The Inner Gate
This gate, built by the Crusaders, protected the innermost part of the castle with its monuments, the aristocrats and their courts.
Its walls show the signs of multiple reconstructions over time, until the early 1900s.
The remains of a groin vault date to the years between 1173 and 1187, when the Crusaders, after a first siege by Saladin, adapted their defenses to the new catapults and mangonels of the Islamic army.
After an earthquake in 1212, the Ayyubid rulers rebuilt the facade.
During the Great Arab Revolt, the gate became a village house, whose narrow doorway we still cross today.
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The identification of a specific technique used to finish the surfaces of the blocks at the outer corner of this building enabled archaeologists to recognize the “signature” of the builders commissioned by Sultan Al-Muʿazzam ʿĪsā to work on the castle after the earthquake of 1212.
For further details:
- 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.
- 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 was controlled by a steep, obligatory path that forced attackers to expose their unshielded flank to defensive fire from the walls and towers. This type of passive defense system is also found in the Petra castles of Al-Habis and Al-Wu’ayra, and is commonly referred to as a “bent entrance,” a design concept derived from the fortified city of Troy.
For further details, 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.
On the outer (western) side of the building, several elements of the pre-Crusader fortification wall can still be seen, recognizable by their large stone blocks and rough workmanship. This confirms that the Crusaders reused the remains of an earlier fortress when constructing the castle.
To learn more:
- Vannini, Guido, and Michele Nucciotti. “Fondazione e riuso dei luoghi forti nella Transgiordania Crociata. La messa a punto di un sistema di controllo territoriale nella Valle di Petra.” In III Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale, edited by Paolo Peduto, and Rosa Fiorillo, 520-525. Firenze: All’insegna del Giglio, 2003.
Last update
14.04.2025