Reposted from the web

Summary: The International Cultural Life Expo at Langyuan Station on January 31 and February 1 brought Turkish, Pakistani, Ghanaian, Indian, and Kyrgyz food stalls together in Beijing. This short report keeps the source's restaurant names, dishes, festival setting, family notes, and photographs.

This weekend, January 31 and February 1, Langyuan Station is hosting an International Cultural Life Expo. There will be performances by international school bands, Indian dancing, and many foreign restaurants setting up stalls. The indoor temperature is quite comfortable. The indoor area is an old factory site with a roof built over the train tracks, making it a great place to take kids to burn off some energy.









The best places to eat here are the Turkish restaurant Sultan, the Pakistani restaurant Culture, the Ghanaian restaurant Tribe Bar, and the Indian restaurant Dastan. It was a shame that the Kyrgyz restaurant Navat, which I was most looking forward to, was just a stall selling lamb skewers.

We bought a beef wrap at Sultan. It was super long and very filling, and since it didn't have garlic sauce, the kids could eat it too. Plus, they gave us a lot of the extra-long beef. We also bought Turkish stuffed meatballs (İçli Köfte). This is a specialty from the Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey. The outer shell is made of cracked wheat (burgur), and the filling is minced meat, nuts, and spices. The kids liked this one too.











At Culture, we bought chicken haleem porridge (Chicken Haleem) and beef patties (beef shami kabab). Both of these are spicy, so the kids couldn't eat them.

Pakistani chicken porridge is similar to the meat porridge eaten by Hui Muslims; both are often cooked during festivals and religious gatherings (mevlid). The chicken is cooked for a long time until it completely breaks down. Once it is ready, you add lemon, fried onions, and cilantro. Served with naan, it is a classic South Asian iftar meal.

The beef patties are also a South Asian Muslim specialty. Beef, chickpeas, and spices are ground into a paste, pan-fried, and served with mint sauce.











We also had the goat meat fried spring rolls from Tribe Bar and the curry puffs (samosa) from Dastan restaurant. The fried plantains at Tribe Bar are also worth a try.













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Summary: Amman's old city food route includes Hashem Restaurant, Al Quds, Habibah Sweets, Faisal Cafe, and the Grand Husseini Mosque area. This article preserves the source's Palestinian restaurant histories, Mansaf and Kunafa details, Hashemite background, street context, and photographs.

The Umayyad dynasty built a massive urban complex on Amman Citadel Hill, but it slowly declined due to many earthquakes and natural disasters. A major earthquake in 749 turned Amman from a city into an ordinary town. Amman saw a brief revival during the Mamluk dynasty in the 14th century, but frequent land sales and divisions caused its importance to drop. By the 15th century, it had become a simple village again.

In 1878, Russia expelled the Circassians living in the North Caucasus. Tens of thousands of Circassian farmers then flooded into the Ottoman Empire as refugees. The Ottoman Empire settled some Circassians in Amman. They built houses in the valleys and on the slopes, and by 1908, there were 800 households.

After the Hejaz Railway was built in Amman in 1904, the town quickly turned from an agricultural village into a commercial hub. It attracted many Arab merchants from Damascus, Nablus, and Jerusalem, and Amman was officially established as a city in 1909. After the Ottoman Empire was defeated in 1918, Amman came under the rule of the Hashemite dynasty and officially became the capital of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921. Amman later attracted many immigrants from the Levant and grew into the largest city on the east bank of the Jordan River.

The Hashemite family is named after the Prophet's great-grandfather, Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. They are also direct descendants of Imam Hasan, the son of Imam Ali. The Hashemite family ruled Mecca for a thousand years starting in the 10th century. They rebelled against the Ottoman Empire in 1916 and gained British support, which allowed them to rule the Kingdom of Hejaz (1916-1925), the Kingdom of Syria (1920), the Kingdom of Iraq (1921-1958), and Jordan (1921-present).

If you want to get close to the Hashemite family history in Amman, you can visit Hashem Restaurant on King Faisal Street. The restaurant is open 24 hours a day, making it a great place for breakfast if you are catching a bus to Damascus in the morning.

The owners of Hashem Restaurant are from Palestine, and they started their business in Jaffa in 1910. Jaffa was once a city with a Palestinian majority. When the United Nations created the partition plan for Palestine and Israel in 1947, it even designated Jaffa as a Palestinian enclave outside the Jewish residential areas in the north. In 1948, Zionist forces attacked Jaffa, causing many Palestinian civilian casualties and forcing most Palestinians to flee the city. The owners of Hashem Restaurant fled Palestine and finally reopened their restaurant in Amman in 1956. It has been open for 70 years now.

They specialize in classic Levantine hummus (hummus) and fava bean dip (foul). After you order, they serve pita bread (pita) and a vegetable platter. I ordered minced meat fatteh (fatteh) and fried chickpea balls (falafel). Fatteh means 'crushed' in Arabic. It is a snack from the southern Levant, found in Damascus, Beirut, Jordan, and Palestine, but not in the northern Levant. The main ingredient of fatteh is pieces of flatbread (khubz), topped with yogurt, steamed chickpeas, olive oil, and other ingredients, then sprinkled with cumin.



















Although Circassians and Bedouins were the first to settle in the Amman valley, the main population of Amman today consists of Palestinians who have moved there over the last century. On King Hussein Street, there is a restaurant called Al Quds that opened in 1969. It is run by Palestinians from Jerusalem, and the shop is decorated with many photos of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Arabs have called Jerusalem 'Al Quds' since the 9th century, which is a literal translation of the Hebrew 'Ir HaKodesh' (Holy City). Before 1967, travel between Jerusalem and Amman was very easy. After Israel occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, many Palestinians from Jerusalem fled to Jordan, and many settled in Amman.

Quds Restaurant specializes in the traditional Bedouin yogurt-stewed rice dish called Mansaf. It is Jordan's national dish and was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2022. Originally, Mansaf was just meat and clarified butter served with bread. Rice became common in northern Jordan in the 1920s, leading to the stewed rice version. Later, they added dried yogurt balls (Jameed) from settled Bedouin herders to create the yogurt-stewed rice we see today. When Bedouin tribes settle disputes, the leaders visit each other. The host serves a large platter of Mansaf as a symbol of reconciliation.

To make Amman-style Mansaf, lamb or camel meat is slow-cooked for hours in boiling yogurt soup. The rice is soaked in clarified butter (Samneh) and topped with nuts. The traditional yogurt soup uses dried yogurt balls (Jameed). To make them, sheep's milk is boiled, dried, and fermented. It is placed in fine cheesecloth and salted daily until it thickens into a round ball.

A century ago, Mansaf was served with thin flatbread (Khobz al-Shrak), a nearly translucent unleavened bread baked on a large iron griddle. Today, Mansaf is still served with thin flatbread, along with pickled olives and green chili peppers. It also comes with a bowl of yogurt soup that has a very rich, tangy, and meaty flavor, much like a traditional herder's meal.



















Right next to Quds Restaurant is Habibah Sweets, which opened in 1951 and is still run by Palestinians. Habibah's founder, Hajj Mahmoud Habibah, was from Nablus, Palestine. He opened his first dessert shop in Jerusalem in 1947, but the first Middle East war broke out shortly after. Zionist forces attacked and expelled Palestinian civilians, carrying out dozens of massacres. The war displaced over 700,000 Palestinians, and Habibah was forced to move to Amman. Habibah reopened his dessert shop in Amman in 1951, and it has been running for 75 years now. Today, Habibah has five branches in Amman and three in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, making it Jordan's most famous dessert shop.

Their most classic dessert is Kunafa. Legend says a doctor in the Umayyad or Fatimid Caliphate court invented Kunafa to satisfy the Caliph's hunger during Ramadan. Kunafa later became a classic Arab dessert for breaking the fast and even appeared in One Thousand and One Nights. Kunafa is made of buttery pastry, stretchy cheese, and crushed pistachios. You pour a syrup called Attar over it before eating. Although it has a thousand-year history, the current fried, stretchy style formed during the Ottoman period in the mid-15th century and spread across the Ottoman-ruled Middle East.



















Old Amman has many long-standing restaurants, which shows that the city has developed steadily for over half a century. Right on King Hussein Street, next to Habibah Sweets, is Jabri Restaurant, which has desserts on the first floor and full meals on the second. Although the storefront is not very eye-catching, it opened in 1935 and has a 91-year history. I didn't have time to eat there this time, but it is worth sharing with you.

Founder Subhi Jabri opened his shop in Amman in 1935 and moved to the current King Hussein Street location in 1962. He provided catering services for King Hussein himself many times, and in 1990, the King awarded him the Order of Independence (Wisam al-Istiqlal).





There are many hotels in the old city of Amman, but unfortunately, there are no high-quality heritage hotels. I originally booked a heritage homestay on Airbnb that looked great, but because I had to catch a bus to Damascus early the next morning, I switched to the more conveniently located Philosophy Hotel. The environment is decent, it is only a 5-minute walk from King Faisal Street, and it is convenient for having breakfast at Hashem Restaurant in the morning.





There is a small alley at the intersection of King Hussein Street and King Faisal Street in the old city of Amman. It is called "Coffee Shop Street" because of the many cafes there, and it is a place where young people in Amman love to hang out at night. I had dinner at Faisal Café & Restaurant on Coffee Shop Street. The atmosphere there is very nice, with a marble fountain in the middle and many decorations related to Jerusalem all around.

I ordered a mixed grill platter and stir-fried vegetables; it is quite rare to find stir-fried dishes in the Middle East. However, stir-fried dishes in the Middle East are relatively light, mainly highlighting the natural flavor of the vegetables. The grilled meat includes lamb, chicken, and a mix of beef and lamb, which is the classic Levantine style, and I never get tired of it.



















King Faisal Street is the main road in the old city of Amman and one of the busiest places in Amman. After Amman became a municipality in 1909, the first city hall building was built, and the street facing the building was named Municipality Street. After Amman became the capital of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921, many hotels, cinemas, cafes, and restaurants were built near Municipality Street. It was later renamed King Faisal Street to commemorate King Faisal I of Iraq, who was also from the Hashemite family.



















The Grand Husseini Mosque is a landmark building in the old city of Amman. It was built in 1924 by the then Emir of Transjordan, Abdullah I, to confirm the status of the Hashemite family in Jordan, and it was named after Abdullah I's father, King Hussein bin Ali of Hejaz.

The Grand Husseini Mosque was expanded after being damaged in the 1927 earthquake. A fountain for wudu (small ablution) was added in the 1940s, and it underwent renovations in 1986 and 2019, eventually taking on its current appearance.

