Qasr Usaykhim

Qasr Usaykhim (Arabic: قصر أصيخم‎), also known as Akkham, which is the intensity of blackness, is a fortress built by the Nabateans to monitor the route of their commercial caravans from the southern Arabian Peninsula to the Levant. It was inherited and used by the Romans, and it is on the top of a high hill about 18 km northeast of the town of Azraq, overlooking the valleys where the water runs in the rainy seasons and allowing vegetation to grow. It continued to be used during the Byzantine period and Muslims may have used it in the Ayyubid period as a stop for pilgrims during the period of the Crusades, when the usual hajj pilgrimage route was not an option.[1]

Qasr Usaykhim

قصر أصيخم
Alternative name	Asykhm, Iskhem, Aschim, Asikham, Akkham, Aseikhim
Coordinates	31.94633°N 36.95279°E
Identifiers
MEGA-J	12399

Building

The castle was built of black basalt stones[2] that gave it its name, and it are widely available there. Its quarry can be identified in the lake near it, as well as in the vicinity of the water well. The fort has a surface of 559 m², with a circumference of 95 metres and walls still standing to a height of up to 5 metres.

Remnants of an arch

References

1. Najat Salim, Mahmoud Mahasis (2014). Tourism in Jordan: A Heartbreaking Journey. Amman. (Arabic).
2. Tourist and archaeological places that are not known to many, blog of Muhammad Al-Nawaisa, info collected by Jamal Khalifa; in Arabic. Re-accessed 28 October 2020.