Qusayr `Amrah is an ancient desert castle in northern Jordan. Rulers of the Umayyad caliphate, a large Islamic empire, built the castle early in the A.D. 700’s. Qusayr `Amrah served as a small royal palace and part of a military compound. The isolated castle is one of the best-preserved examples of early Islamic art and architecture. The name—also spelled Qusayr `Amra, Quseir Amra, or Qaṣr `Amrah—is Arabic for little palace at Amra.
Qusayr `Amrah probably dates from the reign of the Umayyad caliph (ruler) al-Walid I (705-715), or a few years later. It stands in a remote area about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Amman, Jordan’s capital, along the Wadi Butum, a seasonal stream. The castle includes a three-vaulted reception hall, a hammam (bath complex), and a deep well. Qusayr `Amrah was originally part of a compound that included a larger fortress just north of the castle. Only the fortress foundations remain.
Richly colored frescoes (paintings made on damp plaster) cover Qusayr `Amrah’s interior limestone walls and arched ceilings. The paintings show the signs of the zodiac, animals, and such people as dancers, hunters, and royalty. This type of secular (nonreligious) art is rare in Islamic structures. The fresco subjects and style reflect the region’s Byzantine and Persian influences (see Byzantine Empire; Persia, Ancient).
Qusayr `Amrah was abandoned not long after the reign of al-Walid II (743-744). It was rediscovered in the late 1890’s. The castle was restored in the 1970’s and named a World Heritage Site in 1985. Such sites are places of unique cultural or natural importance designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A visitors’ center was added to the site in 1999.
