Al Karak
Encyclopedia
Karak is a city in Jordan
that is known for the famous crusader castle Kerak
. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria
. Karak is the capital city of Karak Governorate
.
Karak, once a Kingdom
, lies 140 km to the south of Amman
on the King's Highway
.
An ancient Crusader stronghold, it is situated on a hilltop about 1000 meters above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by a valley. Karak has a view of the Dead Sea
. A city of about 20,000 people has been built up around the castle, and it has buildings from 19th century Ottoman
period. The town is built on a triangular plateau, with the castle at its narrow southern tip, but it is undoubtedly Karak Castle which dominates.
, and was an important city for the Moab
ites (who called it Qir of Moab). In the Bible
it is called Qer Harreseth, and is identified as having been subject to the Assyrian empire; in the Books of Kings
(16:9) and Book of Amos
(1:5, 9:7), it is mentioned as the place where the Syrians went before they settled in the regions north of Palestine, and to which Tiglath-Pileser III
sent the prisoners after the conquest of Damascus
. In 1958 the remains of an inscription
was found in wadi al Karak that has been dated to the late ninth century BC. THe area eventually fell under the power of the Nabateans. The Romans
(with support from the Ghassanids
or Ghassasinah الغساسنة) conquered it from them in 105 AD. The Al-Ghassasneh (Ghassanids) tribe is believed to be the first tribe to inhabit the site of modern al-Karak. The tribe consists of the families: Suheimat, Dmour, Mbaydeen, Adaileh, Soub, Karakiyeen. During the late Hellenistic Period, Al Karak became an important town taking its name from the Aramaic
word for town, Kharkha. Under Roman
rule the city was known as Areopolis, and in Late Antiquity
as Harreketh. Under the Byzantine Empire
it was a bishopric seat, housing the much venerated Church of Nazareth, and remained predominantly Christian
under Arab
rule.
Lord of Montreal and Oultrejourdain, the lands east of the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. Pagan made his headquarters at al-Karak were he built a castle on a hill called by the crusaders Petra Deserti - The Stone of the Desert. His castle, much modified, dominates the town to this day.
The castle was only in Crusader hands for 46 years. It had been threatened by Saladin
's armies several times but finally, surrendered in 1188, after a siege that lasted more than a year. Saladin's younger brother, Al-Adil was governor of the district until becoming ruler of Egypt and Syria in 1199.
The castle played an important role as a place of exile and a power base several times during the Mamluk
Sultanate. Its significance lay in its control over the caravan route between Damascus and Egypt and the pilgrimage route between Damascus and Mecca. In the thirteenth century the Mamluke ruler Baibars
used it as a stepping stone on his climb to power. In 1389 Sultan Barquq was exiled to al-Karak were he gathered his supporters before returning to Cairo
.
Al-Karak was the birth place of Ibn al-Quff
, an Arab
physician
and surgeon
and author of the earliest medieval Arabic treatise intended solely for surgeons.
tribe, who originally came from Hebron
. They had been preceded by the Saraieh, who in turn had replaced the once dominant El 'Ahmer. In 1844 Ibrahim Pasha
of Egypt sent an expedition west of the Dead Sea. His troops occupied the castle at Karak but they were starved out with much loss of life.
Mohammed Al Majali who had control of Karak in 1868, was involved in the events that led to the distruction of the Moabite Stone
. In 1893 the Sublime Porte Abdul Hamid II
established the sub-province of Ma'an
, with a resident governor (Mutasarif) in Kerak, under the Wāli
of Syria
based in Damascus
. One of the first governors, 1895, was Hussein Helmy Bey Effendi, aged 40, formerly the General Secretary at Damascus. He ruled with a garrison of 1,200 troops, in 3 regiments, mostly conscripts from West of the River Jordan doing their three years of military service. There were also 200 Circassian
cavalry. One of his achievements was the disarming of the local population. He also established a Military Hospital with a Jewish doctor; enforced the regulation of coinage and weights and measures; introduced a weekly postal service to Jerusalem, Damascus and Ma'an; and set up agricultural projects such as the planting of 5,000 grape vines at Madeba. One estimate of the population of the town and the surrounding area at this time gives a total of 10,000. Of these 2,000 were Orthodox whose Church, St George, had been built in 1849. The Latin Mission was established in 1874 and in 1886 el Mujely gave permission to the English Mission to work in the town. The town's Orthodox school had 120 boys and 60 girls. The same source notes that the town's Mufti
had been educated in Hebron and al Azhar, Cairo
, and that there was a newly built mosque. Merchants from Damascus came to the town twice each year.
Following the San Remo conference
, 1920, Great Britain
was given a mandate to govern the area. The newly appointed High Commissioner in Jerusalem, Herbert Samuel, sent several officials east of the River Jordan to create a local administration. Major Alec Kirkbride
was based in al-Karak with a small detachment of policemen. He established what he named The National Government of Moab with himself as president. In January 1921 Emir Abdullah Hussein
began assembling an army in Ma'an
and announced his intention to attack the French
in Syria
. After a brief consultation with his superiors Kirkbride's Government welcomed the arrival of the Emir. At the Cairo conference
, March 1921, Abdullah was recognised by the British as ruler of Transjordan
.
