A Trip to the Desert

Susan and I decided to take Willy and check out some of the "Desert Castles" in the eastern desert of Jordan.  These structures were built by the Ummayyid caliphs in 7th and 8th centuries.  It isn't super clear what, exactly, they were used for - possibly as private hunting lodges, the bedouin equivalent of convention centers, hotels, or fortresses.

After a few wrong turns, we were on our way.  Although sorely tempted to keep going to Iraq or Saudi Arabia, we realized we had left our abayas home.  So we stopped at Qasr Haranah which seemed to be on the hotel or convention center end of the spectrum.

The fortress is organized into eight suites, each of which has a large receiving rooms with several private rooms opening off to each side. None of the suites are connected to each other but they all face an inner courtyard. Sadly, not much there but carved graffiti. And dismembered pigeon parts, all of which we found, thanks to Willy's sleuthing.

From there, we continued further into the desert to find...Luke Skywalker's home on Tatooine! 

Except, sadly, it turned out to be Qusayr Amra which is theorized to be a former hunting lodge and bath house attached to a castle complex which has since been destroyed. 

The interior is covered in some pretty wonderful frescoes, mostly depicting hunting men and frolicking, bathing man-ladies (they were supposedly "women" but we found their breasts to be more pec-like and decided they were actually men). Despite the edict forbidding the depiction of humans in Islamic art being issued shortly after the castle was finished, the frescoes were not destroyed, making it worth of declaration as a UNESCO World Heritage sight. 

Look at us, being all cultured.