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The origin of ‘desert castles’: Qasr Bani Muqatil, near Karbala, Iraq

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2015

B. Finster  and
J. Schmidt
B. Finster
Affiliation:
Domstrasse 11, 96049 Bamberg, Germany (Email: [email protected])
J. Schmidt
Affiliation:
Domstrasse 11, 96049 Bamberg, Germany (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

The ‘desert castles’ are key structures of the early Islamic expansion. They resemble Roman forts – which may have provided models for those in Jordan. But the authors show that a well-researched example in Iraq is likely to have been a palace site before the area was Islamicised.

Keywords

pre-IslamicIslamicIraqUmayyaddesert castles
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 304 , June 2005 , pp. 339 - 349
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2005

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