In August 1996 there were riots in the town after the government increased the price of bread.
In 1920's al-Karak had a population of 8,000 and after Amman
and Salt
(both 20,000) was the third largest urban population in Transjordan
.
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
that is known for the famous crusader castle Kerak
Kerak
Kerak Castle is a large crusader castle located in Kerak in Jordan. It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant.Construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagan, the butler of Fulk of Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Karak in Moab", as it is frequently...
. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Karak is the capital city of Karak Governorate
Karak Governorate
Karak is one of the governorates of Jordan, located south-west of Amman, Jordan's capital. Its capital is Al Karak. It borders Madaba and the Capital Governorates to the north, Ma'an Governorate from the east, Tafilah Governorate from the south, and the Dead Sea form the west.-Ancient History:The...
.
Karak, once a Kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, lies 140 km to the south of Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
on the King's Highway
King's Highway (ancient)
The King’s Highway was a trade route of vital importance to the ancient Middle East. It began in Egypt, and stretched across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba. From there it turned northward across Jordan, leading to Damascus and the Euphrates River....
.
An ancient Crusader stronghold, it is situated on a hilltop about 1000 meters above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by a valley. Karak has a view of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
. A city of about 20,000 people has been built up around the castle, and it has buildings from 19th century Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
period. The town is built on a triangular plateau, with the castle at its narrow southern tip, but it is undoubtedly Karak Castle which dominates.
History
Al Karak has been inhabited since at least the Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, and was an important city for the Moab
Moab
Moab is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan. The land lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over...
ites (who called it Qir of Moab). In the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
it is called Qer Harreseth, and is identified as having been subject to the Assyrian empire; in the Books of Kings
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
(16:9) and Book of Amos
Book of Amos
The Book of Amos is a prophetic book of the Hebrew Bible, one of the Twelve Minor Prophets. Amos, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, was active c. 750 BCE during the reign of Jeroboam II, making the Book of Amos the first biblical prophetic book written. Amos lived in the kingdom of Judah...
(1:5, 9:7), it is mentioned as the place where the Syrians went before they settled in the regions north of Palestine, and to which Tiglath-Pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III was a prominent king of Assyria in the eighth century BC and is widely regarded as the founder of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Tiglath-Pileser III seized the Assyrian throne during a civil war and killed the royal family...
sent the prisoners after the conquest of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. In 1958 the remains of an inscription
El-Kerak Inscription
The El-Kerak Inscription was discovered in 1958 in Jordan, near the El-Kerak wadi. It is a basalt inscription fragment measuring high by wide. The inscription has been dated to the late ninth century BC and contains 3 incomplete lines written in the Moabite language. The form of letters is very...
was found in wadi al Karak that has been dated to the late ninth century BC. THe area eventually fell under the power of the Nabateans. The Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
(with support from the Ghassanids
Ghassanids
The Ghassanids were a group of South Arabian Christian tribes that emigrated in the early 3rd century from Yemen to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Holy Land....
or Ghassasinah الغساسنة) conquered it from them in 105 AD. The Al-Ghassasneh (Ghassanids) tribe is believed to be the first tribe to inhabit the site of modern al-Karak. The tribe consists of the families: Suheimat, Dmour, Mbaydeen, Adaileh, Soub, Karakiyeen. During the late Hellenistic Period, Al Karak became an important town taking its name from the Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
word for town, Kharkha. Under Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
rule the city was known as Areopolis, and in Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
as Harreketh. Under the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
it was a bishopric seat, housing the much venerated Church of Nazareth, and remained predominantly Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
under Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
rule.
The Crusaders and Mamlukes
In 1132 King Fulk, the Crusader king of Jerusalem, made Pagan the ButlerPagan the Butler
Pagan the Butler was a Crusader lord in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Around 1120, he first appears as the butler of Baldwin II....
Lord of Montreal and Oultrejourdain, the lands east of the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. Pagan made his headquarters at al-Karak were he built a castle on a hill called by the crusaders Petra Deserti - The Stone of the Desert. His castle, much modified, dominates the town to this day.
The castle was only in Crusader hands for 46 years. It had been threatened by Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
's armies several times but finally, surrendered in 1188, after a siege that lasted more than a year. Saladin's younger brother, Al-Adil was governor of the district until becoming ruler of Egypt and Syria in 1199.
The castle played an important role as a place of exile and a power base several times during the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
Sultanate. Its significance lay in its control over the caravan route between Damascus and Egypt and the pilgrimage route between Damascus and Mecca. In the thirteenth century the Mamluke ruler Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
used it as a stepping stone on his climb to power. In 1389 Sultan Barquq was exiled to al-Karak were he gathered his supporters before returning to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
.
