The castle sits guarding an extremely stragegic point in Jordan. It's close to the borders of Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, but more importantly for such an arid region, it sits atop the Azraq Oasis, the only permanent source of freshwater in over 12,000 km of parched desert.
The Romans built the first fortress. The Mamelukes turned it into its current state in the 13th century, adding a mosque in the middle of the courtyard. The Ottomans took it over and garrisoned units there in 16th century, before Lawrence of Arabia took it over during the Great Arab Revolt.
Lawrence holed up in a room above the gate for the winter, and Nader offered to let me stay there the night for a small fee, including all the firewood I could burn, and as much food as I could eat.
Nader charges a fee for his services, which is negotiable. He asked for 4JD and I gave him 5, but I'm sure you could negotiate much less if you are really mean spirited. Personally I thought it was worth half an hour of his eloquent and informative time.
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on Jan 16, 2007
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