The Lower Church

Archaeologists have reconstructed the historical development of the castle by analyzing the sequence of building phases and identifying the construction techniques characteristic of each 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.}
• ^{Nucciotti, Michele, and Elisa Pruno. “Great and Little Traditions in medieval Petra and Shawbak: contextualizing local building industry and pottery production in cc. 12-13.” Archeologia Medievale 43 (2016): 309-320.}

At both Shobak and Al-Wu’ayra, the churches within the castles were integrated into the defensive system. From the outside, they appeared as massive bastions guarding the main gates. Inside the church, a tunnel carved into the rock extended southward beyond the walls, likely serving as an escape route during times of siege.

_{For further insights into the defensive strategies employed by the Crusaders in constructing the castles in the Petra region, see :}

•  ^{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.}
• ^{Burri, Ezio, and Carlo Germani, Massimo Mancini, Michele Nucciotti, Mario Parise, Guido Vannini. “Ain al Ragaye: a tunnel for exploitation of natural spring in Shawbak Castle (Jordan).” Opera Ipogea 1 (2009): 61-67.}

This small church was documented even before the arrival of archaeologists from the Italian Mission.

_{For further details:}

• ^{Pringle, Denys. The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: a Corpus, vol. 2. 304-313. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.}