The site of the Grand Husseini Mosque originally held the Omari Mosque, which was built during the Umayyad period in the 7th century. At that time, the Omari Mosque was right next to the market and served as the main Friday mosque (Jumu'ah mosque) for Amman. Until the 19th century, the Omari Mosque still preserved a minaret and a wall. When the Grand Husseini Mosque was built in 1924, the remains of the Omari Mosque were completely demolished. The British sent the Director of the Department of Antiquities of Palestine to investigate, and it was ultimately determined that the wall had low historical and artistic value due to multiple destructions, so no intervention was taken.



















I bought the most traditional Jordanian Kufiyyeh headscarf opposite the Grand Husseini Mosque in Amman. The Jordanian headscarf is made of cotton, features a red and white checkered pattern, and has tassels. The larger the tassels, the higher the status of the wearer. The Kufiyyeh headscarf was originally worn by Bedouin herders. In 1931, the Emirate of Transjordan recruited Bedouins to form the Desert Patrol, making the Kufiyyeh headscarf part of the patrol's uniform. The Kufiyyeh headscarf then became popular in Jordan and has now become one of the symbols of the country.



















The road from the Grand Husseini Mosque to King Faisal Street is full of shops selling traditional Jordanian women's clothing, which looks very beautiful.

















The night view of the old city in the Amman valley is beautiful, with rows of small shops that are great for browsing. Many book stalls stay open late into the night, which is quite rare in the Middle East.

















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Reposted from the web

Summary: This first-person account records Friday namaz at the Great Mosque of Damascus, including the 12:40 p.m. khutbah by Mohammed Abu al-Khair Shukri, Syria's Minister of Religious Endowments since March 2025. It keeps the source's prayer details, people, security notes, historic setting, and photographs.

It has always been my wish to attend Friday namaz at the Great Mosque of Damascus.

When I arrived after 11:00 a.m., the chanting had already begun. The elderly men wore traditional Ottoman-era clothing, and against the backdrop of Ottoman decorations, it felt like stepping back into the 19th century.

The khutbah began at 12:40 p.m., delivered by Mohammed Abu al-Khair Shukri, who has served as the Syrian Minister of Religious Endowments since March 2025. Born in Damascus in 1961, Shukri is a senior scholar of Islamic law, a university professor, a lawyer, and a social activist. In 2021, his assets were seized due to his support for the GM position. It was clear that Shukri is deeply loved by the people. They crowded around to talk and take photos with him, and he responded with a smile the entire time.

During Friday namaz, the front of the main hall was cordoned off for important figures to move through, and people could only stand there when it was time for the prayer rows. Shukri used this path to enter and leave, accompanied by his staff.

Additionally, the area near the gongbei of Prophet Yahya on the east side was closed during Friday namaz, likely to prevent people from visiting the tomb during the service. However, it is not uncommon to find tombs inside the main halls of mosques in the Middle East, and I have seen this elsewhere.



















During Friday namaz at the Great Mosque, there were many young men in camouflage uniforms; I suspect many of them had just come from the front lines. A sign on the pillar at the entrance forbids carrying guns, which reminded us that war is not far away. On December 8, 2024, Ahmed Shara delivered a victory speech at the Great Mosque of Damascus and then became the de facto leader of Syria. These men were very warm toward me. Many of them told me that China is great and spoke of lasting friendship between China and Syria after learning I was Chinese.







The mosque has four mihrabs (prayer niches). Daily prayers are usually held at the mihrab on the west side. In the afternoon, an ustadh (teacher) teaches scripture next to the large mihrab. He even gave me candy when he saw me passing by. I was given candy several times by warm-hearted people in Damascus, and I was very moved.



















Damascus was captured by the Arabs in 634 and became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661. For the first 45 years after the capital was established, the site of the Great Mosque of Damascus remained an Orthodox church, though a prayer area (musalla) was built in the southeast corner. As the Muslim population in Damascus grew, and with the need for the Umayyad Caliph to build a grand mosque for Friday prayers, the sixth caliph, Al-Walid I, finally decided in 706 to convert the Orthodox church into a Friday mosque.

Al-Walid I personally oversaw the construction of the Great Mosque of Damascus. He kept the outer walls of the Roman mosque, removed the Corinthian columns and arcades from the mosque, and reinstalled them inside the main hall. The new mosque was completed in 715 and became known as a "wonder of the world" to medieval Muslim writers.

Before the Great Mosque of Damascus was built, traditional mosques were usually flat-roofed halls. The Great Mosque of Damascus introduced a basilica-style layout, featuring three wide, long halls with a central nave and a tall dome above.















Legend has it that during the construction of the mosque, workers discovered a small cave chapel and found a box inside, which was said to contain the head of Prophet Yahya. Yahya was a cousin of Isa and was sent to guide the people of Israel, and he is highly regarded in the scriptures. Yahya was beheaded because he criticized the Jewish King Herod Antipas.

Later, the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I ordered Yahya's head to be buried under a pillar, and today this place has become the gongbei of the Prophet Yahya. However, the west side is currently used for the five daily prayers and Jumu'ah, while the east prayer hall where the gongbei of Yahya is located is not open.









The Great Mosque of Damascus is world-famous for its rich Umayyad-era mosaic decorations. These mosaics use a late Roman style to depict various natural landscapes and buildings, showing a typical naturalistic style.

Some Arabic historical sources suggest the craftsmen and materials for the mosaics came from the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, but a 2022 chemical analysis study showed that most of the mosaics were actually produced in Egypt. Although these mosaic images show traces of Byzantine style, some scholars believe their style better matches mosaic craftsmanship from Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.

There has also been a long-standing debate about the meaning of the mosaic images. Some views suggest they represent the known world at that time, others think they depict Damascus and the Barada River, and some believe they show scenes of Paradise. Currently, there is relatively more evidence for the Paradise view, and the landscapes without human figures fit the idea of an empty Paradise waiting for people to arrive after the Day of Resurrection.

See "Umayyad Mosaic Decorations of the Great Mosque of Damascus" for details.













On the west side of the courtyard of the Great Mosque of Damascus stands the Treasury Dome built during the Abbasid Dynasty, which was used to store the charity (nietie) given to the mosque and many ancient manuscripts.

The Treasury Dome was ordered to be built in 789 by the Abbasid governor of Damascus, Fadl ibn Salih. The treasury is an octagonal building supported by eight Roman columns that still have their original capitals. The outer walls of the treasury are decorated with magnificent mosaic murals, which imitate the early Umayyad decorations in the mosque, though the craftsmanship is slightly inferior. The mosaic decorations on the outer walls of the treasury were restored at the end of the 20th century.

The treasury once housed ancient manuscripts in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Georgian, including 7th-8th century Greek New Testament manuscripts, but they were gifted to Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1899, and today only a few are kept in the Damascus National Archives.













The Great Mosque of Damascus did not have a minaret (bangke ta) originally, but there was a small room on the Roman tower at the corner of the outer wall for the muezzin to call the adhan (bangke).

The first minaret of the Great Mosque of Damascus is the Bride's Minaret in the center of the north wall, which was first built during the Abbasid Dynasty in the 9th century. Only the lower level remains today, as the upper level was destroyed by fire in 1069 and later rebuilt by the Ayyubid Sultan Saladin in 1174. The Bride's Minaret has a 160-step spiral staircase, a square main tower, and horseshoe arches on the upper level.







The Isa Minaret in the southeast is said to have been built in the 9th century during the Abbasid Dynasty, but it was destroyed in 1245 during the civil strife of the Ayyubid Dynasty. The current lower level of the building was built in 1247 during the Ayyubid Dynasty, and the upper level was built after the 16th century during the Ottoman Dynasty. The main body of the Isa Minaret is square, with an octagonal top and an open gallery. Legend says the Prophet Isa (Jesus) will descend from the Isa Minaret and perform the morning namaz behind the Mahdi (the Savior).

In 1285, the famous scholar Ibn Taymiyyah began teaching at the Great Mosque of Damascus. When the Mongols invaded Damascus in 1300, Ibn Taymiyyah firmly supported the people in their resistance. He preached at the Great Mosque and issued fatwas for those fleeing in panic. He personally joined the fight against the Ilkhanate, which finally ended the Mongol rule over Syria.





The Qaitbay Minaret in the southwest was built in 1488 by the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay (reigned 1468-1496) and features a classic Mamluk style. The name of Assad was once carved on the minaret, but it was removed in October 2025. Qaitbay's reign was known for stability and prosperity. He defeated the powerful Ottoman Empire of that time several times and eventually signed a peace treaty with them, which greatly boosted his reputation. He also donated funds to build many structures across Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and other places.









The main hall of the Great Mosque of Damascus caught fire in 1893. The Ottoman Empire spent nine years repairing it, rebuilding the mihrab, minbar, and dome, while removing the original Umayyad mosaic decorations. Today, the late Ottoman-style mihrab is very intricate and represents the delicate style of that period.





















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Reposted from the web

Summary: Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province has a Hui Muslim community tied to the Grand Canal, Ganpu Port, and more than 700 years of local history. This nine-year return visit preserves the source's mosque history, street changes, restaurant details, community notes, and photographs.

I first visited the Muslim communities along the Grand Canal in 2016-2017. I went to Jiaxing back then, as described in my post, "Halal Travel Review: Jiaxing, Zhejiang in 2017." I took advantage of the New Year holiday to visit Jiaxing again and see how the local Muslim community has changed over these nine years. Overall, although the traditional neighborhood right next to the Jiaxing Mosque was cleared in 2019, there are still many Hui Muslim restaurants scattered throughout the old city. This shows that the Muslim community in Jiaxing remains very active.

The Muslim community in Jiaxing began in the Southern Song Dynasty and has lasted for over 700 years. Even though it was interrupted for a few decades by war at the end of the Qing Dynasty, it remains one of the most important Muslim centers in Zhejiang.

In 1246 (the sixth year of the Chunyou era of the Song Dynasty), the Song government set up a maritime trade office at Ganpu Port in Jiaxing, and foreign merchants began to gather there. Many Hui Muslim merchants settled on Luli Street in the southeast of Jiaxing city. Goods arriving from Ganpu Port were transferred here before being sent to the capital, Lin'an. Luli Street gradually became known as "Hui Muslim Street." In the early Yuan Dynasty, a large number of Hui Muslim troops were stationed near Lin'an. In 1276 (the 13th year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty), the Jiaxing military command was changed to the Jiaxing Pacification Commission, and these Hui Muslim soldiers settled down permanently. Records show that in 1295 (the first year of the Yuanzhen era of the Yuan Dynasty), when Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar served as the governor of Songjiang Prefecture, he brought 30,000 Hui Muslim soldiers from Jiaxing.

