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This imposing structure is situated about
 65 km east of
Amman and 18 km west of Qusayr Amra. Harraneh is one of
the best-preserved Umayyad monuments in the Jordanian
steppe. It consists of 61 rooms arranged into 2 levels
surrounded by a porticoes central courtyard. These rooms
are grouped as self-contained units (bayts), each
consisting of a central hall flanked on 2 sides by a
pair of rooms opening onto the central hall.
Qasr Al-Harraneh remains an enigma to archaeologists and
historians. Some experts believe that it was a defensive
fort, while others maintain it was a caravanserais for
passing camel trains. Yet another theory is that it
served as a retreat for Umayyad leaders to discuss
affairs of state. With its high walls, arrow slits, four
corner towers and square shape of a Roman fortress, Qasr
Al-Harraneh would appear to be a defensive castle.
However, the towers are not large enough to have been an
effective defense, and may have instead been built to
buttress the walls.
The arrow slits are also cosmetic, being too narrow on
the inside to allow archers sufficient visibility and
too few in number for effective military usage. We do
know that an inscription in a second-story room dates
the construction of Qasr Al-Harraneh to 711 CE. The
presence of Greek inscriptions around the main entrance
frame suggests that the castle was built on the site of
a Roman or Byzantine building.
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