of one of the earliest of the Umayyad desert castles.
Background
Under the Umayyad Caliphate, nobles and wealthy families belonging t ...
.
See also
*
Desert castles
*
List of castles in Syria
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
Buildings and structures completed in 715
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