During the Ming Dynasty, due to policies that allowed tribute but restricted trade, the Hui Muslim soldiers and foreign merchants gradually became the Hui Muslim population. Jiaxing saw the rise of several major family names, including Xu, Guo, Jin, Sha, Ma, and Yang, and they built the Jiaxing Mosque in 1602 (the 30th year of the Wanli era). The mosque still houses a stone tablet from the 30th year of the Wanli era titled "Record of the Construction of the True Religion Mosque in Jiaxing Prefecture." It was written by Ma Hualong, who was a Jiaxing official from Xinye, Henan, and a successful candidate in the imperial examinations in the fifth year of the Wanli era. The back of the tablet was inscribed in 1774 (the 39th year of the Qianlong era) with a "Record of the Renovation of the Jiaxing Prefecture Mosque." According to the Wanli tablet, "Among the provinces, Hangzhou has the most Muslims, and they have built mosques in the Jiaxing area for a long time." "Now, Muslims like Ma Zhonglü and others have donated money according to their means, bought a piece of vacant land south of Tongji Bridge east of the government office, and built this mosque, modeling it slightly after the style in Hangzhou."

Jiaxing originally had a large mosque and a small mosque. The large one was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, so the small mosque inside the East Gate became known as the Jiaxing Mosque. The Jiaxing Mosque underwent major repairs in 1747 (the 12th year of the Qianlong era). A local official named Sha Dacheng funded the renovation and expansion of the halls and corridors, and he also added three lecture rooms. In 1774 (the 39th year of the Qianlong era), Sha Dacheng's nephew, a student named Guo Zaifen, rebuilt the main gate of the mosque and added five rooms.

After the Taiping Rebellion, the Jiaxing Mosque fell into ruin. It was not used again until the early 20th century, when Hui Muslims newly arrived from Henan began using it. Since then, most of the imams have been hired from Henan. One of them, Imam Guo Qingxin, was from Kaifeng, Henan. He had previously taught at the Wangjia Hutong Mosque in Kaifeng. In 1948, he led more than 40 students from the Henan Arabic Language School to move south to Jiaxing. He was hired as the imam of the Jiaxing Mosque in 1950 and served for over 30 years.



















The current imam of the Jiaxing Mosque is from Ningxia. The people attending Friday namaz are half from Henan and half from the Northwest, along with some foreigners. During the opening prayer and the sermon, people arrived one after another. Eventually, they filled not only the main prayer hall but also the side halls, which shows how vibrant the Muslim community in Jiaxing is. After the prayer, several friends (dost) from Henan and the Northwest were selling cooked food and noodles at the mosque entrance, making the area very lively.





















The Jiaxing Mosque preserves some very beautiful Arabic wood carvings from the mid-Qing Dynasty, which were likely carved during the renovations in the Qianlong era.

















The Henan friends (dosti) who moved to Jiaxing in the 20th century also brought the Henan tradition of women's religious education. Jiaxing's women's religious education began in 1942, with Yang Huizhen serving as the first head teacher (jiaozhang). In 1946, Yang Huizhen founded the Jiaxing Islamic Care Home to provide shelter for the elderly, weak, women, and children.









Jiaxing Hui Muslims love martial arts, so they formed the Jiaxing Hui Muslim Martial Arts Team in 1980, led by Han Haihua of the Han family. There is still a martial arts school run by Han Maosen at the mosque entrance today.



When I first visited Jiaxing in 2017, there were many snack shops at the mosque entrance, and I even ate a beef rice dumpling (niurou zong). However, the area was cleared out in 2019, and there are far fewer snack shops now.





Among the Hui Muslims who moved south from Henan to Jiaxing during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, half belonged to the Han family from Zhecheng, Shangqiu, Henan, known as the Great Han Family. The Han surname Hui Muslims in Zhecheng are said to be the Salar Hans who moved from Xunhua, Qinghai, in the late Yuan Dynasty. Their ancestor was originally named Shamuhan, and they later took the last syllable to change their surname to Han. In 1404 (the second year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty), the Han family moved to Yucheng, Shandong, and later a branch led by Han Yuanchen moved to Zhecheng, Henan, to settle down.

To this day, many Hui Muslims with the surname Han still live near the Jiaxing mosque. Han Haili's family, located on Xiuzhou Road behind the mosque, moved to Jiaxing in 1938 when Henan fell. They have made a living selling Hui Muslim snacks for nearly 90 years, making them a famous old Jiaxing brand. When I came to Jiaxing in 2017, their shop was quite simple, but this time it has been renovated to look very refined, and they serve full meals to snacks. We ordered pan-fried dumplings (jianjiao), beef offal vermicelli pot (niuza fensi bao), fried fish noodles (baoyu mian), and crispy sesame flatbread (xiangsu bing). The beef offal pot arrived at the table bubbling and was very comforting, perfect for winter. The crispy sesame flatbread is very popular with children, and it is convenient to buy a few to take along when visiting the nearby ancient town.



















The old city of Jiaxing is home to many Hui Muslim snack shops, including Haiqin's Deli, Henan Snack Shop, Guo's Beef Pan-fried Buns, Yudong Heritage Whole Lamb Restaurant, Pan-fried Bun and Beef Soup Shop, and Alin's Pan-fried Dumpling Shop. You don't have to worry about finding food when traveling in the old city of Jiaxing.



















In the evening, we had dinner at Jingyage on Xiuzhou Road near the Jiaxing mosque. This place is also run by Henan friends, and they specialize in lamb soup and flatbread (yangtang shaobing), though I think the flatbread is only truly fragrant when made fresh in the morning. We ordered lamb soup braised noodles (yangtang huimian), stacked meat (duozi rou), and osmanthus beef tenderloin (guihua niuliu). The braised noodles and stacked meat both had a very authentic Henan taste and were very comforting to eat. The osmanthus dish is actually stir-fried eggs. Eating the beef tenderloin and stir-fried eggs wrapped in lotus leaf buns (heye bing) is very suitable for the tastes of Northerners, and our whole family thought it was delicious.



















The most worth-eating Hui Muslim restaurant in Jiaxing is undoubtedly Siruchun on Yuehe Street. Siruchun has a history of over 100 years and is now listed as a Jiaxing intangible cultural heritage for its "Hui Muslim pan-fried bun and dumpling making technique."

Siruchun was founded in 1919 by a Hui Muslim from Henan named Bai Tisheng. It first opened inside the East Gate near the Jiaxing Mosque. At that time, Bai Tisheng mainly sold soy-sauce beef (jiang niurou), beef and lamb steamed buns (baozi), and pan-fried pancakes (jianbing). Because the buns were the most popular, the shop was also called the Bai Family Buns of the East Gate. When the Japanese army occupied Jiaxing in December 1937, the East Gate was destroyed by artillery fire, and the Bai family fled to the countryside for safety. After the fighting calmed down at the end of 1938, Bai Tisheng opened the Siruchun Stir-fry Restaurant at the street corner near Xuangong Bridge. Later, it became one of the most famous Hui Muslim stir-fry restaurants in Jiaxing, alongside Chunhuayuan and Yuxinglou.

During the public-private partnership period in the 1950s, Siruchun merged with several other Hui Muslim snack shops. It stopped selling stir-fried dishes and only served beef noodles and pan-fried pancakes. In 1969, Changshuitang was widened and Xuangong Bridge was demolished, causing Siruchun to disappear.

After the 1990s, the three-story YSL Garden Hotel opened near Zhongshan Bridge in Jiaxing. Many of the veteran chefs and their apprentices from the old Chunhuayuan and Siruchun returned to work there, making the Garden Hotel the go-to spot for authentic Hui Muslim stir-fry in Jiaxing at the time. In 1998, the Garden Hotel was demolished for the construction of the city moat green belt. That same year, the Hui Muslim restaurant Chunhuayuan on Jianguo Road was also torn down, leaving Jiaxing's Hui Muslim dining scene in a difficult spot.

In 2008, Bai Tisheng's descendant, Bai Qingmin, and his children reopened the Bai Family Bun Shop on Yuehe Street. The chefs and bun makers who had worked at Chunhuayuan and the Garden Hotel came to help, some of whom were already over seventy years old. In 2012, the Bai family continued by restoring the Siruchun Stir-fry Restaurant, which became the most famous time-honored Hui Muslim brand in Jiaxing.

When I visited Siruchun in 2017, I ate fruit soup (shuiguo yuanzi geng), crab roe tofu (xiehuang doufu), Indian aster greens (malantou), and Bai family fried fish (baojia baoyu). This time, I ordered beef strips with pickled mustard greens and edamame (xuecai maodou niurousi), stir-fried eggs with silverfish (yinyu chaodan), soy-sauce duck (jiangya), braised gluten (suji), and Indian aster greens. If you want to eat traditional Jiaxing Hui Muslim cuisine, this is the right place to come. Our favorite dish is the beef strips with pickled mustard greens and edamame. It is cooked very lightly, and both adults and children love it. Stir-fried eggs with silverfish is also a specialty of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai regions, and it is very nutritious. The soy-sauce duck is a bit cold to eat in winter, so I heated it up in the shop's microwave. Since the other dishes are quite light, the soy-sauce duck helps balance the meal. I have always loved braised gluten, and it is hard to find it this good in the north. I really liked the Indian aster greens last time I ate them because they are so fresh and crisp. I recommended them to my family this time, and they all liked them too.

Because the shop is on Yuehe Street, the foot traffic is very high, and the service can't always keep up. This is understandable, and even though there are many people eating, the food still comes out quickly.



















There are two other unique Hui Muslim restaurants in Jiaxing: one is a Jiangxi home-style restaurant run by Hui Muslims from Xi'an, and the other is a Northeast-style iron pot stew. If any friends (dosti) want to try a different flavor, they can check those out. We actually really wanted to try the Jiangxi home-style food, but we gave up because we had children with us and couldn't eat spicy food.



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Reposted from the web

Summary: The Great Mosque of Damascus is famous for Umayyad-era mosaics, including the Barada Panel restored by the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in 1270. This account keeps the source's art history, chemical study notes, scholarly interpretations, mosaic locations, and photographs.

The Great Mosque of Damascus is world-famous for its rich Umayyad-era mosaic decorations. These mosaics use a late Roman style to depict various natural landscapes and buildings, showing a typical naturalistic style.

Some Arabic historical sources suggest the craftsmen and materials for the mosaics came from the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, but a 2022 chemical analysis study showed that most of the mosaics were actually produced in Egypt. Although these mosaic images show traces of Byzantine style, some scholars believe their style better matches mosaic craftsmanship from Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.

There has also been a long-standing debate about the meaning of the mosaic images. Some views suggest they represent the known world at that time, others think they depict Damascus and the Barada River, and some believe they show scenes of Paradise. Currently, there is relatively more evidence for the Paradise view, and the landscapes without human figures fit the idea of an empty Paradise waiting for people to arrive after the Day of Resurrection.

