Tourist Trails Roman Building B18
Roman Building B18
This building, constructed with large blocks of organogenic limestone, is a unique structure in Shobak. It is likely the oldest surviving construction still standing within the castle. The masonry at the base is similar to that of the Roman fort in Udruh, suggesting it dates back to the same period.
When the Crusaders arrived in Shobak in 1115, they built the castle within a few days, likely because remnants of an older fortress were already present. Arab chroniclers reference the ruins of an ancient fortress beneath the Crusader castle of Shobak.
Similar structures, possibly existing in significant numbers within the original castle, were likely destroyed during the earthquake of 1212. The building shows signs of restoration by both the Crusaders and the Ayyubids.

Want to know more?
To learn more about the reuse of pre-Crusader structures at the time of Baldwin’s arrival and the earliest phases of the Shobak site:
- Vannini, Guido, and Michele Nucciotti. “L’età crociato-ayyubide e la nascita di una frontiera medievale.” In La Transgiordania nei secoli XII-XIII e le “frontiere” del Mediterraneo medievale, edited by Guido Vannini, and Michele Nucciotti, 135-144. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2012.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
For further insights into the territorial organization and military character of the Roman frontier in Jordan:
- Roll, Israel. “Crossing the Negev in Late Roman times. The administrative development of Palaestina Tertia Salutaris and of its imperial road network.” In The Late Roman Army in the Near East from Diocletian to the Arab Conquest, edited by Ariel. S. Lewin, and Petrina Pellegrini, 119-130. Oxford: BAR Publishing, 2007.
- Kennedy, David. The Roman Army in Jordan. London: The Council for British Research in the Levant, 2004.
- Marino, Luigi, and Massimo Coli. “La difesa del limes arabicus in epoca romana, bizantina crociata. Osservazioni sull’uso dei materiali lapidei e alcune tecniche costruttive.” In La Transgiordania nei secoli XII-XIII e le “frontiere” del Mediterraneo medievale, edited by Guido Vannini, and Michele Nucciotti, 100-110. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2012.
- Piccirillo, Michele. “The Roman-Byzantine epoch (2nd-7th century AD).” In Da Petra a Shawbak. Archeologia di una frontiera. Catalogo della Mostra, edited by Guido Vannini, and Michele Nucciotti, 62-65. Firenze: Giunti, 2009.
Evidence of occupation prior to the arrival of the Crusaders is also confirmed by the discovery of substantial quantities of so-called “residual” ceramic fragments—materials found within Crusader and Ayyubid layers that actually originate from older, underlying strata.
To learn more:
- Ranieri, Raffaele. “I materiali ‘pre-crociati’ di Shobak: il problema della residualità nei contesti ceramici.” In Studi in onore di Guido Vannini, edited by Michele Nucciotti, and Elisa Pruno, 501-514. Firenze: Firenze University Press, 2024.
- 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.
- Ranieri, Raffaele. The Wheel Thrown Pottery in Southern Bilad al-Sham (12th-13th c.): production and consumption. The case-study of Shawbak (Southern Jordan): 47-49, 51-58, 76-77. Sesto Fiorentino (FI): All’insegna del Giglio, 2024.
Back to top