Overview

Bibliography

Mshatta is the largest Umayyad palace in Jordan, though it was never finished. The palace lies near the Queen Alia International Airport, approximately 32 kilometers south of Amman. It seems to have been built during the short reign of Walid II (743-744 CE). The Abbasid revolt and the assassination of Walid probably account for the palace's unfinished state.

The palace is 144 meters square surrounded by a wall with 25 circular towers. The gate of the palace is on the southern side, the wall of which was elaborately decorated. The decorative façade of the wall was given to the Kaiser Wilhelm as a gift from the Ottoman sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid, and now resides in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Inside the wall, the palace compound is divided into three equal sections, with only the central section being built. The central section was also divided into three blocks. The southern Gateway Block consists only of foundations, laying out a mosque and several residential units. The middle block is a large courtyard that includes a small pool. The northern block holds the Main Building, the only completed building in the palace. There are no nearby sources of water in the area, so scholars have assumed that the water for the palace must have been transported from Jiza or Qastal, a few kilometers distance.

Mshatta was first discovered and explored by Austin Henry Layard in 1840. It has received many subsequent visitors and explorers.