Qaṣr Al Mushattā (Al Mushattā Castle) The site is 30 km south of Amman, very close to Queen Alia International Airport. Its name may be derived from the Arabic phrase (Umm Ash Shitāʼ), which means a favorite place in the winter. Site coordinates: (31.73796N, 36.01024E). No evidence was found documenting the history of the construction of the palace, but it is widely believed that it was built during the reign of Al Walid II bin Yazid bin Abd Al Malik between the years (743-744 AD) and its construction was not completed due to his death and the beginning of the collapse of the Umayyad dynasty. The orientalist Layard was the first to report it in 1840. After that, the orientalist Tristram studied its architecture and documented it in 1872. The palace is surrounded by a 147m square wall with average height of 6m. In the southern façade of the palace, there is a 3.50m wide entrance , on both sides of which are two 6.30m diameter octagonal towers. There is also a distinctive stone façade carved with motifs depicting Acanthus flower, bunches of grapes, and some animals inside 40 large equal size triangles. In 1903 part of this façade was taken to Germany as a gift from the Ottoman Sultan Abd Al Hamid II to Emperor Wilhelm II; it is now on display at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Sections of the palace: 1. The foyer The foyer is a 17.4m long and 9.2m wide rectangular hall, on its western side there are two small halls, and on its eastern side there are three rooms of varying size. 2. The Mosque The mosque is a rectangular building 27.3m long and 13.6m wide. It has a 1.6m diameter mihrab (apse) in the southern wall, the height of the rest of its walls is approximately 1m. 3. The middle foyer It is a 57m2 rectangular hall. It has two gates on the southeast and southwest sides, beside a fountain built of baked red bricks in the middle. 4. Northern Section It is divided into three parts by two walls running from north to south. Its entrance is covered with three semi-circular arches, 3m in diameter, resting on compact columns. 5. The Midsection It is the Throne Hall, 17.3m long, and is divided into two parts. The first is rectangular, divided by two columns into three naves, each row containing five columns bearing six semicircular arches. The second hall has an apse in each of its walls with a diameter of 5.25m and a depth of 3.90m. 6. The Eastern and Western Sections These sections contains different size residential rooms.

Al Qasṭal The site is about 25 km south of Amman, on the desert road. Its name is derived from the Latin word (Castellum), which means castle. Site coordinates: (31.746476N, 35.939794E). The site consists of several separate architectural units; a palace, a mosque, a bath, a cemetery, some water basins and a water dam. All date to the Umayyad period; due to the great similarity between these facilities and other Umayyad facilities such as desert palaces. There is no writing on the site specifying the date of its construction. Site most important features: 1. The Castle It may have been built before 744 AD during the reign of Al Walid II bin Yazid bin Abd Al Malik, and it was reused in the Ayyubid-Mamluk period, when half-barrel vault stone roofs were built in place of the wooden roofs. The 68 m square plan palace was built of huge trimmed limestone stones. At the four corners are semi-full circular towers, and there are eleven semi-circular towers in the four facades of the palace. From the inside, there was a portico of two floors surrounding a square-shaped courtyard with water well in the middle. 2. The Mosque The Mosque is a rectangular building on the northern side of the palace and is 17m long and 10m wide. In the southern wall there is a mihrab (apse). The prayer room width is 5m. The mosque is distinguished by its 6m diameter circular minaret. The Department of Antiquities replaced its wooden roof with a semi-barrel stone arch. 3. The Bath The bath is 400 meters to the northwest of the palace . A mosaic floor bearing the image of a lion preying on a bull was found, on its corners there are figures of ducks and partridges feeding on grass. Nothing remains of the building except the foundations. It consists of a central reception hall with a mihrab (apse) and four rooms next to it. The construction of a modern paved road caused the demolition of part of this building which prevented revealing the rest of its features.

Tall Ḥisbān It is about 20 km from Amman, to the south, on the right side of Western Madaba Road. The oldest archaeological layers in the site date back to the Iron Age (1200 BC) according to the results of archaeological excavations conducted by Andrews University. King Sihon of the Amorites occupied the place and took it as a capital of his kingdom, it was called “Heshbon”; a word of Aramaic origin. It was called (Esbos) during the Roman period. Following Islamic control of the region the site has been known as Hisban, Site coordinates (31.80080N, 35.80900E). Several travelers and archaeologists visited the Hisban area and referred to it in their writings, including the traveler Citzen who visited it in 1806, Burckhardt in 1817, Tristram in 1872, Mosel in 1931, and Nelson Gluck in 1934. A lot of pottery sherds and residential buildings dating back to the Islamic Age have been found at the site, with buildings constructed from resused stone from previous ages. Other finds of interest at the site were wells, tabun ovens, and water tanks. The most important features of the archaeological site: 1. The mosque which was built on the ruins of a Byzantine church, at the top of the hill. It has a mihrab on the southern side, and a few steps that may have led to something like a minbar (pulpit). 2. The School, which is a building with an exposed tiled courtyard surrounded by two iwans (yards) from the north and south sides, and a bathroom on the east side. On the western side, there is a reception room and a room with arches in its southern wall, as well as an apse that is believed to have been a mihrab for a small chapel, and two other rooms that may have been for storage. 3. The Governor's Palace, of which only a few walls and a platform slightly higher than the floor of a tiled hall are left. On its southern side there is a storage room adjoined by two watch towers. 4. The Mamluk bath has an entrance on the eastern side and contains four rooms: The changing room, the frigidarium (cold room), the tepidarium (warm room), and the caldarium (hot room). Water is poured into a basin, through clay pipes from two plastered water tanks, and on the basin’s northern side there is a fire stove (furnace) to heat the water and the floor. 5. Accommodation Rooms, of which there are several as well as storage rooms with vaulted ceilings.