Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Qasr al-Hayr West, Syria, Ummayads
Further reading:
O.Grabar, R.Holod, J.Knutstad and W.Trousdale, 
A City in
the Desert: Qasr al-Hayr East,
Harvard Middle Eastern
Monographs 22/24, 1978.
Qasr al-Hayr West (Qasr al-Hayr
al-Gharbi)
Umayyad palace and settlement in the Syrian desert.
Qasr al-Hayr was built by the Umayyad caliph al-
Walid in 728. It is located in the Syrian desert 40 km
east of Palmyra and 40 km west of Qasr al-Hayr East.
The complex comprises a khan, a palace, a bath
house, mills and various hydraulic installations.
The khan is a square courtyard structure with two
projecting wings to the east, on the side of the
entrance. The foundations of the building were of
stone but the upper parts (with the exception of the
stone doorway) were of mud brick and have not
survived. The southern wing on the outside is a small
mosque with the mihrab in the centre of the south
wall; the north wing has a water trough against the
wall and may have been a stable or place for watering
animals. The entrance to the khan is through a large
rectangular doorway above which is an Arabic
inscription with the date of construction 727.
Internally the khan comprises a series of rooms
around a colonnaded central courtyard.
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The palace is one of the most luxurious examples
of Umayyad palatial architecture. The structure,
which is approximately square, is built on to a pre-
existing Byzantine monastic tower dating from the
sixth century. The tower is built of massive dressed
masonry whereas the rest of the palace is built of
mud brick on stone foundation. Above the entrance
to the tower are the remains of a box machicolation
which may have been the example for the gateway
at Qasr al-Hayr East. The main part of the palace
comprises a square enclosure with solid semi-
circular buttress towers and round corner towers
built around a paved courtyard. There are eight
living-units, or bayts (two per side), each comprising
a central hall leading out on either side to a set of
side rooms including a latrine. The most impressive
feature of the building is the arched gateway set
between two half-round towers. The outer façade
was decorated with panels of elaborate stucco which
are now in the Damascus museum. The lower part
of the decoration is large panels of vegetation
arranged in geometric patterns, above which is a
smaller set of panels containing vegetal ornament
within squares, circles and diamonds. Above the
panels is a row of blind niches with alternating round
and pointed arches; the top was made up of stepped
merlons or crenelations. The interior of the gatehouse
above the entrance was probably a palatial domed
reception hall decorated with frescoes. Inside the
palace the arcade around the courtyard was
decorated with carved stucco animals whilst at the
base of the staircase there were frescoes containing
naked women and hunting scenes.
Immediately to the north of the palace there is
a bath house, a fairly small building containing a
vaulted hall with benches around the side and
three warm rooms. An unusual feature is that a
mosque was attached to the south side of the
dressing hall.
The entire complex of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi
relied on a water system ultimately derived from a
dam 15 km distant. There are two main canals, one
Gateway to lesser enclosure, Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, Syria (after Grabar). Note machicolation above gate
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leading to the palace and bath house and the other
leading via a cistern to the khan, some mills and then
a huge rectangular enclosure containing a network
of small irrigation channels. The irrigation channels
are also fed by a large semi-circular barrage which
collects water from the hill.