- Source: Barquq Castle
Burquq Castle, also known as the Yunis al-Nuruzi Caravansari or simply Khan Yunis, was a Mamluk-era fortified caravanserai and mosque, and the eponymous historical monument of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. It is one of the most important Mamluk fortifications in the region of Palestine. The castle is 20 kilometers from the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, along the historical road from Cairo to Damascus known as the Via Maris. The Palestinian city of Khan Yunis is named after the site. The castle was damaged during the Israel–Hamas war.
History of the castle
= Construction and name
=A prominent Arabic inscription above the entrance gateway states that the building was constructed in 1387-88 by Yunus ibn Abdallah an-Nuruzi ad-Dawadar (Arabic: يونس التوروزي الداودار), a high-ranking official ("dawadar") of the Mamluk sultan Barquq. The building’s two common names – Barquq Castle and Khan Yunis – derive from the names of these two leaders, although others have claimed that the latter refers to the prophet Jonah (also Yunis in Arabic). The name “castle” is a translation of the Arabic word qalat, meaning fortified building, whereas “khan” is another word for caravanserai and refers to its initial primary use as a place for travelling merchants. The name Khan Yunis was subsequently adopted by the town which developed around the building.
= Mamluk and Ottoman periods
=It was built as a caravanserai to serve as a center in the middle of the road between Damascus and Cairo, the two largest cities in the Mamluk Sultanate, to protect merchant caravans, pilgrims and travellers. The khan also served as resting stop for couriers of the barid, the Mamluk postal network in Palestine and Syria.
During the 17th and 18th centuries the Ottomans assigned an Asappes garrison associated with the Cairo Citadel to guard the fortress.
It was visited in 1863 by French explorer Victor Guérin, who described it as follows:
...apart from the western facade and some parts of the perimeter wall, this castle is now very degraded and completely falls into ruin. It formed a large square, flanked, at its four angles, by a round half-turn. A mosque, still quite well preserved, bears the name of Jamia Sultan Barquq; it is decorated inside, and in particular the pulpit to preach or member, placed near the mihrab, with quite beautiful pieces of gray-white marble, coming, according to all appearances, from old buildings. The other materials that were used to build this mosque as well as the rest of the castle must also be partly antique; but they have been diminished. The inside of the fortress is currently occupied by very dilapidated private dwellings. It was once preceded by another larger enclosure, also flanked by towers, which is three-quarters demolished.
Gottlieb Schumacher visited it in 1886:
…the fine minaret and mosque, together with the ancient Khân building erected by Sultân Barkûk, built in the Arabic style of architecture, of sandstone and marble, with fair architectural details. The whole building has a length of 237 feet, and a width of 38 feet at the gate, and was flanked on each of its four corners by a round tower; a large wing added to the southern end is fallen. The "Khân" had two stories, the lower being the Khân itself, the upper evidently rooms for guests with the Jâma'. The main entrance facing west is spanned by a pointed arch, and in its bay a second gate with a segmental arch was constructed. The entrance is ornamented with lion figures, Kor'an citations and arabesques, above which on each side of the gate the name of “Sultan Barkûk” and a dedication to him is engraved. The entablature of the second story ended in a sort of ridge flower. To the right of the entrance a stairway leads to the Minaret, an octagon with an upper panel of later date, and to the left some passage must have led to the beautiful cupola spanned over the Jâma'… The cupola has a height of 24 feet, and is spanned over a room of 17 feet square; its layers run in concentrical rows, the stones being exactly worked; just the eastern half of this fine cupola is fallen. In the eastern wall a neat little pulpit of pure white marble and moresque work, with marble stairs leading up to it, is yet preserved.
= Modern period
=Dimitri Baramki wrote a study on the building entitled "Report on Khan Yunus" in the 1930s, which was held in the archive of the Palestine Archaeological Museum (today the Rockefeller Archeological Museum).
By the mid 20th century, much of the building was in ruins, but the front façade, gateway and mosque with its minaret were still standing.
During the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, hundreds of historic sites were damaged or destroyed. The ongoing nature of the conflict makes it difficult to visit sites and evaluate damage and in January 2024 the status of the site was unknown; the following month +972 Magazine reported that Barquq Castle had been damaged when the area was attacked. The historic centre of Khan Younis was more severely targeted than in previous conflicts, and as a result significant damage was caused to historic sites including Barquq Castle. UNESCO is evaluating the impact of the conflict on cultural heritage sites using remote analysis; they included Barquq amongst 64 sites with verified damage as of 22 July 2024.
Area
The castle was initially square, with sides measuring about 80 metres (260 ft) and covering an area of 6,400 square metres (69,000 sq ft). Each corner had a round tower. The main entrance was in the north-west facing facade.
The castle consists of two floors and a mosque for prayer.
Gallery
Inscriptions
See also
Destruction of cultural heritage during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
References
Bibliography
Abu Khalaf, Marwan F. (1983). "Khan Yunus and the Khans of Palestine". Levant. 15 (1): 178–186. doi:10.1179/lev.1983.15.1.178. ISSN 0075-8914.
Al-Barsh, Ahmed (2023-11-07), Report on the Impact of the Recent War in 2023 on the Cultural Heritage in Gaza Strip - Palestine (PDF), Heritage for Peace and the Arab Network of Civil Society Organizations to Safeguard Cultural Heritage
Guérin, V. (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
Hathaway, Jane (2002). The Politics of Households in Ottoman Egypt: The Rise of the Qazdaglis. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521892945.
Schumacher, Gottlieb (1886). "Researches in Southern Palestine". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 18 (4): 181–182. doi:10.1179/peq.1886.18.4.171. ISSN 0031-0328.
Sharon, M. (1999). Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, B-C. Vol. 2. BRILL. ISBN 9004110836.
Taha, Hamdan (2024). "Destruction of cultural heritage in Gaza". Jerusalem Quarterly. 97: 45–70.
External links
"Archnet > Site > Khan Yunus ibn 'Abdullah al-Dawadar". Archnet. 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Barquq Castle
- Barquq
- Khan Yunis
- Destruction of cultural heritage during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Beirut Castle
- Bahri Mamluks
- Malik Arslan
- History of Gaza
- Al-Karak
- Suleiman of Dulkadir