In 1270, the Mamluk Sultan Baibars carried out a large-scale restoration of the mosaics at the Great Mosque of Damascus, especially the Barada Panel in the western portico. The Barada River is the main river flowing through Damascus. This panel is believed to depict a town landscape along the Barada River.































Mosaic decorations in the central hall of the west gate.















Mosaic decorations on the north and south sides of the west gate hall.



















Mosaic decorations in the west portico.



















Mosaic decorations on the main entrance of the prayer hall; the dark parts are original, and the bright parts were restored later.

















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Summary: This Shanghai one-day halal food tour starts with Xiao Pang Beef Pan-Fried Buns at the Yongji Road farmers' market in Yangpu District. It preserves the source's shop names, Hui Muslim owners, neighborhood context, food descriptions, exhibition stop, and photographs.

I came to Shanghai on New Year's Day to see the Mughal, Persian, and Ottoman art exhibition at the Pudong Art Museum, and I took the chance to go on a one-day food tour of local Muslim eateries.

On the food street at the Yongji Road farmers' market in Yangpu District, Shanghai, there is a shop called Xiao Pang Beef Pan-fried Buns (xiaopang niurou jianbao). The owner is Pang Xinhuai, a Hui Muslim friend (dost) from Henan. He has been running his beef pan-fried bun shop in Shanghai for 31 years, and he is very popular with the locals.

I went to his shop early on New Year's Day for buns. Every batch is sold out immediately by the people waiting in line, so you can almost always get them fresh out of the pan. I didn't see any tourists taking photos when I was there; it was mostly residents from the neighborhood stopping by after grocery shopping.

Their pan-fried buns are very juicy, so be careful not to splash yourself when you take a bite. The buns are very fragrant with a thick skin. I think two are enough for an average person, and one is plenty for someone with a small appetite. I also had their beef vermicelli soup (niurou fensi tang). The flavor is rich and the vermicelli is chewy, which is perfect for winter. They also have flatbread with cumin (qiangbing) and scallion egg pancakes (cong hua jidan bing). Unfortunately, the flatbread was sold out when I arrived. The egg pancake is quite mild, which is good if you prefer lighter flavors.



















The snack shops run by Henan Hui Muslims in Shanghai mainly fall into two types. Besides beef pan-fried buns, there are also shops focusing on the classic Shanghai breakfast quartet of flatbread (dabing) and fried dough sticks (youtiao). I visited one on Lingyan South Road in Lingzhao New Village, Pudong, and they are also very popular with local residents.

Their most famous item is the old-fashioned flatbread, which is made fresh in the oven and served piping hot. They serve the flatbread with sweet tofu pudding (douhua) and savory soy milk (xianjiang). Savory soy milk, along with flatbread, fried dough sticks, and sticky rice rolls (cifan), are known as the four pillars of a Shanghai breakfast. It is very different from the soy milk we drink in the north and is not just simple salty soy milk. Savory soy milk is made by adding vinegar to soy milk to create soft curds, then topped with seaweed, pickled mustard greens, and dried shrimp. It is very comforting to eat in the morning with fried dough sticks.

It was my first time having a sticky rice roll. It is made by steaming a mix of glutinous rice and non-glutinous rice, then wrapping it around fried dough sticks and pickled mustard greens. The portion is huge; I didn't expect Shanghai people to have such a filling breakfast!

Besides the rolls, they have sticky rice cakes (cifan gao). These are made by mixing glutinous and non-glutinous rice with salt, pressing them into blocks, and frying them. The outside is crispy, while the inside still has the texture of rice. Their fried radish cakes (youdunzi) are also delicious, filled with shredded white radish.



















Shanghai-style Muslim cuisine has a long history. After Shanghai opened as a port in 1843 (the 23rd year of the Daoguang reign), Hui Muslims from Nanjing began selling halal food in the city. Over the next hundred years, this gradually developed into Shanghai-style Muslim cuisine. During the Xianfeng reign, Nanjing Hui Muslims founded the He Wanxing tea shop in the Nanshi district of Shanghai. It was later renamed Huifenglou Restaurant. Huifenglou was famous for its Huifeng beef pot, stir-fried yellow crab with oil and soy sauce, and braised river eel in a rich, dark sauce. They also served thumb-sized beef rice dumplings (zongzi) and silver thread rolls (yinsi juan), making Shanghai-style Muslim cuisine very famous for a time.

Due to historical reasons, Shanghai-style Muslim cuisine gradually declined in the late 20th century and slowly faded from public view. In the 1980s, the most authentic Shanghai-style Muslim food was found at the predecessor to the Guan Guan Ji restaurant, which was a Muslim restaurant. Today, if you want to taste Shanghai-style Muslim cuisine, you can choose the long-established Yixinzhai, which opened in 1958 and is recognized as a Shanghai intangible cultural heritage.

I first visited Yixinzhai when I was researching Muslim communities along the Yangtze River in 2017. Back then, I went to the old shop on Liangzhou Road. That shop is temporarily closed now, but you can find the new temporary location just a little further down the street. I was alone last time and only had the shredded eel cold noodles, three-yellow chicken (sanhuangji), and shaved ice. This time, I brought my whole family so we could try their stir-fried dishes.

We ordered sizzling oil shredded eel (xiangyou shansi), crab roe tofu, crystal shrimp, and Yangzhou fried rice. At first, we wanted to order plain stir-fried shredded eel, but the server said that version is just eel. The sizzling oil version is stir-fried with water bamboo (jiaobai). I thought the version with water bamboo tasted better. The shredded eel was quite oily and had a strong savory sauce. It tasted a lot like stir-fried chicken cubes with bean paste (jiangbao jiding), but the texture of the eel was better. The kids really loved the crystal shrimp and Yangzhou fried rice and ate a lot of both. The shrimp had a great texture and tasted very fresh. I really liked the crab roe tofu. It went perfectly with rice and had a very rich crab flavor.



















I want to mention that in some areas, Hui Muslims follow dietary customs like only eating ruminants, avoiding scaleless fish, or not eating rabbit. I have never seen these customs in any Muslim community abroad, and they are not recorded in any religious texts or legal treatises. I later learned about this in an article by Yahya Dosti titled "What are the non-halal foods mentioned in religious texts?" The article explains that these dietary habits actually come from the Jewish scripture, the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament. He suggests that when the "Blue-capped Hui" (lanmao huihui) Jewish descendants in Kaifeng, Henan, integrated into the Hui Muslim community, they brought some Jewish customs with them, leading to this cultural fusion.

If you are a Hui Muslim who respects tradition, you can choose to follow these customs yourself. However, you have no right to criticize others for eating scaleless fish or rabbit, as these are just folk customs and have nothing to do with faith.



Yixinzhai also sells traditional pastries from the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai regions. We bought a box of victory cakes (dingsheng gao), which are made from glutinous rice, non-glutinous rice, and red rice flour with a red bean paste filling. They were quite hard when we bought them, but after steaming them again at home, the texture returned to normal.

















In the evening, we ate at a Malaysian restaurant called Secret Taste (Mizhiwei) in the Qiantan area of Shanghai. Although there are Malaysian restaurants in Beijing, they are usually run by Malaysian Chinese. If you want to taste authentic Malaysian Muslim food, you have to come to Secret Taste. It is clean and alcohol-free.

The restaurant is in the underground food court of Qiantan 31. It is easy to drive directly into the parking garage, and it is right next to Qiantan Taikoo Li, which is great for shopping.

Their head chef, Shah, is from Kuala Lumpur and spent 20 years as an executive chef at five-star hotels. When we arrived, the chef was at the bar making drinks. Most of the diners were Malaysian Muslims, many of whom seemed to be families visiting Shanghai.

We ordered beef rendang rice, three-color milk tea, Hainanese chicken rice, handmade fish cakes, Nyonya yam rolls, and coconut bubur cha cha. Their beef rendang rice is very authentic and definitely feels like being back in Malaysia. The beef was even softer and more tender than what we ate in Malaysia, which suits the Chinese palate. It would be even better if we could choose turmeric rice or pandan rice to go with it.

Beef rendang likely originated from curry brought by Indian merchants who came to trade on Sumatra before the 15th century, which then developed alongside the local diet of the Minangkabau people. The Minangkabau people have always been known for their business skills and are the most mobile ethnic group in Southeast Asia. In the early 14th century, the Minangkabau crossed the Strait of Malacca to reach the Malay Peninsula, where they married local Malays and blended into the Malay population. The main ingredients for beef stew (rendang) are meat, coconut milk, chili, and various spices. To suit the needs of Minangkabau merchants on long voyages, the stew is simmered over low heat until it becomes rich and dry, allowing it to be stored for several weeks.

Their three-layer milk tea (teh tarik) is also very good. Three-layer milk tea is made with palm sugar, milk, and black tea to create three distinct colors, and it has a very rich flavor.

I also really like the fish crackers (keropok lekor) and yam rolls; they are rare and delicious Malay specialties.

Their chicken satay (satay ayam) also tastes good. Satay originated on the island of Java, where Javanese people developed it based on the South Asian grilled skewers (kebab) brought by Indian merchants. The word satay comes from the South Indian Tamil word 'catai,' which literally means 'meat'. After the 19th century, the Javanese brought satay to the Malay Peninsula, and it became a classic Malay snack.

It is a pity that their Hainanese chicken rice is not good. I have eaten delicious Hainanese chicken rice made by Malay friends (dosti) many times in Malaysia. But their chicken is very icy, as if it was just taken out of the refrigerator. The rice cooked in chicken broth actually tastes good, but it does not go well with the cold chicken.























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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Jordan road trip records a self-drive route to several Umayyad desert palaces after comparing private cars and group tours. It keeps the source's rental process, costs, driving observations, site history, palace names, and photographs.

A major goal of this trip to Jordan was to visit the many desert ruins from the Umayyad dynasty. Before I left, I looked into private cars and group tours, but I felt the tours visited too few sites and were quite expensive. I ended up choosing to rent a car and drive myself, which was my first time ever driving abroad.

I checked and found that XC rental only allowed airport pickup and return, while ZCC offered airport pickup and city center return, which fit my itinerary better. I chose Thrifty because they have locations at both the airport and in the city, so I didn't need to call ahead. I got a translation of my driver's license in advance, though they didn't actually ask to see it when I arrived.

The arrivals hall at Amman Airport is small, and I quickly found the Thrifty counter. The staff spoke fluent English. I showed him my passport, my domestic driver's license, and the rental confirmation. He put a 500-dollar pre-authorization hold on my VISA card, which would cover any traffic fines. The money was returned to me about ten days after I dropped off the car, as I didn't have any fines. The paperwork said I needed to wash the car before returning it, but I didn't, and it ended up being fine.

