Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi

Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
قصر الحير الشرقي
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi; قصر الحير الشرقي
	Panoramic view of Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
	Location within Syria
General information
Town or city	Homs Governorate
Country	Syria
Coordinates	35°04′26″N 39°04′16″E / 35.073889°N 39.071111°E
Technical details
Material	adobe

Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi (Arabic: قصر الحير الشرقي, lit. 'Eastern al-Hayr Palace or the "Eastern Castle"') is a castle (qasr) in the middle of the Syrian Desert. It was built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 728-29 CE in an area rich in desert fauna.^[1] It was apparently used as a military and hunting outpost.^[2] The palace is the counterpart of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, a nearby castle palace built one year earlier.^[1] It is one of the so-called desert castles.

Location

Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharq is 28 kilometres (17 mi) from Al-Sukhnah and 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Sergiopolis (Rusafa), near Bishri Mountain near Palmyran Middle Mountains.

Syrian Civil War

During Syria Civil War, Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi was captured by armed groups in 2013, then by ISIS. The Castle has been damaged by looting and vandalism. The visitor house has been burgled.^[3] The Syrian Army recaptured the castle on 22 August 2017.^[4]

Architecture

Like other Umayyad architectural works, the construction style was influenced by Byzantine and Sasanian architectures.^[5]

The palace consists of a large open courtyard surrounded by thick bulwarks and towers guarding the entrances and each corner.^[6] The ruins consist of three main components, known as the Small Enclosure, the Large Enclosure and the Outer Enclosure, each of which differ in form and function.^[7] The palace(s) contains remnants of rooms, arches and columns which seem to be parts of a huge royal complex, including smaller structures, a reception hall, a mosque, a large bathhouse, gardens, courtyards and a complex water control system. Believed to each be made of a fine-grained limestone with an amber tint, these structures are each complex and visually stunning. In addition to the using stone, these towers exhibit a unique and charming decorative design, using brick and stucco.^[8] The bigger palace has been several floors, with a huge gate and many towers. Towers were not built as defensive measures. There were also olive yards. The palaces were supplied with water by nearby Byzantine church by a canal 5,700 metres (6,200 yd) long.

Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi was ultimately abandoned at the start of the fourteenth century, resulting in an unprecedented opportunity to study urban life, order and planning during the early Islamic period.^[8] The site was excavated in six seasons between 1964 and 1971 by renowned Islamic art historian Oleg Grabar.^[9]^[10] Excavation of this site provided a unique example for historians and archaeologists of the ecological developments and decorative elements and materials of the area, such as ceramics and coins.^[8] Some of the decorated parts have been moved to the National Museum of Damascus while the gate has been reconstructed in the Deir ez-Zor Museum.^[11]

World Heritage Status

This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on June 8, 1999, in the Cultural category.^[12]

Gallery

Walls and towers
Walls and towers
Byzantine arches and columns

Notes

^ ^a ^b Constable, O.R. (2003). Housing the Stranger in the Mediterranean World: Lodging, Trade, and Travel in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 56. ISBN 0-521-81918-0.
^ Un Château du désert: Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi - UNESCO World Heritage Centre Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
^ "A desert Castle: Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi | UNESCO". en.unesco.org. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
^ @watanisy (22 August 2017). "tigers captured Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ Arce, Ignacio. "UMAYYAD BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND THE MERGING OF ROMAN-BYZANTINE AND PARTHO-SASSANIAN TRADITIONS: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE". Late Antique Archaeology. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
^ Un Château du désert : Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi - UNESCO World Heritage Centre Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ Genequand, Denis (2005). "From 'desert castle' to medieval town: Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi (Syria)". Antiquity. 79: 350–361.
^ ^a ^b ^c Holod-Tretiak, Renata (1970). "Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi: A Mediaeval Town in Syria". Archaeology. 23 (3): 221–231.
^ Grabar, Oleg; Renata, Holod; Knustad, James; Trousdale, William (1978). City in the Desert, Qasr al-Hayr East. Boston: Harvard University Press.
^ Gruber, Christiane; Al-Ferzly, Michelle; Holod, Renata (2021). City in the desert, revisited: Oleg Grabar at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, 1964-71. Kelsey Museum publication. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. ISBN 978-1-7330504-0-1.
^ Bonatz, Dominik; Kühne, Hartmut; Mahmoud, As'ad (1998). Rivers and steppes. Cultural heritage and environment of the Syrian Jezireh. Catalogue to the Museum of Deir ez-Zor. Damascus: Ministry of Culture. OCLC 638775287.
^ "Un Château du désert: Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.