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Local legend has it that Qasr al-Abed was built by
 a
love-smitten slave named Tobiah. While his master was
away on a journey, Tobiah built a palace and carved
lions, panthers and eagles on its walls in order to win
the love of his master’s daughter. Unfortunately, the
master returned before Tobiah could finish the work, and
the slave’s efforts went unrequited.
It is believed that the castle was built in the second
century BCE by Hyrcanus head of the powerful Tobiad
family and governor of Ammon.the name "castle of the
slave" may refer to him for he was the governor "slave
of the people."
By design, Qasr al Abed (Palace of the Slave?) was
surrounded by water. Its architect must have conceived
water-reflection as an architecture element inseparable
from the structure itself. An artificial lake was made
possible by building a dam at the lower side of the site
towards the south, and with water running in plenty the
lake was kept full. Water was also piped to reach the
palace with some pressure, enough for domestic use and
for gushing out as fountains from the mouths of animals
mounted in the outer walls. Delicately animated by the
rhythmic ripples vanishing in growing circles, the image
of the palace was reflected in the lake. It might be for
this reason that it was
 designed as a simple bold mass,
a symmetric box, with a pillared entrance. With its
reflection in water, the palace would appear as a double
structure -base to base- suspended in mid flight,
eternal, and symmetrically framed at the real upper end
and the reflected lower end, by friezes of ornaments.
The most interesting part is the north entrance, with
one of the original carved animals, a giant stone lion,
peering down over all who pass underneath. The entire
building was once covered with such figures.
The castle itself is unique, in that it was built from
some of the largest blocks of any building in the Middle
East. The largest block measures seven by three meters,
but as most were only about 40 centimeters wide, the
whole construction was quite flimsy. An earthquake in
362 CE completely flattened the palace.
The ruins of Qasr al-Abed have been partially restored,
thanks to the efforts of a French archeologist who spent
three years making detailed drawings of the fallen
stones. After having made cardboard cutouts of each
stone and piecing the "jigsaw puzzle" together, he then
spent another seven years on the actual reconstruction.
The result is a fine monument which has, so far,
remained mostly undiscovered by tourists. |
