Ajloun Castle

Ajloun Castle is a 12th-century Muslim castle situated in northwestern Jordan. It is positioned on a hilltop belonging to the Jabal Ajlun district, also called Jabal 'Auf after a Bedouin tribe which had captured the vicinity inside the 12th century. From its high ground the fort changed into guarding three wadis which descend in the direction of the Jordan Valley. It changed into constructed by way of the Ayyubids inside the 12th century and enlarged by way of the Mamluks within the 13th.

Ajlun Castle is positioned at the website online of an antique monastery. It turned into renovated as a citadel in 1184 by using Izz al-Din Usama, a trendy in the military of Saladin. The fort controlled traffic alongside the street connecting Damascus and Egypt. According to Saladin's historian Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, the castle was normally constructed in an effort to assist the authorities in Damascus manage the Bedouin tribes of the Jabal 'Auf. These loved enough autonomy as to best friend themselves to the Crusaders, and had at one point set up a 100-tent camp next to the Hospitaller castle of Belvoir on the alternative facet of the Jordan Valley.