After finishing the paperwork at the counter, the guy pointed to my car outside. I took the slip they gave me to the attendant outside to pick up the car. I just took a video walking around the vehicle, and the registration was in the glove box. I chose a Nissan Kicks for 416 yuan a day, and the car ran without any issues. The only thing was that the rental car didn't have a phone mount. I didn't know where to put my phone for navigation at first, but I eventually wedged it in the front. The desert highway leading to the desert palaces is in great condition, but you must always watch out for speed bumps, as some are not very obvious. The mountainous areas around Amman have steep slopes, and driving through the narrow alleys requires some skill. Luckily, I drove steadily, and it all feels like a very memorable experience.





I arrived at Amman Airport at nine in the evening, so I booked a stay at Qastal Zaman near the airport. This place was originally a horse farm in the desert before being converted into a hotel. The advantage of this place is that it takes less than 10 minutes to drive there from the airport, and there is a large Umayyad palace ruin not far across the way. The downside is that the breakfast is quite basic, with only cold food. But to visit the historical sites, I didn't mind too much.

Looking at satellite maps, you can see two reservoirs to the northeast of the hotel that provided water for the Umayyad palace.

















Qasr Al Qastal

There are two large Umayyad palace ruins near Amman Airport: one is the Qasr Al Mushatta and the other is the Qasr Al Qastal. I heard that Qasr Al Mushatta was closed for renovations, so I didn't go. However, after I got back, I saw someone say they managed to get in through a gap in the fence, which is a real shame.

The first Umayyad palace I visited was Qasr Al Qastal. It is right by the side of the airport road, so I just parked the car on the shoulder. According to the Umayyad poet Kuthayyir (660-723 AD), Qasr Al Qastal was built during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid II (reigned 720-724 AD). The palace was already built by the time Caliph Walid II (reigned 743-744 AD) arrived there. Compared to Damascus, this place feels more like a caliph's private estate. According to nearby tombstone inscriptions, this palace was used during the Abbasid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk dynasties, spanning several hundred years.

Satellite images show that modern buildings have damaged the northwest part of the palace.



Qasr al-Qastal consists of a palace, a mosque, a residential area, a cemetery, and a water supply system. The mosque is on the north side and preserves the oldest minaret (bangke ta) in the world. I previously thought the world's oldest minaret was at the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia. However, records show the base of the Kairouan minaret was built in 725, with the upper section rebuilt in 836, making it slightly later than the Qastal minaret (720-724). Since only the lower section of the Qastal minaret remains, the Kairouan minaret is still the world's earliest complete minaret.























The main hall of the Qastal mosque was renovated in later periods and is still in use today. Ancient stone architectural pieces are still displayed at the entrance of the main hall.















Located south of the mosque, Qasr al-Qastal is a 68-meter square courtyard. The outer wall has a round tower at each corner and twelve semi-circular towers in between. The semi-circular tower on the east side serves as the main gate, and there is a back door on the north side leading to the mosque.

Inside the entrance is a vestibule, followed by a 40-meter square central courtyard surrounded by colonnades, with a large cistern at the bottom.



















Around the courtyard of Qasr al-Qastal are six suites (bayts) spread over two floors. You reach the upper suites via stairs on both sides of the vestibule, and there is an ornately decorated hall directly facing the second floor. Each floor of the suites has four rooms, some of which feature mosaic floors now kept at the Madaba Archaeological Museum. These residences served as palaces during the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, but were converted into ordinary homes during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, which is why some walls were added.



















Qasr al-Qastal is scattered with stunning Umayyad-style stone carvings featuring geometric and floral patterns. The center of the niche features a floral pattern with spiral stone columns on both sides, identical to the niches of the Umayyad palace at the Amman Citadel.



















Qasr Kharana

Traveling 60 kilometers east from Qasr al-Qastal along the desert highway brings you to the next Umayyad site, Qasr Kharana. This is a famous desert palace in Jordan. There is a parking lot, visitor center, restrooms, and shops nearby, so you park and then walk to the site.

Qasr Kharana was built during the Umayyad dynasty in the 7th century, and an inscription on the wall dates back to 710. Although it looks like a military fortress from the outside, the narrow slits in the walls could not have been used by archers and were instead meant for ventilation. Qasr Kharana has a typical Umayyad palace layout, which is basically the same as the Qasr al-Qastal I visited previously. The palace has round towers at the four corners, two-story suites (bayts) all around, a dedicated prayer hall on the south side, and a central courtyard.

The main feature of Qasr al-Kharanah is how it blends Byzantine and Sassanid architectural styles. The palace is built from mortar and rubble, with a second floor featuring barrel vaults supported by transverse arches, which is typical of the Sassanid style, though it differs from Sassanid buildings found in Iran. The arches at Qasr al-Kharanah do not connect to load-bearing walls but rest on piers, and the use of new wooden lintels makes the structure more flexible and earthquake-resistant.

Although experts and scholars have studied the purpose of Qasr al-Kharanah for years, it remains a subject of great debate. Qasr al-Kharanah is located far from trade routes and lacks a stable water source, making it unlikely to have been a caravanserai. Some believe it was a hunting lodge built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II (who reigned from 743 to 744), while others think it was a meeting place for Bedouin tribes.

Qasr al-Kharanah sat abandoned for over a thousand years until it was rediscovered in 1896, and it underwent restoration in the late 1970s. During the restoration, a door in the east wall was sealed, and some mortar different from the original materials was used.





















Quseir Amra

Fifteen kilometers east of Qasr al-Kharanah is Jordan's most famous World Heritage Umayyad palace, Quseir Amra. Built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II between 723 and 743, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985 because of the rich and unique frescoes in its bathhouse.

Based on the remains of stone walls around Quseir Amra, this Umayyad palace was once a massive 25-hectare complex, but today only the foundations remain, with the bathhouse and reception hall being the best-preserved parts. The interior murals feature images of hunting, bathing, animals, and plants, offering the most vivid look at secular life during the Umayyad dynasty. Walid II had a free-spirited personality and loved art, music, and luxury. He would lead his entourage away from the bustle of Damascus, traveling for days by camel to reach this desert palace to enjoy his private life.

See "Jordan's Unique Umayyad Court Frescoes" for more details.









Azraq Palace Restaurant

Continuing 28 kilometers east from Quseir Amra, you reach the main oasis town of Azraq in the eastern Jordanian desert, which is 100 kilometers from Amman. Azraq is the only oasis with a sustainable water source in the vast 12,000-square-kilometer desert. It was home to animals like elephants, rhinoceroses, and lions during the Paleolithic era and has been an important settlement since the Roman period.

Travelers visiting the Umayyad desert palaces usually choose to have lunch in Azraq. The place I visited, Azraq Palace Restaurant, is a buffet-style restaurant that mainly caters to tour groups. For 100 yuan per person, you can eat a variety of traditional Jordanian Bedouin dishes.

Their signature main dish is upside-down rice (maqluba), which is made by layering cauliflower, eggplant, potatoes, chicken, and rice in a pot to stew, then flipping it over onto a large metal tray when served; it is a classic main dish for Bedouin gatherings.



















Azraq Castle

After lunch, I continued two kilometers north to Qasr al-Azraq in the center of town. This oasis castle was built in the early 4th century during the Roman era. It was one of a series of fortifications used by the Roman army to guard the eastern border, protect trade routes, and defend against nomadic invasions. The Romans built the castle using black basalt and a lime mortar that contained up to 30% volcanic ash.

Azraq Castle remained in use during the Byzantine period. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Walid II (reigned 743-744) used it as a hunting lodge because the wetlands and lakes of the Azraq oasis were full of wildlife. Walid II built a prayer hall, a well, and stables inside the castle, and he also carried out some expansions.





















During the Abbasid period, Azraq Castle continued to serve as a military fort connecting trade routes between Syria and Iraq. In 1237, the Ayyubid dynasty completely rebuilt it into the structure seen today. In the early 13th century, the Ayyubid dynasty faced both internal and external troubles. They dealt with threats from the Crusaders and the Sultanate of Rum, as well as internal divisions between Syria and Egypt. Because of frequent wars, they placed great importance on building castles.

The Ayyubid dynasty used black basalt to build tall gates, towers, and walls. The two door panels of the main gate weigh 3 tons each, but they move easily when lubricated with palm oil. Because local palm wood was not hard enough for defense, they used heavy stone doors instead. Above the gate, there is an Arabic stone inscription from the 1237 reconstruction. The northwest corner of the castle served as a prison, while the northern section contained living quarters, including a dining room, kitchen, storage rooms, and stables.

Azraq Castle is also famous for Lawrence of Arabia, a story made widely known by the 1962 film. In the winter of 1917, British liaison officer Thomas Edward Lawrence used Azraq Castle as his headquarters to help the Arabs revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence’s office was in the room above the castle gatehouse, while another Arab revolt leader, Ali bin Hussein, lived in the southeast tower. In 1918, they planned the attack on Damascus from here and successfully drove out the Ottoman Empire. Ali bin Hussein was the 38th leader of the Hashemite family and the eldest son of Hussein, Sharif of Mecca. He became King of Hejaz in 1924, but was soon defeated by the Kingdom of Nejd and went into exile in Iraq.



















Sarah Bathhouse

Azraq town is the intersection of two desert highways east of Amman. I took the southern route when I arrived and switched to the northern route for the return trip. Traveling 60 kilometers west from Azraq town along the northern route, you reach another Umayyad bathhouse in the Jordanian desert: Sarah Bathhouse (Hammam al-Sarah).

Built in the early 8th century, Sarah Bathhouse has a layout similar to the bathhouse at the UNESCO-listed Quseir Amra. It includes a rectangular hall, a changing room (Apodyterium), a warm room (Tepidarium), and a hot room (Caldarium), along with a furnace, a well, a water wheel (Saqiyah), and an elevated water tower. There is also a walled garden site, which is considered the oldest Islamic garden site.

The construction of Sarah Bathhouse is more refined than that of Quseir Amra, using neatly cut, medium-sized stones decorated with intricately carved fluted moldings. The main hall features a beautifully designed fountain, which was supplied with water from the elevated water tower on the east side.

The bathhouse was originally well-preserved, but when a village was built nearby in the 1960s, people stole a large amount of its stone, leaving the building nearly destroyed. The Jordanian Department of Antiquities excavated and restored the site in 1974, but they used cement mortar, which was replaced with lime mortar between 2008 and 2011. The bathhouse underwent several repairs between 2002 and 2020, including adding a wooden dome, fixing the water system, paving the floor, and resetting the gate, which created its current appearance.















