Al-Karak الكرك | |
|---|---|
City | |
 TheKerak Castle | |
 Flag | |
| Nickname: Qir ofMoab | |
  Al-Karak | |
| Coordinates:31°11′0″N35°42′0″E / 31.18333°N 35.70000°E /31.18333; 35.70000 | |
| Grid position | 216/065 |
| Country |  Jordan |
| Governorate | Karak Governorate |
| Greater Karak Municipality | 1893 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mohammed Maaitah |
| Area | |
| • Metro | 765 km2 (295 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 930 m (3,051 ft) |
| Population (2015)[2] | |
• City | 32,216[1] |
| • Metro | 351,169 |
| Time zone | GMT +2 |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
| Area code | +(962)2 |
Al-Karak (Arabic:الكرك), in English sources often simplyKarak, is a city inJordan known for its medieval castle, theKerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being inSyria. Al-Karak is the capital city of theKarak Governorate.
Al-Karak lies 140 kilometres (87 mi) to the south ofAmman on the ancientKing's Highway. It is situated on a hilltop about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by a valley. Al-Karak has a view of theDead Sea. A city of about 32,216 people (2005[1]) grew up around castle. The town is built on a triangular plateau with the castle at its narrow southern tip.
Al-Karak has been inhabited since at least theIron Age, and was an important city for theMoabites. In theBible it is calledKir-haresh, Kir-hareseth orKir of Moab, and is identified as having been subject to theNeo-Assyrian Empire; in theBooks of Kings (2 Kings 16:9) andBook of Amos (Amos 1:5, 9:7), it is mentioned as the place where theArameans went before they settled in the regions in the northernLevant, and to whichTiglath-Pileser III (r. 745–727 BC) sent prisoners after the conquest ofDamascus. Later the Shamaili kingdom seized power, but little has been recorded about this period. In 1958, theEl-Kerak Inscription was found in Wadi al-Karak, dated to the late 9th century BC.
During the lateHellenistic Period, Al-Karak became an important town, taking its name from theAramaic word for town,Kharkha (כרכא).[3]
The area eventually became aNabatean stronghold. TheRoman Empire conquered it in 105 AD. The city was known inLate Antiquity asHarreketh.
Al-Karak is home to some of the oldest Christian communities in the world, dating to the 1st century AD.[4] Under theByzantine Empire,Charach (Ancient Greek:Χαραχ,Kharkh) orCharach of the Moabites (Χαραχμωβα,Kharakhmōba) was the seat of the Church of Nazareth, and remained predominantlyChristian underArab rule following the 629Battle of Mu'tah. Its bishop Demetrius took part in thecouncil of the three provinces of Palaestina held in Jerusalem in 536. Another bishop, by the name of John, is said to have lived there in the 9th century.[5][6]
Al-Karak fell within theCrusader lordship ofOultrejourdain, the lands east of the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. In 1132,King Fulk of Jerusalem madePagan the ButlerLord of Montreal and Oultrejourdain. Pagan made his headquarters at al-Karak, where he built a castle on a hill called by the CrusadersPetra Deserti - The Stone of the Desert.[7] His castle, much modified, dominates the town to this day.
The castle was in Crusader hands for only 46 years. It had been threatened bySaladin's armies several times, but finally surrendered in 1188, after the crushing Crusader defeat at theBattle of Hattin and a siege that lasted more than a year.[8] Saladin's younger brother,Al-Adil, was governor of the district until becoming ruler of Egypt and Syria in 1199.[9]Yaqut (1179–1229) noted that "Al Karak is a very strongly fortified castle on the borders of Syria, towards Balka province, and in the mountains. It stands on a rock surrounded byWadis, except on the side towards the suburb."[10]Al-Dimashqi (1256–1327) noted that Karak: "is an impregnable fortress, standing high on the summit of a mountain. Itsfosses are the valleys around it, which are very deep. They say it was originally, inRoman days, aconvent, and was turned into a fortress. It is now a treasure house of the Turks."[10]Abu'l-Fida (1273−1331) noted that Al Karak "is a celebrated town with a very high fortress, one of the most unassailable of the fortresses of Syria. About a day's march from it isMutah, where are the tombs ofJa'afar at Tayyar and his companions. Below Al Karak is a valley, in which is a thermal bath (hammam), and many gardens with excellent fruits, such asapricots,pears,pomegranates, and others."[10]
Al-Karak was the birthplace ofIbn al-Quff (1233–1286), anArab Christianphysician andsurgeon, author of the earliest medieval Arabic treatise intended solely for surgeons.
