Hisham's Palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar
Based on epigraphic materials, archaeologists believe that Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik built the site, which was later decorated by his heir Al-Walid II between 743 and 744 AD. The site was not the official residence of the caliph but was used as a winter resort. The spectacular audience hall and bathhouse were destroyed in a severe earthquake in 749 AD, but other areas of the site, including the palace, remained until the tenth century. The northern region of the site served as an agricultural estate during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods around 730–950 AD. The initial archaeological excavations at the site, began between 1935 and 1948 by the Palestinian Department of Antiquities under the supervision of Dimitri Constantine Baramki, and with the assistance of Robert Hamilton, where a large part of the palace complex was uncovered. Excavations were then conducted in the northern area of the palace during the sixties of the last century. However, their results still needed to be published. Small-scale excavations resumed in the bathhouse area in 2006, followed by organized excavations between 2011-2015 within the cooperation project between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the University of Chicago to re-evaluate the site.
At the end of October 2021, a project was started to reveal the floor of the palace and cover it with a modern and sophisticated cover to preserve it; it was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).During the Umayyad period, the complex consisted of a palace, a mosque, a monumental fountain within a perimeter wall, two main gates, and probably an elite residence. The first three buildings were arranged along the west side of a common forecourt, with a pool covered by a pavilion in its center.
The palace consisted of a square building built on two floors and circular Towers in the corners. The entrance to the palace was through a vaulted corridor, and the seats were surrounded on both sides. The palace has a central courtyard surrounded by four transverse halls, and the arrangement of the rooms in it indicates that it was used for guests, servants, and storage.The ornamental six-pointed star, which was placed above the entrance to the palace, grabs the attention of the visitors as soon as they enter the palace, that is currently placed in the courtyard, which was one of the windows of the upper floor and has now become a famous symbol of the city of Jericho.
There is a small mosque with a niche on the south side of the palace, stairs in the northeastern and southern corners of the square leading to the upper floor, and it said that it was used as a residential suite. The basement (the cold bathhouse) is located on the western side of the central yard of the palace. It has a vaulted room, a pool, benches, and a colored mosaic floor. The main mosque was added to the northern wall of the palace. It is rectangular with a niche facing al-Qibla (the direction of the Kaaba). The massive bathhouse is located north of the palace, consisting of an enormous reception hall of about 30 x 30 meters, with 38 colorful mosaic carpets. The bathhouse once supported a series of vaults and domes. The vaulting system was of brick and rested on 16 massive stone piers arranged in four rows. Carved stucco – exceptional in style and quality – was found at the site. Its upper parts included painted frescoes, and a pool was added along its southern side. The caliph's statue stood above the main entrance.
The caliph probably sat in the recess at the end of the hall. The thermal bath was added to the north side of the reception hall.At the northwest corner of the reception hall is the Diwan (a high governmental body in many Islamic states), a small guest room with benches on both sides. The walls and dome were luxuriously decorated with stucco panels and columns. It contained the famous floor mosaic commonly known as "Tree of Life," located in a special reception room or diwan and depicts a lion attacking a gazelle underneath a fruit-bearing tree. The northern area of Hisham's palace was built for the first time in the Umayyad era (at the beginning of the eighth century AD) as agricultural land, as signs of agricultural activities appeared from the presence of a large grape press. In the Abbasid era (750-950 AD), a large residence was added, and it seems to have an administrative character; it also contains a small mosque, houses, and horse stables.The palace was supplied with water through an open canal from the springs of Ein Ad Duyuk Al Fauqa and Ain An-Nuway'imah, located at the foot of Mount of Temptation, five kilometers west. The channel crossed the valley over arched bridges at two different points, emptying into a large reservoir not far from the palace.
The Entrance to the Palace
The Umayyad period is about 730-749 AD (111-131 AH) This palace was the residence of the caliph and his guests. It is a square-shaped palace built of sandstone and red bricks. A wall and cylindrical towers at the corners surround it. Its upper floors were built of a wooden roof and mud bricks. The entrance is surrounded by external rooms installed behind a portico. These rooms may have been a shop or a residence for guests. The main entrance was a vaulted corridor with stone seats for the palace guards, or visitors waiting to be let in. The walls above the chairs were decorated with carved stone, and decorative stucco to impress the viewers' gaze. This palace was the residence of the caliph and his guests. It is a square-shaped palace built of sandstone and red bricks. A wall and cylindrical towers at the corners surround it. Its upper floors were built of a wooden roof and mud bricks. The entrance is surrounded by external rooms installed behind a portico. These rooms may have been a shop or a residence for guests. The main entrance was a vaulted corridor with stone seats for the palace guards, or visitors waiting to be let in. The walls above the chairs were decorated with carved stone, and decorative stucco to impress the viewers' gaze.