The heritage guards I met while visiting these ancient sites were wonderful, very helpful, and did not ask for tips.







Qusayr 'Amra bathhouse does not have a parking lot, so I parked my car on the side of the road opposite the entrance. There are many stones on the side of the road, so be very careful not to scrape your car.





This is the earliest visible remnant of an Umayyad garden.



Qasr al-Hallabat

Four kilometers west of Qusayr 'Amra bathhouse, you reach another Umayyad palace in the Jordanian desert, Qasr al-Hallabat. This palace was first built during the Roman period and was originally one of many forts along the Roman Empire's road connecting the Red Sea to Damascus. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (724-743) rebuilt it into the current Qasr al-Hallabat.

Besides the palace, the surrounding area still has a mosque, five cisterns, a large reservoir, and agricultural buildings used for growing olive trees or grapevines. These, along with the Qusayr 'Amra bathhouse and garden to the east, make up a large Umayyad caliph's retreat.

The mosque on the southeast side of Qasr al-Hallabat has collapsed and been rebuilt, but it remains an important example of an Umayyad mosque. The mosque is built from layers of limestone, divided into three parts by two arcades, and supported by three barrel vaults. Very precious is the fact that the southern qibla wall and the central mihrab niche both retain their original Umayyad dynasty appearance.

















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Reposted from the web

Summary: This second part of the Jordan desert-palace route centers on Qasr al-Hallabat and continues toward the Amman Citadel. It keeps the source's details on mosaics, basalt and limestone walls, towers, cisterns, travel distance, and photographs.











Qasr al-Hallabat is built from light-colored limestone and dark basalt. It has a square layout with towers at the four corners and was originally three stories high. The northwest section has a courtyard and a water cistern. The well features beautiful carvings, while the surrounding rooms are relatively simple.

































Qasr al-Hallabat preserves many exquisite mosaic decorations. Some remain in their original location, while others are on display in the exhibition hall at the entrance of the site.



















Traveling 50 kilometers west from Qasr Amra brings you to the Amman Citadel in the center of the old city of Amman, Jordan. It holds the largest Umayyad city ruins in Jordan. You need a ticket to enter the main gate of the Amman Citadel. It is open until 7:00 PM from Monday to Saturday, making it a perfect final stop for exploring the Umayyad palace.

The Amman Citadel has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, and the southern part of the site features ruins of a Roman temple and a Byzantine church. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (reigned 724-743) built a massive urban complex in the northern part of the citadel, including a grand mosque, a market square, a domed hall, baths, a cistern, a palace, colonnaded streets, and many houses. The Amman Citadel stands alongside the ancient city of Anjar in Lebanon as one of the two most significant historical sites reflecting Umayyad urban planning.

See 'The Largest Umayyad City Ruins in Jordan—Amman Citadel' for more details.







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Reposted from the web

Summary: This first Jordan desert-castle road trip begins with renting a car in Amman and visiting Umayyad ruins across the desert. It preserves the source's driving details, rental notes, prices, routes, palace names, historical background, and images.

A major goal of this trip to Jordan was to visit the many desert ruins from the Umayyad dynasty. Before I left, I looked into private cars and group tours, but I felt the tours visited too few sites and were quite expensive. I ended up choosing to rent a car and drive myself, which was my first time ever driving abroad.

I checked and found that XC rental only allowed airport pickup and return, while ZCC offered airport pickup and city center return, which fit my itinerary better. I chose Thrifty because they have locations at both the airport and in the city, so I didn't need to call ahead. I got a translation of my driver's license in advance, though they didn't actually ask to see it when I arrived.

The arrivals hall at Amman Airport is small, and I quickly found the Thrifty counter. The staff spoke fluent English. I showed him my passport, my domestic driver's license, and the rental confirmation. He put a 500-dollar pre-authorization hold on my VISA card, which would cover any traffic fines. The money was returned to me about ten days after I dropped off the car, as I didn't have any fines. The paperwork said I needed to wash the car before returning it, but I didn't, and it ended up being fine.

After finishing the paperwork at the counter, the guy pointed to my car outside. I took the slip they gave me to the attendant outside to pick up the car. I just took a video walking around the vehicle, and the registration was in the glove box. I chose a Nissan Kicks for 416 yuan a day, and the car ran without any issues. The only thing was that the rental car didn't have a phone mount. I didn't know where to put my phone for navigation at first, but I eventually wedged it in the front. The desert highway leading to the desert palaces is in great condition, but you must always watch out for speed bumps, as some are not very obvious. The mountainous areas around Amman have steep slopes, and driving through the narrow alleys requires some skill. Luckily, I drove steadily, and it all feels like a very memorable experience.





I arrived at Amman Airport at nine in the evening, so I booked a stay at Qastal Zaman near the airport. This place was originally a horse farm in the desert before being converted into a hotel. The advantage of this place is that it takes less than 10 minutes to drive there from the airport, and there is a large Umayyad palace ruin not far across the way. The downside is that the breakfast is quite basic, with only cold food. But to visit the historical sites, I didn't mind too much.

Looking at satellite maps, you can see two reservoirs to the northeast of the hotel that provided water for the Umayyad palace.

















Qasr Al Qastal

There are two large Umayyad palace ruins near Amman Airport: one is the Qasr Al Mushatta and the other is the Qasr Al Qastal. I heard that Qasr Al Mushatta was closed for renovations, so I didn't go. However, after I got back, I saw someone say they managed to get in through a gap in the fence, which is a real shame.

The first Umayyad palace I visited was Qasr Al Qastal. It is right by the side of the airport road, so I just parked the car on the shoulder. According to the Umayyad poet Kuthayyir (660-723 AD), Qasr Al Qastal was built during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid II (reigned 720-724 AD). The palace was already built by the time Caliph Walid II (reigned 743-744 AD) arrived there. Compared to Damascus, this place feels more like a caliph's private estate. According to nearby tombstone inscriptions, this palace was used during the Abbasid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk dynasties, spanning several hundred years.

Satellite images show that modern buildings have damaged the northwest part of the palace.



Qasr al-Qastal consists of a palace, a mosque, a residential area, a cemetery, and a water supply system. The mosque is on the north side and preserves the oldest minaret (bangke ta) in the world. I previously thought the world's oldest minaret was at the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia. However, records show the base of the Kairouan minaret was built in 725, with the upper section rebuilt in 836, making it slightly later than the Qastal minaret (720-724). Since only the lower section of the Qastal minaret remains, the Kairouan minaret is still the world's earliest complete minaret.























The main hall of the Qastal mosque was renovated in later periods and is still in use today. Ancient stone architectural pieces are still displayed at the entrance of the main hall.















Located south of the mosque, Qasr al-Qastal is a 68-meter square courtyard. The outer wall has a round tower at each corner and twelve semi-circular towers in between. The semi-circular tower on the east side serves as the main gate, and there is a back door on the north side leading to the mosque.

Inside the entrance is a vestibule, followed by a 40-meter square central courtyard surrounded by colonnades, with a large cistern at the bottom.



















Around the courtyard of Qasr al-Qastal are six suites (bayts) spread over two floors. You reach the upper suites via stairs on both sides of the vestibule, and there is an ornately decorated hall directly facing the second floor. Each floor of the suites has four rooms, some of which feature mosaic floors now kept at the Madaba Archaeological Museum. These residences served as palaces during the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, but were converted into ordinary homes during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, which is why some walls were added.



















Qasr al-Qastal is scattered with stunning Umayyad-style stone carvings featuring geometric and floral patterns. The center of the niche features a floral pattern with spiral stone columns on both sides, identical to the niches of the Umayyad palace at the Amman Citadel.



















Qasr Kharana

Traveling 60 kilometers east from Qasr al-Qastal along the desert highway brings you to the next Umayyad site, Qasr Kharana. This is a famous desert palace in Jordan. There is a parking lot, visitor center, restrooms, and shops nearby, so you park and then walk to the site.

Qasr Kharana was built during the Umayyad dynasty in the 7th century, and an inscription on the wall dates back to 710. Although it looks like a military fortress from the outside, the narrow slits in the walls could not have been used by archers and were instead meant for ventilation. Qasr Kharana has a typical Umayyad palace layout, which is basically the same as the Qasr al-Qastal I visited previously. The palace has round towers at the four corners, two-story suites (bayts) all around, a dedicated prayer hall on the south side, and a central courtyard.

The main feature of Qasr al-Kharanah is how it blends Byzantine and Sassanid architectural styles. The palace is built from mortar and rubble, with a second floor featuring barrel vaults supported by transverse arches, which is typical of the Sassanid style, though it differs from Sassanid buildings found in Iran. The arches at Qasr al-Kharanah do not connect to load-bearing walls but rest on piers, and the use of new wooden lintels makes the structure more flexible and earthquake-resistant.

Although experts and scholars have studied the purpose of Qasr al-Kharanah for years, it remains a subject of great debate. Qasr al-Kharanah is located far from trade routes and lacks a stable water source, making it unlikely to have been a caravanserai. Some believe it was a hunting lodge built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II (who reigned from 743 to 744), while others think it was a meeting place for Bedouin tribes.

Qasr al-Kharanah sat abandoned for over a thousand years until it was rediscovered in 1896, and it underwent restoration in the late 1970s. During the restoration, a door in the east wall was sealed, and some mortar different from the original materials was used.





















Quseir Amra

Fifteen kilometers east of Qasr al-Kharanah is Jordan's most famous World Heritage Umayyad palace, Quseir Amra. Built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II between 723 and 743, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985 because of the rich and unique frescoes in its bathhouse.

Based on the remains of stone walls around Quseir Amra, this Umayyad palace was once a massive 25-hectare complex, but today only the foundations remain, with the bathhouse and reception hall being the best-preserved parts. The interior murals feature images of hunting, bathing, animals, and plants, offering the most vivid look at secular life during the Umayyad dynasty. Walid II had a free-spirited personality and loved art, music, and luxury. He would lead his entourage away from the bustle of Damascus, traveling for days by camel to reach this desert palace to enjoy his private life.

See "Jordan's Unique Umayyad Court Frescoes" for more details.









Azraq Palace Restaurant

Continuing 28 kilometers east from Quseir Amra, you reach the main oasis town of Azraq in the eastern Jordanian desert, which is 100 kilometers from Amman. Azraq is the only oasis with a sustainable water source in the vast 12,000-square-kilometer desert. It was home to animals like elephants, rhinoceroses, and lions during the Paleolithic era and has been an important settlement since the Roman period.

Travelers visiting the Umayyad desert palaces usually choose to have lunch in Azraq. The place I visited, Azraq Palace Restaurant, is a buffet-style restaurant that mainly caters to tour groups. For 100 yuan per person, you can eat a variety of traditional Jordanian Bedouin dishes.

