Qasr Bshir

Qasr Bshir (Arabic: قصر بشير; Latin: Praetorii Mobeni) is an ancient Roman fortification in what is now Jordan. Isolated in an area of the desert rippled with shallow valleys that drain into the Wadi Mujib, it is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of the capital city, Amman. The structure is not visible from any settlement or Jordan's Desert Highway. It measures about 57 metres (187 ft) square and stands three storeys tall at the towers. Qasr Bshir is one of the best-preserved examples of a castellum (a small Roman fort), and the best surviving example of the four-towered forts that Rome built during the 3rd and 4th centuries; it retains a 1700-year-old Latin inscription above the entrance.

The castrum was part of the Limes Arabicus, a chain of forts and watchtowers on the eastern desert frontier of the Roman Empire. The Limes Arabicus offered protection for the Roman frontiers from raids by Arab nomads, while also promoting trade and allowing Rome to control access to water. The fortifications were just far enough apart to maintain communication. Although it is now located where the Syrian Desert meets the semi-arid steppe country in the Jordanian Highlands, the area once experienced higher rainfall, and there is evidence of agriculture during classical antiquity. By 500 AD, the eastern forts, including Qasr Bshir, were abandoned. Centuries later, the Umayyads reoccupied the site until a 747 earthquake caused its barracks to collapse.

Archaeologists have studied the site since the late 19th century. In the 1980s, the Central Limes Arabicus Project conducted excavations along the Limes. They tested Roman long-distance communication between outposts like Qasr Bshir and Qasr Abu el-Kharaq using smoke, mirrors, and torches.

英語版ウィキペディア「Qasr Bshir」より引用、CC BY-SA 4.0。

Qasr Bshirは、アトラスの城の知名度ランキングで世界28位（全6,412件中）、ヨルダンの21件では1位にランクされています。1700年に創建され、アトラスの年代判明済みの城の24%より古い城です（17世紀に創建されたアトラス収録の422件のひとつ）。ヨルダンが他とどう比べられるかは、城の統計をご覧ください。

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