Al-Karak was the birth place of Ibn al-Quff
Ibn al-Quff
Amīn-ad-Daula Abu-'l-Faraǧ ibn Yaʻqūb ibn Isḥāq Ibn al-Quff al-Karaki was an Arab physician and surgeon and author of the earliest medieval Arabic treatise intended solely for surgeons....
, an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
and author of the earliest medieval Arabic treatise intended solely for surgeons.
Modern history
For most of nineteenth century Karak was ruled by the Al MajaliMajali
Majali is a prominent Jordanian surname. Family members have long served both the Ottoman Turks and the Hashemite family that has ruled Jordan since 1921 and have occupied senior positions in the government and military...
tribe, who originally came from Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. They had been preceded by the Saraieh, who in turn had replaced the once dominant El 'Ahmer. In 1844 Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
of Egypt sent an expedition west of the Dead Sea. His troops occupied the castle at Karak but they were starved out with much loss of life.
Mohammed Al Majali who had control of Karak in 1868, was involved in the events that led to the distruction of the Moabite Stone
Mesha Stele
The Mesha Stele is a black basalt stone bearing an inscription by the 9th century BC ruler Mesha of Moab in Jordan....
. In 1893 the Sublime Porte Abdul Hamid II
Abdul Hamid II
His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire...
established the sub-province of Ma'an
Ma'an
Ma'an is a town in southern Jordan 218 km away from the capital Amman. It is the capital of Ma'an Governorate. Ma'an has a population of around 50,000. The city had a population of 22,989 in the 1992 census and is estimated as being about 50,000 as of 2007 according to the Ma'an Municipality...
, with a resident governor (Mutasarif) in Kerak, under the Wāli
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
of Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
based in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. One of the first governors, 1895, was Hussein Helmy Bey Effendi, aged 40, formerly the General Secretary at Damascus. He ruled with a garrison of 1,200 troops, in 3 regiments, mostly conscripts from West of the River Jordan doing their three years of military service. There were also 200 Circassian
Adyghe people
The Adyghe or Adygs , also often known as Circassians or Cherkess, are in origin a North Caucasian ethnic groupwho were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.Adyghe people mostly speak Adyghe and most...
cavalry. One of his achievements was the disarming of the local population. He also established a Military Hospital with a Jewish doctor; enforced the regulation of coinage and weights and measures; introduced a weekly postal service to Jerusalem, Damascus and Ma'an; and set up agricultural projects such as the planting of 5,000 grape vines at Madeba. One estimate of the population of the town and the surrounding area at this time gives a total of 10,000. Of these 2,000 were Orthodox whose Church, St George, had been built in 1849. The Latin Mission was established in 1874 and in 1886 el Mujely gave permission to the English Mission to work in the town. The town's Orthodox school had 120 boys and 60 girls. The same source notes that the town's Mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
had been educated in Hebron and al Azhar, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, and that there was a newly built mosque. Merchants from Damascus came to the town twice each year.
Following the San Remo conference
San Remo conference
The San Remo Conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council, held in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. It was attended by the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I who were represented by the prime ministers of Britain , France and Italy and...
, 1920, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
was given a mandate to govern the area. The newly appointed High Commissioner in Jerusalem, Herbert Samuel, sent several officials east of the River Jordan to create a local administration. Major Alec Kirkbride
Alec Kirkbride
- Biography :He began his military career as an officer in the army of General Allenby from 1916 to 1921. In 1920, after the Battle of Maysalun and the fall of Faisal's government of Syria left Transjordan with no central authority, he was dispatched by the British government to Transjordan to help...
was based in al-Karak with a small detachment of policemen. He established what he named The National Government of Moab with himself as president. In January 1921 Emir Abdullah Hussein
Abdullah I of Jordan
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...
began assembling an army in Ma'an
Ma'an
Ma'an is a town in southern Jordan 218 km away from the capital Amman. It is the capital of Ma'an Governorate. Ma'an has a population of around 50,000. The city had a population of 22,989 in the 1992 census and is estimated as being about 50,000 as of 2007 according to the Ma'an Municipality...
and announced his intention to attack the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. After a brief consultation with his superiors Kirkbride's Government welcomed the arrival of the Emir. At the Cairo conference
Cairo Conference
The Cairo Conference of November 22–26, 1943, held in Cairo, Egypt, addressed the Allied position against Japan during World War II and made decisions about postwar Asia...
, March 1921, Abdullah was recognised by the British as ruler of Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
.
In August 1996 there were riots in the town after the government increased the price of bread.
Demographics
Karak City's Metropolitan population is estimated to be 68,800 (2003 estimate). making up 31.5% of the total population of the Karak Governorate. Most of the population of the city are Muslims, there is also a significant Christian population. In general the percentage of Christians in Karak City is among the highest in Jordan.In 1920's al-Karak had a population of 8,000 and after Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
and Salt
Salt, Jordan
Salt is an ancient agricultural town and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1100 metres above sea level, the town is built in the crook of three hills, close to the Jordan River...
(both 20,000) was the third largest urban population in Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
.