Hisham's Palace
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Hisham's Palace is located on the northern bank of Wadi Nueima, approximately 2 km north of Jericho in the Jordan valley. It is identified with the ruins of Khirbet Al-Ma ar. On the basis of epigraphic materials, archaeologists think the site was built by Caliph Hisham Bin Abd el-Maleik (724 to 743 AD), and later decorated by his heir el-Walid ll between 743 and 744 AD. The site was not the official residence of the caliph but was used as a winter resort. The spectacular audience hall and bath was destroyed in a severe earthquake in 749 AD, but other areas of the site, including the palace, continued until the tenth century. The site, during the Umayyad period, was composed of a palace, an audience hall with a thermal bath, a mosque, a monumental fountain within a perimeter wall, two main gates and probably an elite residence. The first three principal buildings were arranged along the west side of a common forecourt, with a pool covered with pavilion in its center. The palace was a two-story square building with round towers at the corners. The Northern Area of the site served as an agricultural estate during the Umayyad to Abbasid periods around 730-950 AD.