The Stable:
The Abbasid period around 750-850 AD (132-235 AH) The place was used as a stable for horses during the Abbasid period, in the ninth century AD to be specific, and the horses were taken from into the place that surrounds a large yard in the east of Hisham's palace, and extends over a distance of more than two kilometers. When entering, you can view the door of the stable, and a paved floor with stone tiles transported from the area of Al-Nabi Musa. On the left, two small, long rooms to feed the horses. The stable was built at the same time as the Abbasid house located to the left.
The Mosque
The Umayyad period around 730-749 (111-131 AH)The Muslim residents considered Hisham's palace an essential place to practice their prayers, as shown by the central location of this mosque; it consists of a house and the reception hall. The main entrance to the mosque on your left, leads to a corridor used as a niche for visitors and residents of the complex. The mosque has a niche indicating the direction of the Qiblah. This part was vaulted with a portico supported on pillars, and to its right, there was a small entrance leading to the palace's interior, and this was a private entrance for the caliph or the governor.
North gate
This gate allowed entry to the palace area from the side of the wall that separated it from the agricultural lands. This gate was discovered in 2011, and it is similar to the southern gate that was discovered in the thirties of the last century; it is located at the new entrance to this site.When visitors enter through the gate, they approach the fountain, the garden, the mosque in front of the palace, and the reception hall.
Umayyad Grape Press
This press is considered one of the largest grape presses that were found in Palestine. It produced a large amount of grape juice that exceeded the palace's needs and consumption, indicating its role in agricultural and commercial production. Benches along the walls were placed for the workers to rest on.Grape juice is made of molasses (Dibs), vinegar, or wine. The fallen stones and bricks indicate that the grape press crashed because of the earthquake in that area.
Fountain It is located in the middle of the garden in front of the palace
It consists of a central fountain and a deep pool surrounded by octagonal walls and high arches, and in the middle, four columns bearing a high dome and a decorated balcony. It is believed that a bridge connected the palace to this building, so the caliph would have a particular stage from which he could look at nature, and watch horse races.
The Northern Mosque the Abbasid period around 800-950 AD (183-338 AH)
Archaeologists believe this small mosque was the last to be built on the site, and the pottery found on its floor dates back to the Abbasid period. The mosque, in addition to the shrines and small mosques similar to it, indicates the importance of religion for the residents of that area. A deep niche facing towards the Qiblah in the front and a room that may have been for women or the imam's residence is located to the left. It is believed that the narrow terrace to the north was built on it a staircase leading to the roof of the mosque used to raise the call to prayer, and most likely, it had an ablution located near the door of the mosque next to the street that passes in front of it.
The Abbasid period around 750-850 AD (132-235 AH)
It is believed that this house belonged to the ruler of the estate during the Abbasid period, as there are similar houses to it dating back to the era of Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809 AD, 179-192 AH) in Raqqa in Syria. The entrance to the house was through the door in the front or through room "C" on your left. The courtyard contained storage facilities and a taboon (an oven), and it is believed that housewives used rooms "E" and "F," as evidenced by the remains of cosmetics in them. As room "B" was used as a reception hall and is located next to private room "Z," the rooms at the end of the house (H, F, and Y) were used for cooking and storage, and room "D" was a toilet built with stones taken from the palace fountain.
Northern Farming Area
The Umayyad period until the Abbasid period around 730-950 AD (111-338 AH)
Hisham Palace was not only a place to rest and entertainment. Still, it was the northern region in the front of an agricultural estate in the Umayyad and Abbasid periods. It may have been built to be a residence for the elite in the Umayyad era (750 m, 132 AH). The grape press on the left indicates the practice of agricultural works related to the vineyards. The site's residence continued during the Abbasid period (750-950 m), and the presence of a small mosque and the guesthouses evidenced this.
