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390:(Lawrence of Arabia) made the fortress his desert headquarters during the winter of 1917, during the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. His office was in the chamber above the entrance gatehouse. It had an additional advantage in modern warfare: the flat nearby desert was an ideal place to build an airfield.
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Lawrence wrote of their first night, "...when there rose a strange, long wailing round the towers outside. Then the cries came again and again and again, rising slowly in power, till they sobbed round the walls in deep waves to die away choked and miserable. Lawrence was told, "...the dogs of the
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boys...to cover with brushwood, palm-branches, and clay the ancient split stone rafters, which stood open to the sky." Ali ibn el
Hussein "took up his quarters in the south-east corner tower, and made that roof tight." The postern gate was shut each night, "The door was a poised lab of dressed
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Although very heavy — 1 ton for each of the leaves of the main gate, 3 tons for single the other — these stone doors can quite easily be moved, thanks to palm tree oil. The unusual choice of stone can be explained by the fact that there is no close source of wood, apart from
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times. At each corner of the outer wall, there is an oblong tower. The main entrance is composed of a single massive hinged slab of granite, which leads to a vestibule where one can see carved into the pavement the remains of a Roman board game.
431:, both east of the capital and reached via Highway 40. Visitors can explore most of the castle, both upstairs and downstairs, except for some sections closed off while the rock is shored up. There is little interpretive material at the moment.
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oasis, the only permanent source of fresh water in approximately 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi) of desert. Several civilizations are known to have occupied the site for its strategic value in this remote and arid desert area.
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basalt, a foot thick, turning on pivots of itself, socketed into threshold and lintel. It took a great effort to start swinging, and at the end went shut with a clang and crash which made tremble the west wall of the old castle."
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According to
Lawrence, "Azrak lay favourably for us, and the old fort would be convenient headquarters if we made it habitable, no matter how severe the winter. So I established myself in its southern gate-tower, and set my six
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Its strategic value came from the nearby oasis, the only water source in a vast desert region. The name of the fortress and associated town came from these. The settlement was known in antiquity as
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415:, the mythical builders of the fort, quested the six towers each night for their dead masters...their ghost-watch kept our ward more closely than arms could have done."
364:. The Romans built a stone structure using the local basalt stone that formed a basis for later constructions on the site, a structure that was equally used by the
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and is a square structure with 80 metre long walls encircling a large central courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard is a small mosque that may date from
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was built in the middle. It did not assume its present form until an extensive renovation and expansion by the
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Qasr al-Azraq underwent its final major stage of building in 1237 CE, when 'Izz ad-Din Aybak, an emir of the
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Lawrence of Arabia's War: The Arabs, the
British and the Remaking of the Middle East in WWI
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Qasr al-Azraq is often included on day trips from Amman to the desert castles, along with
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and the Romans were the first to make military use of the site, and later an early
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based his operations here in 1917–18, an experience he wrote about in his book
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The strategic significance of the castle is that it lies in the middle of the
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which makes the castle darker than most other buildings in the area.
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armies during that empire's hegemony over the region. During the
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570:. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 273,367–368,426.
551:. Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. pp.
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Roman Period, Umayyad Period, 13th–16th century, 1917–18
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people and around 200 CE fell under the control of the
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wood, which is very soft and unsuitable for building.
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13th-century establishments in the
Ayyubid Sultanate
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323:The castle is constructed of the local black
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285:Later, it would be used by the
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382:In the 16th century the
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566:Faulkner, Neil (2016).
547:Seven Pillars of Wisdom
543:Lawrence, T.E. (1935).
300:Seven Pillars of Wisdom
760:Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
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645:Umayyad desert castles
595:Photos of Azraq Castle
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84:Location within Jordan
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218:Garrison information
251:. It is one of the
114:31.8802°N 36.8275°E
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728:Umm al-Walid
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523:. Retrieved
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496:Falls, Cyril
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478:. Retrieved
475:Rough Guides
471:"Qasr Azraq"
425:Qasr Kharana
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177:Site history
159:Open to
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696:Al-Muwaqqar
676:Qasr Burqu'
413:Beni Hillal
291:Arab Revolt
200:In use
117: /
93:Coordinates
991:Categories
960:Qasr Burqu
955:Qasr Bayir
935:Qasr Azraq
765:Jabal Sais
671:Qasr Bayir
555:, 434–436.
452:References
245:قصر الأزرق
225:commanders
105:36°49′39″E
102:31°52′49″N
18:Qasr Azraq
965:Qasr Tuba
779:Palestine
718:Qasr Tuba
429:Qasr Amra
372:empires.
366:Byzantine
358:Nabataean
338:palm tree
208:Materials
169:Condition
525:June 12,
498:(1964).
480:June 12,
435:See also
377:Ayyubids
305:tourists
276:Ayyubids
133:fortress
606:at the
597:at the
404:Haurani
384:Ottoman
370:Umayyad
344:History
329:Umayyad
287:Ottoman
775:Israel
653:Jordan
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362:Romans
325:basalt
280:basalt
272:mosque
249:Jordan
241:Arabic
212:Basalt
194:Romans
747:Syria
419:Today
350:Azraq
268:Basie
261:Amman
257:Azraq
182:Built
143:Owner
777:and
572:ISBN
527:2009
514:ISBN
482:2009
427:and
368:and
223:Past
130:Type
553:414
164:yes
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