In 1355,Ibn Battuta wrote: "Al Karak is one of the strongest and most celebrated fortresses of Syria. It is called alsoHisn al Ghurab (the Crow's Fortress), and is surrounded on every side by ravines. There is only one gateway, and that enters by a passage tunnelled in the live rock, which tunnel forms a sort of hall. We stayed four days outside Karak, at a place calledAth Thaniyyah.[11]
The castle served as a place of exile and power base during theMamluk sultanate. Its significance lay in its control over the caravan route between Damascus and Egypt and thepilgrimage route between Damascus andMecca. In the thirteenth century, the Mamluk rulerBaibars used it during his ascent to power. In 1389 SultanBarquq was exiled to al-Karak, where he gathered his supporters before returning toCairo.[12]
In 1596 Al-Karak appeared in theOttomantax registers, situated in thenahiya (subdistrict) of Karak, part of theSanjak ofAjlun. It had 78 households and 2 bachelors who wereMuslim, and 103 households and 8 bachelors who wereChristian. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees/vineyards/fruit trees, a special product (bayt al–mal), goats and bee-hives; in addition to occasional revenues, for a water mill, and a market toll. Their total tax was 15,000akçe.[13]
Al-Karak was inhabited by theMajali tribe,[14] the Tarawneh tribe and the Maaitah tribe.[15]
In 1844Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt sent an expedition west of the Dead Sea. His troops occupied the castle at al-Karak but they were starved out with much loss of life.
Mohammed Al-Majali who had control of Al-Karak in 1868, was involved in the events that led to the destruction of theMoabite Stone.[16]
In 1893 the Sublime PorteAbdul Hamid II established the sub-province ofMa'an, with a resident governor (mutasarif) in Al-Karak, under theWāli ofSyria based inDamascus.[17] One of the first governors, 1895, was Hussein Helmy Bey Effendi (see alsoHüseyin Hilmi Pasha), aged 40, formerly the General Secretary at Damascus. He ruled with a garrison of 1,200 troops, in 3 regiments, mostly conscripts from West of theRiver Jordan doing their three years of military service. There were also 200Circassian cavalry.[18][19] One of his achievements was the disarming of the local population. He also established a Military Hospital with a Jewish doctor; enforced the regulation of coinage and weights and measures; introduced a weekly postal service to Jerusalem, Damascus and Ma'an; and set up agricultural projects such as the planting of 5,000 grape vines atMadeba.
