FINLAND & PALESTINE Proceedings of a Joint Workshop

The three main structures in the group are the paved, rectangular
area, and associated rooms in the south called the
"atrium" in Figure 1 (no. 2), but, originally, the "palace.,,15 To
the north of the courtyard building there was a mosque (no. 4),
and a path to the "bathhouse" (no. 5). Together, these building
groups form a structure that is about 100m long. They were
apparently protected from the east with a long wall, possibly a
barrier against wind rather than a bar to enemies.
Hamilton's "palace", is actually a large, rectangular (60 by 65 m)
structure with rooms opening onto a central court. The building
may originally have had two stories. But Hamilton himself
noticed that something was not quite right and wrote of it: 16
... reflecting in its concentric arrangement of rooms within
an outer wall that most ancient Oriental conception of
what a house should be, a precinct enclosing within continuous
walls a life sheltered from the outside world. In
one conspicuous feature, however, the planning of the
palace expressed an opposite idea. So far from conveying
a warning, as the blind facades of Oriental houses do,
that the house was haram, a sanctum reserved for the
family and its dependants, the front of the palace at al
Mafjar, with its wide porch, outward-facing rooms, and
gracious, open arcades, seemed to extend to all comers
an invitation to admire and to enter.
Thus, the public character of the structure was correctly noted
by Hamilton, while the identification of this structure as a palace
is incorrect. As may be discerned from the entrance, this is
a public khan, a beautiful caravanserai intended for travelers
15 Hamilton, Khirbat 01 Mafjar, 9-44.
16 Hamilton, Khirbat 01 Mafjar, 9.
17