Folie 1 - TU Berlin

December 6th, 2009 

May 6th, 2011 

Qasr al-Mushatta 

research and 

restoration project 

A common effort of 

Jordan and Germany 

Johannes Cramer, Barbara Perlich Qasr al-Mushatta research and restoration project

The famous desert castles in Jordan – more are available 


Desert castles: 

Qastal and Kharana 


Desert castles: Kharana 


Desert castles: Qusair Amra 


Desert castles: Qusair Amra 


Desert castles: Qasr al-Tuba 






Desert castle: Qasr al-Mushatta. 

The site before 1903 in the 

steppe with no human 

settlements around 


The site next to Amman Queen Alia 

International Airport from the airplane 

threatened by industrial building 

activities 


Qasr al-Mushatta - 

shared heritage in Jordan and Germany 


1. Research strategies 

- Evaluation of historic documents 

- Surveying 

- Documentation 

- Archaeology 

- Buildings archaeology 

- investigation of the surface 

- collection of the graffiti 

- research in the emerging Islamic art history 


Now in the new National Museum 

More in Kuwait, Jerusalem and 

Marocco; some disappeared 

Identification of dispersed elements 


What has been done since 1903: 

clearance work 


aerial archaeology and landscape survey 

geodetic survey, mapping of the entire 

surfaces 


exact drawing of the remains: south façade in Jordan 


exact drawing of the remains: south façade in Berlin 


exact drawing of the remains: Detail south façade 



Archaeology in order to 

identify the original 

ground plan 

Yellow: Bujard 2000 

Magenta: TU Berlin 2010 

Mosaic tesserae 


Trench I_03_a. 

Foundation East-West. 

Looking east; Oct. 2010 

Foundations and finds 

Axonometric drawing of the foundations in trench I_03_a 


Excavation in the quarter of the mosque 

Foundation of partition wall; Oct. 

2010 

Trench VIII_08_a. 

Looking southwest and 

south; Oct. 2010 


Historic building techniques: brickwork and limestone masonry 


ickwork: two different 

sizes of the bricks 


lime stone masonry: headers and stretchers 


Detailed study of the construction 


High quality surface of the brickwork with one brick 

showing an inscription of unknown message 


Refinement of the limestone masonry: 

Embellishment of the joints found 

throughout the entire castle 


Refinement of the brickwork: 

Numerous remains of plaster 


Refinement of 

the walls and 

flooring: 

colourful mosaic 

tesserae 


Refinement of the flooring: big green 

marble slabs 


Refinement of the decoration: red colour in the rosettas of the palace 


Numerous fragments of 

sculpture in the palace 


Results of the research project 

- Complete documentation of the actual situation of the ruin 

- Archaeological evidence concerning ground plan 

- The palace did not remain a ruin but was finished and used 

in the central area 

- Reconsidering the dating of Mushatta 

Foundations 

finished 

Definitely 

completely 

finished 

Eventually 

finished 

Johannes Cramer, Barbara Perlich Qasr al-Mushatta research and restoration project 

Only 

trenches 

of foundations 

finished

Excavation in the central court of the castle 


Location of the excavation 


Earthquake has thrown down the arches 

of the facade and twisted the pillars 


Coin of around 760 

under the pavement of 

the court and under the 

stones of the arches 


2. Restoration strategies 

- Safeguarding the existing fabric by conservation 

- Stop further loss of precious works of art 

- Improve the understanding of the ruin for visitors by 

° Rebuilding the facade of the palace 

° Rebuilding the inner arch of the audience hall 

° Closing the gap of the main gate 

° Site management and visitor center 


Current restoration project: 

repair of the old brickwork in the elevation with old bricks 


Mortar is produced from lime, 

sand, crushed bricks, a bit of 

clay and with lots of ashes – 

the use of cement in a 

historic monument is a 

crime against heritage 


Current restoration project: 

repair of the brickwork in the wall tops with new bricks 


How to produce 

new bricks: 

First study the 

old ones: brick 

with special 

traces; bricks 

with stamp – 

unique find 


Brick production is not easy: numerous ingredients like clay, sand, straw 


Brick production: forming the adobes 


Brick production: filling the kiln 


Brick production in a very traditional way: 

Kiln before firing bricks for two full days, 

after this the kiln will cool down for 

another 10 days – slow production. 

100.000 bricks needed 18 months. 


Selection of old bricks – numerous different colors 


Old and new brick – color is similar 


Old bricks inside, new 

bricks on the surface as 

sacrifice layer 


Current restoration project: repair of the brickwork – results achieved 


Future Project 1: raising 

the western elevation in order 

to obscure the ugly industrial 

zone 


Hedjaz railway track 

Mushatta is threatened 

by a growing industrial 

zone approaching the 

ruin – the visual integrity 

is highly endangered 

Air cargo access 

to the airport 


Environmental aspects 1: Plants and flowers 


Environmental aspects 2: 

Animals - various birds and lizzards 

falcon 


Current restoration project: Anastylosis of the facade of the palace 


location of various 

line drawings 


Line drawings – 

sketch of the 

arcade, not to scale 


econstruction of the colonnaded court, 

superimposed with the line drawings 


lime stone masonry: headers and stretchers 


line drawing for a decoration inside the palace, scale 1:1 


line drawing of a design for a decoration, scale 1:1, 

superimposed on the south façade 


line drawing of an arch, scale 1:1 


line drawing, scale 1:1, superimposed on the three-arched façade 


layout superimposed on the realized reconstruction 


Detailed planning for the scaffolding 


Reinforced brickwork 


Sophisticated technology 

inside the brickwork: 

reinforcement against 

earthquake challenges 


Rosetta reassembled from 

five different fragments 


Rosettas reassembled 


New stones are brilliant 

white as the old ones have 

been more than thousand 

years ago. New stone glued 

to an old one. 

New stones for the arches 


Continuous use of traditional 

techniques: liquid mortar 

filled into the masonry – 

channels prepared for fill-in 

in the stones for the arches 


Future Project 1: Rebuilding the inner arch of the reception hall 


Stones of the arch of the audience hall 


Stones are reduced and 

looted in various ways 


Unfinished decoration of 

the inner arch of the 

audience hall 


Rebuilding the arch of 

the audience hall 


Future Project 3: Closing the gap of the main gate. Situation as today 

and in 1903 before dismanteling the western wing for transport to Germany 


Present situation after anastylosis of the palace façade 


Solution 2: volume of the 1903 situation 

rebuilt in solid limestone masonry with 

abstracted decoration including original 

elements still found on the site 


Solution 3: augmented reality as app for smartphone 

current situation superimposed with photograph of before 1903 


Thank you for your attention 

Thanks to everybody who supported the project, namely the 

Department of Antiquities of Jordan, and the entire staff of Jordan, 

Germany, Berlin National Museums and Berlin Institute of 

Technology together with those who provided the financial means: 

German Research Foundation and German Foreign Office 


Bauwerke zum Thema, die man 

gesehen haben sollte (5) 

Fachhochschule Wildau 

Anderhalten Architekten 

War: Lokomotivenfabrik 

Ist: Hochschulgebäude

Folie 1 - TU Berlin

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