One estimate of the population of the town and the surrounding area at this time gives a total of 10,000. Of these, 8000 wereMuslims and 2,000 wereOrthodox Christians whose Church, St George, had been built in 1849. The Latin Mission was established in 1874 and in 1886 Al Majali gave permission to theEnglish Mission to work in the town.[20] The town's Orthodox school had 120 boys and 60 girls. The same source notes that the town'sMufti had been educated in Hebron andal Azhar,Cairo, and that there was a newly built mosque.[19] Merchants from Damascus came to the town twice each year.[21]
TheKarak revolt erupted on 4 December 1910[22] as thegovernor ofDamascus attempted to apply the same measures of conscription, taxation, and disarmament to the inhabitants of Al-Karak that previously provoked theHauran Druze Rebellion.[23] The uprising ended with an indiscriminate massacre perpetrated by the governor's troops.[24]
During theArab Revolt (1916–1918), the Turkish Army abandoned al-Karak after Sherif Abdullah ibn Hamza led a 70 horsemen attack on Mezraa. This Ottoman naval base was rendered useless, after the destruction of the flotilla used to transport grain across the Dead Sea, on 28 January 1918.[25][26]
Following theSan Remo conference, 1920,Great Britain was given a mandate to govern the area. The newly appointed High Commissioner in Jerusalem,Herbert Samuel, sent several officials east of the River Jordan to create a local administration. MajorAlec Kirkbride was based in Al-Karak with a small detachment of policemen. He established what he namedThe National Government of Moab with himself as president. In January 1921 EmirAbdullah Hussein began assembling an army inMa'an and announced his intention to attack theFrench inSyria. After a brief consultation with his superiors Kirkbride's government welcomed the arrival of the Emir. At theCairo conference, March 1921, Abdullah was recognised by the British as ruler ofEmirate of Transjordan.[27]
In the 1920s, Al-Karak had a population of 8,000 and had the third largest urban population (afterAmman andSalt with 20,000 each) inTransjordan.[28]
In 1961, the population of Karak town was 7,422 persons,[29] of whom 1,622 were Orthodox Christian while the remaining were Muslim.[30]
In August 1996, there werefood riots in the town after the government increased the price of bread.[31]
The town and castle were the scene ofan attack by gunmen on 18 December 2016 in which at least 19 people were killed; 13 Jordanian civilians and security forces, a Canadian tourist, and all 5 attackers.[32]
Al-Karak has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classificationCsa). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Al-Karak is 16.5 °C (61.7 °F). About 359 mm (14.13 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Al-Karak (Rabba) (1989–2018 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 12.4 (54.3) | 13.7 (56.7) | 17.5 (63.5) | 22.7 (72.9) | 27.1 (80.8) | 30.2 (86.4) | 31.8 (89.2) | 32.0 (89.6) | 30.3 (86.5) | 27.1 (80.8) | 21.0 (69.8) | 15.7 (60.3) | 23.7 (74.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.9 (46.2) | 8.7 (47.7) | 11.7 (53.1) | 15.8 (60.4) | 19.8 (67.6) | 22.8 (73.0) | 24.8 (76.6) | 24.9 (76.8) | 23.1 (73.6) | 20.3 (68.5) | 15.0 (59.0) | 10.4 (50.7) | 17.1 (62.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.3 (37.9) | 3.7 (38.7) | 5.9 (42.6) | 8.8 (47.8) | 12.5 (54.5) | 15.4 (59.7) | 17.7 (63.9) | 17.8 (64.0) | 15.9 (60.6) | 13.4 (56.1) | 9.0 (48.2) | 5.1 (41.2) | 10.7 (51.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 90.9 (3.58) | 78.3 (3.08) | 46.3 (1.82) | 15.7 (0.62) | 5.6 (0.22) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.00) | 8.7 (0.34) | 24.3 (0.96) | 53.7 (2.11) | 323.7 (12.74) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 74.2 | 70.4 | 64.1 | 52.5 | 45.7 | 46.9 | 49.0 | 53.0 | 56.8 | 57.5 | 62.1 | 69.6 | 58.5 |
| Source: Jordan Meteorological Department[33] | |||||||||||||
Al-Karak's metropolitan population was estimated to be 68,800 in 2013, making up 31.5% of the total population of the Karak Governorate. Most of the population of the city isMuslim (75%) and there is also a significant Orthodox Christian population (25%). In general, the percentage of Christians in al-Karak is among the highest inJordan.[citation needed]
Al-Karak is famous for its traditional Jordanian lamb dish calledmansaf.
Kerak travel guide from Wikivoyage31°11′N35°42′E / 31.183°N 35.700°E /31.183; 35.700
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