Carved Architectural Elements
Hisham's palace abounds with sculptures, whether plaster or stone, which include human, animal, plant, and engineering statues. Plaster carvings were widely used throughout the palace, mainly for decorating walls, arches, ceilings, crowns, pendentives, niches, windows, and balconies. The finest murals and stucco decorations were found in the Diwan, in the reception hall, as well as in the entrance corridors of the palace, and most of these sculptures are currently in the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem.Al-Diwan contained geometric and plant plats, surrounded by winged horses and birds, its dome was crowned with a giant rose of plant leaves, and six human busts were placed and arranged around an open flower in the center. The facade of the reception and the entrance to the foyer included human sculptures close to life-size, both male and female, standing and looking forward.The human statues contain government soldiers, athletes, tourists, and animals such as wild sheep, ibex, and deer (sitting on their knees) in rows, and it seems that the caliph statue was placed above the entrance to the reception hall.
Mosaic - methods and materials used
The mosaics were designed in Hisham's palace by the most skilled and creative craftsmen of that period. The small mosaic cubes varied in size, color, and shape (square, triangular, and semi-quadrant) and were designed and placed in straight lines, circles, or curves, forming various drawings and shapes with high accuracy, gradual in colors and symmetrical geometric patterns.
Components of the mosaic layers in Hisham's Palace
- The mosaic floor (the upper layer): It consists of natural stones of different colors, cut by hand in the form of small mosaic cubes with a side length of approximately 132 mm in the reception hall, while it reaches 6 mm in the circular patterns in the middle of the hall and the Diwan.
- The layer of vital mortar (the middle layer) consists mainly of pure white clay. It is placed on top of the preparatory layers with a thickness of approximately 2 cm and in small areas. The mosaic cubes are manually planted inside, forming various drawings and shapes.
- Preparatory pavements (lower layer) This layer was distinguished by its strength and well-laid upper surface, which contributed to the stability of the mosaic floors. The upper part of the preparatory pavements consists of a mixture of ash, clay, and significant natural pebbles, in addition to broken pieces of colored stones used to manufacture mosaic cubes.
The thickness of this part is approximately 12 cm.As for the lower part of the preparatory pavements, its thickness is approximately 15 cm, and it is interspersed with small and large pieces of sandstone (6-8 cm), which were paved horizontally.
Bathhouse system
The bathhouse complex contains the reception hall (the cold room), the two thermal rooms (rooms A and B on the plan), the two hot and steam-heated rooms (C and D), and two furnaces below the two rooms (C and D) fueled from the room (E) and from the north of the room (D). The bathhouse system also contains a public toilet (room F).The two thermal rooms (A and B) can be accessed through a door in the western apse of the northern facade of the reception hall. The sides of the rooms contain seats for bathing people before entering the hot room. The walls, floors, and side seats are covered with marble slabs
Diwan
A small reception room is next to the warm rooms in the northwest corner of the reception hall. Its platform and seats were used to receive senior guests. Its walls and dome were decorated with plasterboards and columns. Its floor and chairs were covered with mosaics with geometric shapes. The upper stage has its mosaic carpet. This carpet portrays the Tree of Life with a lion and three deers, which is believed to be a reference to symbols of good and evil or peace and war, and many believe that the caliph sat on this expressive symbolic image.
Mosaic paintings
The mosaic floors of the reception hall and diwan are distinctive features of early Islamic art.The floor of the hall was paved with colored mosaics continuously, except for the bases of the columns and the pool. Its area is thirty-eight circular and rectangular carpets that fit the shape and design of the hall. It reflects the nature of the architectural construction of the hall's ceiling, which consisted of domes and arches. The mosaic cubes comprised 21 colors of natural stone, and the designs mainly came from geometric and botanical patterns that reflected the local art prevalent in Palestine.
The private entrance of the caliph
The caliph and his family had a private entrance in the southern corner of the reception hall, and it is believed that the caliph used to move around the house of the hall and the palace through this corridor, the remains of which can be seen on both sides of the bases of its columns.
Swimming pool
It is about 20 meters long and 1.5 meters deep. Its walls and floor were covered with layers of insulating coats. Baked bricks were used to isolate the pool's walls from the inside. The water was connected to it through a canal from the top of the western borders. Holes were found to drain the water in the pool floor through a pottery pipe at the bottom of the eastern wall. The pool water was sometimes used to clean the mosaic floor or transported outside through the drainage canals under the hall's floor.
Central Circular Carpet
It is considered one of the most complex colored mosaic panels, consisting of beautiful circular baskets surrounded by a wavy frame and plant symbols. It is supposed to be directly under the central dome.These patterns embody the features of a design of nine concentric stars around the cover of the marble water drain and include a network of small colored triangles that gradually widen and enlarge in size towards the periphery to form a scene of a giant rose consisting of 24 petals overlapping in a beautiful form, producing a visual effect of other endless variety of patterns.