Karak History

History

Karak lies on the route that ancient caravans travelled from Egypt to Syria in the time of the biblical kings, and was also used by the Greeks and Romans. The city is mentioned several times in the Bible as Kir, Kir Moab and Kir Heres, capital of the Moabites, and later emerges as a Roman provincial town, Charac Moaba. The city also features on the famous mosaic in St George's Church in Madaba.

The arrival of the Crusaders launched the city back into prominence and the Crusader king Baldwin I of Jerusalem had the castle built in AD 1142. Even today, its commanding position and strategic value are obvious, and stands midway between Shobak and Jerusalem. It became the capital of the Crusader district of Oultrejourdain and, with the taxes levied on passing caravans and food grown in the district, helped Jerusalem prosper.

The castle was passed on to the de Milly family and through marriage fell into the sadistic hands of Renauld de Chatillon who delighted in torturing prisoners and throwing them off the walls into the valley 450m below; he even went to the trouble of having a wooden box fastened over their heads so they wouldn't lose consciousness before hitting the ground. Hated by Saladin for his treachery, de Chatillon had arrived from France in 1148 to take part in the Crusades and from Karak he was able to control the trade routes to Egypt and Mecca, thereby severely disrupting the supply lines of the Islamic armies.

De Chatillon was later executed at the hands of Saladin (the only Crusader leader to suffer such a fate), whose Muslim armies took the castle in 1183 after an epic siege. The Mamluk sultan Beybars took the fort in 1263 and strengthened the fortress, deepening the moat and adding the lower courtyard, but three towers collapsed in an earthquake in AD 1293.

Little more is known of the castle until Jean Louis Burckhardt (the Swiss explorer who rediscovered Petra) passed through Karak in 1812, describing the castle as 'shattered but imposing'.

In the 1880s, religious fighting compelled the Christians of Karak to flee north to resettle Madaba and Ma'in; peace was only restored after thousands of Turkish troops were stationed in the town.