Karak Resources Project

The Karak Plateau Before the Crusader Period

Although the Arabic chronicles of the Early Islamic period do make sporadic references to southern Jordan, it is difficult to form a coherent picture of the historical development of this region prior to the arrival of the Crusaders. The geographers of the ninth and tenth centuries provide some evidence about the administrative arrangements in the region (see below). In 983 the town of Karak became the focus of a rebellion against the authority of the Fatimid caliphs (an Isma`ili Muslim dynasty who ruled an empire with its capital in Cairo in the period 969-1171). This is one of the few times that Karak is mentioned in the context of political history. We know from excavations at Ayla (modern `Aqaba) on the Red Sea coast of Jordan that the port was very active from the time of the foundation of the new city in c.650 through to the mid eleventh century. Ayla received ships coming from the Indian Ocean carrying spices, textiles, glass and ceramics from the Yemen, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. Doubtless, much of this valuable commercial traffic passed through the Karak plateau on its way to Damascus and the other major urban centers of Syria. The annual pilgrimage (in Arabic, hajj) from Syria to the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina also passed south through the plateau before heading into the Arabian desert. Unfortunately, we know little from historical sources about what impact this traffic through the region had on the lives of the inhabitants of the villages and towns of southern Jordan.

Whilst the Karak plateau did not figure greatly in the political history of the Middle East before the Crusader period, it was important for economic reasons. The area produced large quantities of wheat, barley, olives and fruits that could be transported west to Palestine or north to Syria. In addition, the nomadic tribes (bedouin) on the eastern fringes of the plateau raised sheep, horses and camels. The south and east coasts of the Dead Sea contained villages whose inhabitants exploited the mineral reserves of the region (particularly salt and bitumen). As a result, it was important that central government established the administrative infrastructure needed to tax the local population and to ensure the safe transport of the valuable crops and livestock. We no longer possess the tax documents (such as land surveys) from the Early Islamic period, but we do have information from geographical texts concerning the way in which southern Jordan was split into administrative units. Before the tenth century the area covered by modern Jordan formed part of the governorship (in Arabic, jund) of Damascus. This jund was split into smaller districts (singular: kūra) with the Karak plateau forming part of the kūra of Ma’āb (derived from the ancient name for the region, Moab). The capital of the district was either the town of al-Rabba (also known in Arabic as Ma`āb and in Greek as Areopolis) or Zughar (ancient Zoar) at the south end of the Dead Sea. In the tenth century the kūra of Ma’āb was transferred into the jund of Filastīn (i.e. Palestine).

Perhaps what is most important about the information about the administration of the Karak plateau is that, despite its importance in later centuries, the town of Karak did not function as the capital of the district of Ma’āb in the Early Islamic period. Today the town of Karak is dominated by the massive fortifications built by the Crusaders and the Muslim dynasties of the Ayyubids and Mamluks, but it is likely that it contained significant defensive structures before this time. The Syrian historian Ibn Shaddād (died 1285) relates a story that before the arrival of the Crusaders Karak contained a monastery which the monks gradually fortified in order to defend themselves from the attacks made by local bedouin.