Aqaba Castle: A Mamluk and Ottoman Caravanserai Fortress in Jordan
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Jordan
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Mamluk, Ottoman, Umayyad
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page8 sections
History
Aqaba Castle is a Mamluk and Ottoman fortified caravanserai in Aqaba, Jordan, whose present form dates mainly from the sixteenth century. Built on the pilgrimage route to Mecca and Medina, it served Muslim pilgrims travelling from Egypt for the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. The castle also became associated with the Arab Revolt and the 1917 capture of Aqaba during the First World War.
Before the Mamluk Fortress
The castle stands within a landscape that had an earlier Islamic history. In 1116, the early Muslim fortified city of Ayla was already dilapidated when King Baldwin I of Jerusalem reached it. Its inhabitants fled by ship to a nearby island, while the Crusaders left a garrison in a small fort. That fort may have been built by the Crusaders, although archaeologist Donald Whitcomb considered it more likely that they inherited it from the Ayyubids, the dynasty founded by Saladin that ruled parts of the Middle East before the Mamluks.
Archaeological investigations have found no identifiable twelfth-century material at Aqaba. Whitcomb therefore proposed that the earlier fort was completely demolished when the Mamluks constructed their own fortress on the same site. The later Mamluk fort stood approximately 1 kilometre south of Ayla, the early Muslim fortified city that preceded it.
Mamluk and Ottoman Construction
In 1997, Denys Pringle attributed the first structure of the Mamluk fort to Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad, around 1320. The building visible today, however, reflects later Mamluk and early Ottoman construction phases. Its original purpose was that of a khan, or caravanserai, an inn providing accommodation and services for travellers, particularly pilgrims and commercial caravans. The fortified inn supported movement along the route to Mecca and Medina while also providing a defensible position.
The final phases of construction are associated with two inscriptions in the gatehouse. One praises Al-Ashraf Qansuh Al-Ghuri, the last major Mamluk sultan, who ruled from 1501 to 1516. The other commemorates substantial work ordered by the Ottoman sultan Murad III in 1587. The Ottoman Empire incorporated the region after the Mamluk period and carried out major work at the castle.
During the nineteenth century, the castle came under Egyptian control. Efforts were made to strengthen it as a military position protecting the pilgrimage route. Under Ottoman rule, Aqaba later declined in importance and remained a small fishing village for approximately four centuries.
The First World War and the Arab Revolt
During the First World War, Ottoman forces withdrew from Aqaba after an attack by the Arab army of Sharif Hussein bin Ali, the principal Hashemite leader of the Arab Revolt. The revolt was the 1916–1918 uprising against Ottoman rule in the Arab provinces. British liaison officer Lawrence of Arabia assisted Arab forces during the campaign.
In July 1917, an Arab camel charge brought about the fall of the Ottoman stronghold during the Battle of Aqaba. The victory made Aqaba one of the principal strongholds of the Arab Revolt, and its port became a major supply base for the advancing forces. Lawrence then travelled from Aqaba to Cairo to report the victory to General Edmund Allenby, the British commander. Jordanian tribes used the castle as a headquarters and as a base for operations against Ottoman rule.
Shelling during the First World War destroyed the western wall and the northwestern tower. The castle is now a museum. An adjacent building that served as Sharif Hussein’s residence in 1917 houses the Aqaba Archaeological Museum. The neighbouring Aqaba Flagpole, erected in 2004, commemorates and displays the flag of the Arab Revolt.
Remains
Fortress Layout
Aqaba Castle is a roughly quadrilateral stone fortress beside the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba in central Aqaba. A tower originally occupied each corner, while the eastern-facing towers were formerly polygonal and were given rounded forms after 1828. The western wall and northwestern tower were brought down by First World War shelling, leaving the surviving building with evidence of both its fortified design and later damage.
A monumental arched gate forms the principal entrance. It leads through a passage with a vestibule and arches into the castle courtyard. Two large halls stand on either side of the entrance, and their walls carry inscriptions connected with construction and restoration. The old machicolation, a projecting defensive structure with openings used against attackers below, was later decorated with a panel bearing the Hashemite coat of arms to commemorate the Arab victory of 1917.
Gatehouse Inscriptions
A vaulted room within the gatehouse contains one of the principal construction inscriptions. An inscription running along the room praises Al-Ashraf Qansuh Al-Ghuri and states that he ordered construction of the “blessed and fortunate castle.” A medallion above it is dedicated to Murad III and records substantial work carried out in 1587. Its wording states that Sultan Murad, son of Selim Khan, renewed the castle. Together, these fixed texts preserve the memory of the Mamluk and Ottoman building phases.
Earlier Occupation and Construction
The western part of the site preserves evidence of several earlier occupation stages. The earliest identified phase belongs to the Umayyad period and is represented mainly by irrigation installations. These were followed by a thirteenth-century khan with the same basic alignment as the later fortress. A fourteenth- or fifteenth-century khan came afterward, with a footprint that generally corresponds to the present building. The sequence links the castle’s surviving form to earlier use of the site as a stopping place for travellers.