Their signature main dish is upside-down rice (maqluba), which is made by layering cauliflower, eggplant, potatoes, chicken, and rice in a pot to stew, then flipping it over onto a large metal tray when served; it is a classic main dish for Bedouin gatherings.



















Azraq Castle

After lunch, I continued two kilometers north to Qasr al-Azraq in the center of town. This oasis castle was built in the early 4th century during the Roman era. It was one of a series of fortifications used by the Roman army to guard the eastern border, protect trade routes, and defend against nomadic invasions. The Romans built the castle using black basalt and a lime mortar that contained up to 30% volcanic ash.

Azraq Castle remained in use during the Byzantine period. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Walid II (reigned 743-744) used it as a hunting lodge because the wetlands and lakes of the Azraq oasis were full of wildlife. Walid II built a prayer hall, a well, and stables inside the castle, and he also carried out some expansions.





















During the Abbasid period, Azraq Castle continued to serve as a military fort connecting trade routes between Syria and Iraq. In 1237, the Ayyubid dynasty completely rebuilt it into the structure seen today. In the early 13th century, the Ayyubid dynasty faced both internal and external troubles. They dealt with threats from the Crusaders and the Sultanate of Rum, as well as internal divisions between Syria and Egypt. Because of frequent wars, they placed great importance on building castles.

The Ayyubid dynasty used black basalt to build tall gates, towers, and walls. The two door panels of the main gate weigh 3 tons each, but they move easily when lubricated with palm oil. Because local palm wood was not hard enough for defense, they used heavy stone doors instead. Above the gate, there is an Arabic stone inscription from the 1237 reconstruction. The northwest corner of the castle served as a prison, while the northern section contained living quarters, including a dining room, kitchen, storage rooms, and stables.

Azraq Castle is also famous for Lawrence of Arabia, a story made widely known by the 1962 film. In the winter of 1917, British liaison officer Thomas Edward Lawrence used Azraq Castle as his headquarters to help the Arabs revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence’s office was in the room above the castle gatehouse, while another Arab revolt leader, Ali bin Hussein, lived in the southeast tower. In 1918, they planned the attack on Damascus from here and successfully drove out the Ottoman Empire. Ali bin Hussein was the 38th leader of the Hashemite family and the eldest son of Hussein, Sharif of Mecca. He became King of Hejaz in 1924, but was soon defeated by the Kingdom of Nejd and went into exile in Iraq.



















Sarah Bathhouse

Azraq town is the intersection of two desert highways east of Amman. I took the southern route when I arrived and switched to the northern route for the return trip. Traveling 60 kilometers west from Azraq town along the northern route, you reach another Umayyad bathhouse in the Jordanian desert: Sarah Bathhouse (Hammam al-Sarah).

Built in the early 8th century, Sarah Bathhouse has a layout similar to the bathhouse at the UNESCO-listed Quseir Amra. It includes a rectangular hall, a changing room (Apodyterium), a warm room (Tepidarium), and a hot room (Caldarium), along with a furnace, a well, a water wheel (Saqiyah), and an elevated water tower. There is also a walled garden site, which is considered the oldest Islamic garden site.

The construction of Sarah Bathhouse is more refined than that of Quseir Amra, using neatly cut, medium-sized stones decorated with intricately carved fluted moldings. The main hall features a beautifully designed fountain, which was supplied with water from the elevated water tower on the east side.

The bathhouse was originally well-preserved, but when a village was built nearby in the 1960s, people stole a large amount of its stone, leaving the building nearly destroyed. The Jordanian Department of Antiquities excavated and restored the site in 1974, but they used cement mortar, which was replaced with lime mortar between 2008 and 2011. The bathhouse underwent several repairs between 2002 and 2020, including adding a wooden dome, fixing the water system, paving the floor, and resetting the gate, which created its current appearance.















The heritage guards I met while visiting these ancient sites were wonderful, very helpful, and did not ask for tips.







Qusayr 'Amra bathhouse does not have a parking lot, so I parked my car on the side of the road opposite the entrance. There are many stones on the side of the road, so be very careful not to scrape your car.





This is the earliest visible remnant of an Umayyad garden.



Qasr al-Hallabat

Four kilometers west of Qusayr 'Amra bathhouse, you reach another Umayyad palace in the Jordanian desert, Qasr al-Hallabat. This palace was first built during the Roman period and was originally one of many forts along the Roman Empire's road connecting the Red Sea to Damascus. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (724-743) rebuilt it into the current Qasr al-Hallabat.

Besides the palace, the surrounding area still has a mosque, five cisterns, a large reservoir, and agricultural buildings used for growing olive trees or grapevines. These, along with the Qusayr 'Amra bathhouse and garden to the east, make up a large Umayyad caliph's retreat.

The mosque on the southeast side of Qasr al-Hallabat has collapsed and been rebuilt, but it remains an important example of an Umayyad mosque. The mosque is built from layers of limestone, divided into three parts by two arcades, and supported by three barrel vaults. Very precious is the fact that the southern qibla wall and the central mihrab niche both retain their original Umayyad dynasty appearance.

















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Reposted from the web

Summary: This second Jordan desert-castle note focuses on Qasr al-Hallabat, its limestone and basalt structure, mosaic remains, and the route west toward the Amman Citadel. It keeps the source's site sequence, architecture, travel distance, opening notes, and photographs.











Qasr al-Hallabat is built from light-colored limestone and dark basalt. It has a square layout with towers at the four corners and was originally three stories high. The northwest section has a courtyard and a water cistern. The well features beautiful carvings, while the surrounding rooms are relatively simple.

































Qasr al-Hallabat preserves many exquisite mosaic decorations. Some remain in their original location, while others are on display in the exhibition hall at the entrance of the site.



















Traveling 50 kilometers west from Qasr Amra brings you to the Amman Citadel in the center of the old city of Amman, Jordan. It holds the largest Umayyad city ruins in Jordan. You need a ticket to enter the main gate of the Amman Citadel. It is open until 7:00 PM from Monday to Saturday, making it a perfect final stop for exploring the Umayyad palace.

The Amman Citadel has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, and the southern part of the site features ruins of a Roman temple and a Byzantine church. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (reigned 724-743) built a massive urban complex in the northern part of the citadel, including a grand mosque, a market square, a domed hall, baths, a cistern, a palace, colonnaded streets, and many houses. The Amman Citadel stands alongside the ancient city of Anjar in Lebanon as one of the two most significant historical sites reflecting Umayyad urban planning.

See 'The Largest Umayyad City Ruins in Jordan—Amman Citadel' for more details.







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Reposted from the web

Summary: The Amman Citadel stands beside Anjar in Lebanon as one of the key sites for understanding Umayyad urban planning. This English version keeps the source's notes on the mosque, audience hall, palace area, Roman and Byzantine remains, and images.

The Amman Citadel, located in the heart of the old city of Amman, Jordan, holds the largest Umayyad urban ruins in the country. You need a ticket to enter the main gate of the Amman Citadel. It is open until 7:00 PM from Monday to Saturday, making it a perfect final stop for exploring the Umayyad palace.

The Amman Citadel has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, and the southern part of the site features ruins of a Roman temple and a Byzantine church. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (reigned 724-743) built a massive urban complex in the northern part of the citadel, including a grand mosque, a market square, a domed hall, baths, a cistern, a palace, colonnaded streets, and many houses. The Amman Citadel stands alongside the ancient city of Anjar in Lebanon as one of the two most significant historical sites reflecting Umayyad urban planning.











The Umayyad Grand Mosque sits at the highest point of the Amman Citadel on a raised platform and is the largest surviving Umayyad mosque ruin in Jordan. The main hall is a 34-meter square supported by a series of columns. Its design is completely different from the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and looks more like the Apadana columned hall in Persepolis, Iran. the stucco carvings in the Umayyad Grand Mosque at the Amman Citadel feature a strong decorative style from the Iranian Sassanid Empire.



















The decorative patterns in each niche of the Grand Mosque are unique.











The north gate of the Grand Mosque faces the market (souq) square, which has rows of colonnaded shops on its east and west sides.













To the north of the market square is the reception hall, where the Umayyad governor met with delegations, tribal leaders, and foreign envoys, making it the largest Umayyad palace building in the Amman Citadel. The reception hall was built over existing Byzantine structures, so its axis differs from the Umayyad Grand Mosque and instead aligns with the orientation of the citadel hill.

The center of the reception hall is cross-shaped, with barrel vaults to the north and south and semi-domes to the east and west. It likely originally had a wooden dome, while the current dome is a later reconstruction. The interior of the hall is decorated with rich plant patterns, also in a strong Iranian Sassanid style.



















To the east of the reception hall are the baths and the cistern. You can enter the baths from the market on the south side through an arcade, or from the palace on the north side through a small alley. This alley has two doors and was once guarded by a security room inside the reception hall.

The bathhouse consists of a changing room (apodyterium), a cold room (frigidarium), a warm room (tepidarium), a hot room (caldarium), and a boiler. The changing room has a barrel-vaulted ceiling and a semi-dome, and it also includes a niche-style lounge. The changing room also served as a place for receiving guests, continuing the traditions of Roman bath etiquette. Umayyad caliphs used the baths as a diplomatic tool to communicate with various delegations.

Next to the baths is an open-air circular cistern. Its main water source is rainwater, which is supplied to the baths through a complex and efficient hydraulic system. The cistern is 7 meters deep, and its inner walls are coated with thick mortar to prevent rainwater leakage. The floor is designed with a slope so that silt and impurities settle at the bottom. When the pool is dry, you can use the stone steps to reach the bottom for cleaning. The stone pillar in the middle of the pool is used to measure the water level.



















After entering the reception hall, you reach the living area, where the main axis features a square courtyard and a colonnaded path, with nine sets of typical Umayyad-style suites on both sides. Each suite consists of a small courtyard with a central colonnade surrounded by rooms; some were renovated during the Abbasid and Fatimid periods, but the main layout remains today.





















The northernmost part of the complex is the palace area, right next to the north wall of the citadel. The main axis of the palace area features an arched gateway (Iwan) and a cross-shaped throne room. The palace area has four suites, including the residence of the Umayyad governor.





















On the south side of the Umayyad Mosque is the Jordan Archaeological Museum, founded in 1951, which displays many artifacts from the Umayyad period.



Plaster carvings from an Umayyad palace in the southern desert of Jordan, dating from 720-740. The carvings feature rich plant patterns, including roses, grapes, and leaves.



