Qasr al-Mshatta Façade
Title: Qasr al-Mshatta Façade
Date: 743-744 CE
Location: Berlin, Germany
Credit Line: Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, I. 6163
From griffins and centaurs to vine tendrils, various intricate carvings of vegetation, animals, and mythical creatures create the Qasr al-Mshatta façade.
This lavish desert palace was commissioned by the infamous Umayyad Caliph al-Walid II. At 5m high and 33m long, the Mshatta façade remains incomplete due to al-Walid II's assassination.
Iconographic motifs scattered across al-Mshatta's limestone stonework mirror Graeco-Roman-Byzantine and Sasanian building culture, which was unusual for Umayyad desert castles. The intricate details of the vegetal, animal, and mythical creature motifs and their meanings highlight al-Walid II's aspiried legitimacy.
Through its excessive ornamentation, its connections to Graeco-Roman-Byzantine and Sasanian building culture, and its impact on Umayyad stylistic artwork, the Qasr al-Mshatta is an extravagent piece of Umayyad architecture.
The Mshatta façade was gifted to German Kaiser Wilhelm I from the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid in 1903, prior to World War I. The other qasr remains are located outside of Amaan, Jordan but face ruin from earthquakes and wars.
