Qasr Harrana (), sometimes Qasr al-Kharana, Harana, Qasr al-Harrana, Qasr al-Haranah, Haraneh, Khauranee, or Hraneh, is one of the best-known of the desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan, about east of Amman and relatively close to the border with Saudi Arabia. It is uncertain when the palace was constructed, but it likely orginates from the Umayyad Dynasty. An inscription on an upper wall dates the building to before 710 CE. A Greek or Byzantine house may have existed on the site. The purpose of the building is a subject of debate among scholars. Theories as to the qasr's purpose include a Crusader's castle, a military stronghold, agricultural outpost, and resting place for caravan travelers. The current scholarly consensus is that the building was used as for meeting between local Bedouin leaders.
Description
The qasr is a nearly square building, on each side, with three-quarter-round buttresses at the corners, a projecting rounded entrance on the south side with quarter-round buttresses, and half-round buttresses bisecting every other facade. It is made of rough limestone blocks set in a mud-based mortar. Decorative courses of flat stones run through the facing.
On the inside, the building has 60 rooms on two levels arranged around a central courtyard, with a rainwater pool in the middle. Many of the rooms have small slits for light and ventilation. Some of the rooms are decorated with pilasters, medallions and blind niches finished in plaster.
Location
The palace is located along the Al-Azraq Highway in a remote area of the Jordanian desert, isolated from human settlement. It is located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east-south-east of Amman, Jordan, the capital city. The castle has an expansive view in all directions — twelve kilometers (7.5 miles) to the south, 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) to the west, several kilometers to the north, and the horizon is visible to the east. There were no additional buildings on the site.
It was built on top of a ridge which overlooks the Wadi al-Kharana. The wadi is the primary source of water for the palace. Simple well systems called thamail (singular thamila), an Arabic word meaning "a place where water remains", were used to draw water from the wadi. Thamail are pits dug into the gravel that rests upon the bedrock in the wadi, where they collect water. It is impossible to identify any thamail used during the period of construction or use of the palace, because these pits are periodically washed away by natural floods. However, the thamail in use today were likely comparable to the ones used by those who used the building. There is no evidence of wells or dams being built in order to provide a better water source than the thamail.
Purpose
The purpose of the structure remains unclear today. In 1895, Sir John Edward Gray Hill, an English explorer, noted two deep cisterns that had apparently fallen out of use. Unfortunately, he didn't expand on this observation, and no one else has recorded the existence of any water storage apparatus, like dams or irrigation lines, besides thamail in the wadi bed. The small scale of water production and storage means it is unlikely that anyone depended on the building to support large groups, especially for long periods of time. This discounts the theories that the qasr was used as a caravanserai (a resting place for traders), an agricultural outpost, or a palace intended for recreation.
Early explorers assumed the palace was used as a military stronghold. This is very unlikely. Besides being unable to withstand a prolonged siege due to limited water supply, there is no evidence of battlements having existed, and the slits in the wall were intended for ventilation, not as arrow slits.
Not much is known about trade routes in the greater Jordan area in the early Islamic period. It is believed that trade routes ran from Azraq north to Damascus, as well as from Azraq to Hallabat, then to Al-Muwaqqar and Amman. Qasr Kharana is located far from both of these routes, so it is unlikely that it was intended as a service point for caravan traders, since it is not only remote, but had little water to offer. While there were rooms used as stables, there is no evidence of large corral areas which would have been necessary for caravan groups. The building features no baths or decorative mosaics, so it is unlikely that the building was used as a palace for recreation. A possible function of the building is a meeting place for local Bedouin leaders. While it lacked the infrastructure to support long-term stays of large groups, it has stables, plenty of rooms, and a courtyard which would have been conducive to meetings.