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| Entrance to the desert palace |
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Qasr al-Heir ash-Sharki, Syria
In a strategic position, commanding the desert routes into Mesopotamia, 120 km north-east of Palmyra, the traveller will find Qasr al-Heir ash-Sharki, the impressive East Wall Palace, built by the Umayyad Caliph Hisham abd al-Malek in the 8th century AD. It played an important role in the relationship between the nomadic Arab tribes who favored life in the desert after the Muslim contest, and those who had settled down. Pacified the nomads supported the community. The 4 m high walls, 16 km long, surrounded the palace complex which the adjactant administrative, military, and economical center and the rich gardens to fed all who lived there or stayed for a stopover.. There was a khan, a travellers' inn, a mosque, and baths, still to be seen. There was a spring, 30 km away, which supplied the necessary water. The Abbasid caliph Harun ar-Rashid resided here, only in the 14th century it was finally abadonned when the sea routes to the east were established. [edit text]
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