Hisham's Palace ( ), also known as Khirbat al-Mafjar (), is an important early Islamic archaeological site in the Palestinian city of Jericho, in the West Bank. Built by the Umayyad dynasty in the first half of the 8th century, it is one of the so-called Umayyad desert castles. It is located 3 km north of Jericho's city center, in an area governed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
Spreading over , the site consists of three main parts: a palace, an ornate bath complex, and an agricultural estate. Also associated with the site is a large park or agricultural enclosure (ḥayr) which extends east of the palace. The entire complex - palace, baths, and farm - was connected by an elaborate water system to nearby springs.
Excavation history
The site was discovered in 1873. The northern area of the site was noted, but not excavated, in 1894 by F. J. Bliss, but the major source of archaeological information comes from the excavations of Palestinian archaeologist, Dimitri Baramki between 1934 and 1948. In 1959 Baramki's colleague, colonial administrator for the British Mandate government Robert Hamilton, published the major work on Hisham's Palace, Khirbat al-Mafjar: An Arabian Mansion in the Jordanian Valley. Baramki's archaeological research is unfortunately absent from this volume, and as such, Hamilton's analysis is exclusively art historical. Baramki's research on the archaeological aspects of the site, particularly the ceramics, was published in various preliminary reports and articles in the Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine. Many of the finds from Baramki and Hamilton's excavations are now held in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
In 2006, new excavations were carried out under the direction of Dr. Hamdan Taha of the Palestinian National Authority's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Current research is being conducted by the Jericho Mafjar Project, a collaboration between the ministry and archaeologists from the University of Chicago.
In 2015, an agreement was signed between the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to enable the mosaic in the palace, one of the largest in the world, to be uncovered and readied for display.
History
It is difficult to establish a secure historical framework for Hisham's Palace. No textual sources reference the site, and archaeological excavations are the only source of further information. An ostracon bearing the name "Hisham" was found during the course of Baramki's excavations. This was interpreted as evidence for the site's construction during the reign of the caliph Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. Robert Hamilton subsequently argued that the palace was a residence of al-Walid ibn Yazid, a nephew of Hisham who was famous for his extravagant lifestyle. Archaeologically it is certain that the site is a product of the Umayyad dynasty in the first half of the 8th century, although the specifics of its patronage and use remain unknown.
As an archaeological site, Hisham's Palace belongs to the category of desert castles. These are a collection of monuments dating to the Umayyad dynasty and found throughout Syria, Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank. Although there is great variation in the size, location, and presumed function of these different sites, they can be connected to the patronage of different figures in the Umayyad ruling family. Some of the desert castles, for example Qasr Hallabat or Qasr Burqu, represent Islamic occupations of earlier Roman or Ghassanid structures. Other sites like Qastal, Qasr Azraq, or al-Muwaqqar are associated with trade routes and scarce water resources. With a few exceptions, the desert castles conform to a common template consisting of a square palace similar to Roman forts, a bath house, water reservoir or dam, and often an agricultural enclosure. Various interpretations for the desert castles exist, and it is unlikely that one single theory can explain the variety observed in the archaeological record.