The Crusader Wall
The undercroft of the Church of St Mary, partly excavated in the bedrock, consists of a wide vaulted corridor that gave access to two side chambers used for the storage of valuable goods.
To the east of the undercroft runs this outer corridor, built between the first and second castle ring-walls, where archaeologists have identified the remains of a more ancient Roman fortification, at the very base of the Crusader structures.
It is possible that the construction of the Crusader castle, known at the time as Montréal and completed, according to written sources, in eighteen days by King Baldwin 1st, was facilitated by the pre-existence of Roman-era fortifications.
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Archaeologists have reconstructed the evolution of the castle over time by analyzing the sequence of 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.
- Ranieri Raffaele. The Wheel Thrown Pottery in Southern Bilad al-Sham (12th-13th c.): production and consuption. The case-study of Shawbak (Southern Jordan): 42-46. Firenze: All'Insegna del Giglio.
To learn more about the pre-Crusader phases of the Shobak site:
- Ponticelli, Giacomo. “The View from ‘Pre-Crusader’ Shawbak: Towards a First Contextualization through Gis Visibility and Spatial Analyses.” Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 24 (2020): 153-175.
- 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.
Recent excavations have confirmed the presence of pre-Crusader structures in the galleries beneath the Church of Saint Mary.
For further details:
- Nucciotti, Michele, and Raffaele Ranieri, Giacomo Ponticelli. “Shobak Project 2022 and 2023 Seasons.” Archaeology in Jordan 4 (2022-2023): 147-149.
Last update
14.04.2025