The Outer Gate
The Outer Gate is a witness to military architecture, sieges and conquests of centuries past. Built by Crusaders around 1115, this imposing gateway ensured the safety of those within, by compelling all who entered the “Crac de Montréal” to walk along the castle wall under the gaze of the defenders.
Despite its strenght, this gate did not prevent Saladin from seizing the castle in 1189, after a siege of more than one year.
The passive defenses of Shobak were maintained over time: the facade of the gate is still the one built by the Crusaders, while the vault inside was added by the Ayyubids.
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Archaeologists have reconstructed the development of the castle over time by analyzing the sequence of different building phases and identifying the construction techniques used in each historical period.
For further details:
- Nucciotti, Michele. “Analisi stratigrafiche degli elevati: primi risultati.” In Archeologia dell’insediamento crociato-ayyubide in Transgiordania. Il progetto Shawbak, edited by Guido Vannini, 27–55. Firenze: All’Insegna del Giglio, 2007.
Access to the castle followed a mandatory uphill path that forced attackers to expose their unshielded side to fire from the walls and towers. This is a form of passive defense also found in the Petraean castles of Al-Habis and Al-Wu’ayra, commonly referred to as “Scaean Access” (oblique access), as it derives from the defensive layout of the fortified city of Troy.
For further details:
- Nucciotti, Michele. “Archeologia leggera dei sistemi di difesa passiva: i castelli crociati di Petra (Giordania) nel XII secolo.” In Scenari bellici nel medioevo: guerra e territorio tra XI e XIV secolo, edited by Giorgia Annoscia, 135–152. Roma: Quasar, 2019.
- Vannini, Guido, and Nucciotti, Michele, eds. Da Petra a Shawbak. Archeologia di una frontiera. Catalogo della Mostra (Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Limonaia di Boboli, 13 luglio–11 ottobre 2009). , 88–95. Firenze: Giunti, 2009.
Last update
14.04.2025