Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi



Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi (Eastern al-Hayr Palace or the "Eastern Castle") is a castle in the middle of the Syrian Desert. It was built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 728-29 CE in an area rich in desert fauna. It was apparently used as a military and hunting outpost. The palace is the counterpart of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, a nearby castle palace built one year earlier.

Location
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharq is 27 km from al-Sukhnah and 100 km from Sergiopolis (Rusafa), near Bishri Mountain near Palmyran Middle Mountains.

Architecture
The palace consists of a large open courtyard surrounded by thick bulwarks and towers guarding the entrances as well as each corner. The palace consists of two square structures, one with a diameter of 300m and the other of 100 m. The palace(s) contains remnants of rooms, arches and columns which seem to be parts of a huge royal complex. Some of the decorated parts have been moved to the National Museum of Damascus while the gate has been reconstructed in the Deir ez-Zor Museum.

The bigger palace has been several floors, with a huge gate and many towers. Towers were not built as defensive measures. There were also olive yards. The palaces were supplied with water by nearby Byzantine church by a canal 5700 m long. The palaces contained bathrooms, water reservoirs, mosques and gardens.

World Heritage Status
This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on June 8, 1999 in the Cultural category.