Qasr Bshir

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Qasr Bshir
Jordan
Fortress standing alone in an arid landscape
Exterior
Location
Qasr Bshir is located in Jordan
Qasr Bshir
Qasr Bshir
Location within Jordan
Coordinates31°20′14″N 35°58′52″E / 31.33722°N 35.98111°E / 31.33722; 35.98111
Site history
Built3rd century
Built byRomans
Demolished8th century

Qasr Bshir (Arabic: قصر بشير; Latin: Castra Praetorii Mobeni) is an ancient castrum (Roman fortification) in what is now Jordan. Isolated in an area of the desert rippled with shallow valleys that drain into the Wadi Mujib,[1] it is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of the capital city, Amman. The structure is not visible from any settlement or Jordan's Desert Highway.[2] It measures about 57 metres (187 ft) square and stands three storeys tall.[2] Qasr Bshir is one of the best-preserved examples of a castellum or small Roman fort,[3] and it retains its Latin inscription above the entrance.[4][6]

The castrum was part of the Limes Arabicus, a chain of forts and watchtowers on the eastern desert frontier of the Roman Empire.[7] Construction began in the third century,[2] during the Tetrarchy, when the empire was divided between four emperors. Diocletian sought to secure Rome's far eastern border with a string of fortifications.[8]

The Limes Arabicus, or Arabian frontier, protected the Roman provinces of Syria and Arabia Petraea from raids by Arab nomads. Each location was just far enough apart to maintain communication.[8] Satellite imagery has since revealed many smaller outposts scattered to the east, indicating that Qasr Bshir was also likely part of a trade network stretching into Persia.[9] Although it is now located where the Syrian Desert meets the semi-arid steppe country in the Jordanian Highlands, the area once experienced higher rainfall and there is evidence of agriculture during classical antiquity.[2] By 500 CE, the eastern forts, including Qasr Bshir, were abandoned.[8] Centuries later, the site was reoccupied by the Umayyads until earthquakes in 747 and 749 destroyed much of the building.[10]

Since historians Rudolf Ernst Brünnow and Alfred von Domaszewski began documenting the site in the late nineteenth century, significant additional damage has appeared in the structure. Large cracks not visible in their original photographs have formed, and entire rooms have collapsed.[10] Extensive archaeological excavations were carried out during the 1980s.[11] To study how the Romans would have communicated with Betthorus over a dozen kilometres away, archaeologists manned outposts on the Limes in 1982, including Qasr Bshir and the nearby watchtower Qasr Abu el-Kharaq. They used smoke signals, mirrors, and torches to test how effectively messages could travel along the frontier, finding that, although winds could hinder smoke visibility, mirrors were visible within 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) during the day and torches were visible up to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) at night.[12][13]

Qasr Bshir is listed on the Jordanian Tentative List as a potential World Heritage Site and may become one contingent upon measures to preserve it. Weathering and looting of stones continue to threaten the structure, and one tower, supported by a single remaining cornerstone, is in danger of collapse.[2]

Qasr Bshir's courtyard is cluttered with fallen stones, interspersed with sparse patches of vegetation.
Interior

References

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  1. ^ Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Department of Antiquities (18 June 2001). "Qasr Bshir (a Roman Castellum)". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO World Heritage. Ref: 1553.
  2. ^ a b c d e Breeze, David; Driessen, Mark; Abudanah, Fawzi (22 March 2023). "Qasr Bshir: conserving a special Roman fort". Current World Archaeology. No. 118. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  3. ^ Meyers, Eric (2011). The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East. New York: Oxford University Press. Limes Arabicus. ISBN 9780199892280.
  4. ^ Millar, Fergus (1993). The Roman Near East, 31 B.C.-A.D. 337. Harvard University Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-674-77886-3.
  5. ^ Brunnow, Rudolf Ernst; Domaszewski, Alfred (1909). Die Provincia Arabia. Strassburg: Verlag Von Karl J Trubner. p. 294.
  6. ^ Above the entrance is the inscription:[5]

    Optimis maximisque principibus nostris Caio Aurelio Valerio Diocletiano Pio Felici Invicto Augusto et Marco Aurelio Valerio Maximiano Pio Felici Invicto Augusto et Flavio Valerio Constantio et Galerio Valerio Maximiano nobilissimis Caesaribus Castra Praetorii Mobeni a fundamentis Aurelius Asclepiades praeses provinciae Arabiae perfici curavit.
  7. ^ Littmann, Enno; Magie, David (1921). Syria: Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904–1905 and 1909. E. J. Brill.
  8. ^ a b c Lewin, Ariel S. (1 January 2011). "The New Frontiers of Late Antiquity in the Near East. From Diocletian to Justinian". In Kaizer, Ted; Hekster, Olivier (eds.). Frontiers in the Roman World. BRILL. pp. 233–264. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004201194.i-378.56. ISBN 978-90-04-21503-0. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  9. ^ Metcalfe, Tom (4 October 2025). "What declassified Cold-War spy photos tell us about ancient Rome". National Geographic.
  10. ^ a b Clark, Vincent A. (1987). "The roman castellum of Qasr Bshir". In Parker, S. Thomas (ed.). The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan: Interim Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980–1985. Vol. II. pp. 457–495.
  11. ^ Parker, Samuel Thomas (2006). The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan. Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980–1989. Dumbarton Oaks Studies. ISBN 978-0-88402-298-5.
  12. ^ Parker, Samuel Thomas (1984). "Exploring the Roman Frontier in Jordan". Archaeology. 35 (5): 33–39. JSTOR 41731606. p. 38: Qasr Bshir, a Roman fort built in A.D. 306, was manned by archaeologists in an experiment to demonstrate how the Romans transmitted vital messages from fort to fort using smoke and mirror signals by day and torch signals by night.
  13. ^ Parker, S. Thomas; Betlyon, John Wilson (1985). "Preliminary Report on the 1982 Season of the Central Limes Arabicus Project". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Supplementary Studies (23): 1–34. ISSN 0145-3661. JSTOR 20066650.

Further reading

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