A window with geometric decorations at Hisham's Palace (Qasr Hisham) in Palestine. Hisham's Palace is located on the West Bank and was built in the early 8th century; it includes a palace, a bathhouse, and a farm, all connected to nearby springs by a complex water system. The Tree of Life mosaic in the bathhouse is considered the most famous Umayyad work.



Plaster decorations from Hisham's Palace.



A female carving from Mushatta Palace (Qasr Al-Mushatta) in Jordan. Mushatta Palace is a palace built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II in 743-744.



A stone inscription in Kufic script, though unfortunately, there is no sign.



A jar from the Mamluk period.



A plate from the Mamluk period unearthed in Ain Basha, Jordan.









A bronze cannon from the Mamluk period.





An iron elephant mold from the Umayyad period.



A cooking pot from the Umayyad period.



The walls of the Amman Citadel were rebuilt many times during the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties; you can still see towers built by the Ayyubid dynasty on the south wall, which offer a panoramic view of the city below.













Next to the Umayyad Mosque, there is a preserved site of Umayyad-period houses, including streets from 1,300 years ago; walking through them feels like stepping back into history.





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Reposted from the web

Summary: The Amman Citadel contains the largest surviving Umayyad urban ruins in Jordan, including a grand mosque, market square, domed hall, baths, cistern, palace, streets, and houses. This article preserves the source's site route, building details, dates, opening notes, and photographs.

The Amman Citadel, located in the heart of the old city of Amman, Jordan, holds the largest Umayyad urban ruins in the country. You need a ticket to enter the main gate of the Amman Citadel. It is open until 7:00 PM from Monday to Saturday, making it a perfect final stop for exploring the Umayyad palace.

The Amman Citadel has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, and the southern part of the site features ruins of a Roman temple and a Byzantine church. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (reigned 724-743) built a massive urban complex in the northern part of the citadel, including a grand mosque, a market square, a domed hall, baths, a cistern, a palace, colonnaded streets, and many houses. The Amman Citadel stands alongside the ancient city of Anjar in Lebanon as one of the two most significant historical sites reflecting Umayyad urban planning.











The Umayyad Grand Mosque sits at the highest point of the Amman Citadel on a raised platform and is the largest surviving Umayyad mosque ruin in Jordan. The main hall is a 34-meter square supported by a series of columns. Its design is completely different from the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and looks more like the Apadana columned hall in Persepolis, Iran. the stucco carvings in the Umayyad Grand Mosque at the Amman Citadel feature a strong decorative style from the Iranian Sassanid Empire.



















The decorative patterns in each niche of the Grand Mosque are unique.











The north gate of the Grand Mosque faces the market (souq) square, which has rows of colonnaded shops on its east and west sides.













To the north of the market square is the reception hall, where the Umayyad governor met with delegations, tribal leaders, and foreign envoys, making it the largest Umayyad palace building in the Amman Citadel. The reception hall was built over existing Byzantine structures, so its axis differs from the Umayyad Grand Mosque and instead aligns with the orientation of the citadel hill.

The center of the reception hall is cross-shaped, with barrel vaults to the north and south and semi-domes to the east and west. It likely originally had a wooden dome, while the current dome is a later reconstruction. The interior of the hall is decorated with rich plant patterns, also in a strong Iranian Sassanid style.



















To the east of the reception hall are the baths and the cistern. You can enter the baths from the market on the south side through an arcade, or from the palace on the north side through a small alley. This alley has two doors and was once guarded by a security room inside the reception hall.

The bathhouse consists of a changing room (apodyterium), a cold room (frigidarium), a warm room (tepidarium), a hot room (caldarium), and a boiler. The changing room has a barrel-vaulted ceiling and a semi-dome, and it also includes a niche-style lounge. The changing room also served as a place for receiving guests, continuing the traditions of Roman bath etiquette. Umayyad caliphs used the baths as a diplomatic tool to communicate with various delegations.

Next to the baths is an open-air circular cistern. Its main water source is rainwater, which is supplied to the baths through a complex and efficient hydraulic system. The cistern is 7 meters deep, and its inner walls are coated with thick mortar to prevent rainwater leakage. The floor is designed with a slope so that silt and impurities settle at the bottom. When the pool is dry, you can use the stone steps to reach the bottom for cleaning. The stone pillar in the middle of the pool is used to measure the water level.



















After entering the reception hall, you reach the living area, where the main axis features a square courtyard and a colonnaded path, with nine sets of typical Umayyad-style suites on both sides. Each suite consists of a small courtyard with a central colonnade surrounded by rooms; some were renovated during the Abbasid and Fatimid periods, but the main layout remains today.





















The northernmost part of the complex is the palace area, right next to the north wall of the citadel. The main axis of the palace area features an arched gateway (Iwan) and a cross-shaped throne room. The palace area has four suites, including the residence of the Umayyad governor.





















On the south side of the Umayyad Mosque is the Jordan Archaeological Museum, founded in 1951, which displays many artifacts from the Umayyad period.



Plaster carvings from an Umayyad palace in the southern desert of Jordan, dating from 720-740. The carvings feature rich plant patterns, including roses, grapes, and leaves.



A window with geometric decorations at Hisham's Palace (Qasr Hisham) in Palestine. Hisham's Palace is located on the West Bank and was built in the early 8th century; it includes a palace, a bathhouse, and a farm, all connected to nearby springs by a complex water system. The Tree of Life mosaic in the bathhouse is considered the most famous Umayyad work.



Plaster decorations from Hisham's Palace.



A female carving from Mushatta Palace (Qasr Al-Mushatta) in Jordan. Mushatta Palace is a palace built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II in 743-744.



A stone inscription in Kufic script, though unfortunately, there is no sign.



A jar from the Mamluk period.



A plate from the Mamluk period unearthed in Ain Basha, Jordan.









A bronze cannon from the Mamluk period.





An iron elephant mold from the Umayyad period.



A cooking pot from the Umayyad period.



The walls of the Amman Citadel were rebuilt many times during the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties; you can still see towers built by the Ayyubid dynasty on the south wall, which offer a panoramic view of the city below.













Next to the Umayyad Mosque, there is a preserved site of Umayyad-period houses, including streets from 1,300 years ago; walking through them feels like stepping back into history.





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Reposted from the web

Summary: Quseir Amra in Jordan was built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II between 723 and 743 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. This account keeps the source's fresco details, historical figures, palace layout, damage history, and images.

I drove to Jordan's most famous World Heritage site, Quseir Amra. Built by the Umayyad Caliph Walid II between 723 and 743, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985 because of the rich and unique murals in its bathhouse.

Based on the stone wall ruins around the site, this Umayyad palace was once a massive 25-hectare complex. Today, only the foundations remain, with the bathhouse and reception hall being the best-preserved parts. The interior murals feature images of hunting, bathing, animals, and plants, offering the most vivid look at secular life during the Umayyad dynasty. Walid II had a free spirit and loved art, music, and a luxurious lifestyle. He would lead his entourage away from the bustle of Damascus, traveling for days by camel to reach this desert palace to enjoy his private life.













The most famous mural in the reception hall is the Painting of the Six Kings at the south end of the west hall. Four of the six kings have Arabic and Greek inscriptions above them. One is the Byzantine Emperor, Caesar, wearing imperial robes and a crown. Another is the Visigothic King Roderic, wearing a robe and a helmet. Then there is the Sasanian Emperor Khosrow, shown with curly hair, a crown, and a cloak. Finally, there is the Aksumite King Najashi, wearing a crown and a red shawl. Sadly, in 1898, the Czech Alois Musil and the Austrian Alfons Leopold Mielich tried to remove the Six Kings mural, causing serious damage. Additionally, the labels for two of the kings and parts of their crowns were moved to the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin.

The only figure in the Six Kings mural whose identity is certain is the Visigothic King Roderic, who reigned from 710 to 711. He ruled parts of Spain, likely with Toledo as his capital. Although his reign was short, he still fought wars against the Umayyad dynasty in southern Spain and destroyed many Umayyad towns. After Roderic died in battle in 711, the Umayyad army quickly occupied Toledo and went on to conquer the Iberian Peninsula.







To the left of the Six Kings, facing them diagonally, is a portrait of the Umayyad Caliph Walid II, who reigned from 743 to 744. According to the inscription, Walid II is shown sitting in a relaxed pose with a chestnut-colored cloak slipping off his shoulder. Beside him are a clerk, two children who were likely his sons, and a woman fanning him. Above the scene is a pair of peacocks, and the stool in front of the sofa is inlaid with pearls. The painting includes two Greek inscriptions meaning grace and victory. At the very top are three lines of Kufic Arabic script that read, Oh Allah, bless Walid ibn Yazid with justice... Because the title of Caliph is missing, we know Walid II was still the crown prince at the time.









To the right of the Six Kings is a scene of women bathing, with a spectacular arcade supported by Corinthian columns in the background. Further to the right is a wrestling scene.







Above the Six Kings is a hunting scene. The hunting scene features wild donkeys, gazelles, and Saluki dogs. The Saluki, also known as the Arabian hound, is one of the earliest dog breeds kept by humans. Its history goes back over 4,000 years to ancient Egypt, and it has been used as a hunting dog by Arabs ever since. Saluki dogs were loved by countries along the Silk Road throughout history, and were even kept by the Ming dynasty court during the Xuande period.





The mural on the north wall of the west hall shows a scene in a great river, with the story of 'Yunus and the Great Fish' depicted at the top. This is the earliest known image of the Prophet Yunus in religious art. Prophet Yunus is known as the 'Man of the Fish' in the Quran. The scripture records that he fled onto a fully loaded ship, lost a drawing of lots, and was swallowed by a great fish. Because he often praised Allah, he was not buried in the fish's belly but was cast onto dry land.

Since the story of Yunus and the great fish is mentioned in the scriptures of all three religions, it became a common artistic theme for them. Murals of Yunus and the great fish were found in Roman Christian catacombs as early as the 2nd century AD. Michelangelo depicted this story on the ceiling of the famous Sistine Chapel in the early 16th century, and it also appears many times in Persian and Turkish miniature paintings.





The central hall faces the main gate and connects to the throne room in the south. The ceiling of the central hall is a grid of figures, with each square showing one or more people surrounded by ancient Roman-style stone pillars and birds.







The sides of the central hall show banquet scenes, with people playing the oud, dancing, and holding fruit plates.













Directly south of the central hall is the lower throne room, where Walid II once sat to receive guests and watch performances. The wall at the very back of the throne room shows a prince receiving guests. The ceiling of the throne room depicts various figures and birds.















There is a side room on each side of the throne room, and precious mosaic floors are preserved there.





The east side of the reception hall connects to the bathhouse. The bathhouse consists of a changing room (Apodyterium), a warm room (Tepidarium), and a hot room (Caldarium).

The ceiling of the changing room depicts people, animals, and anthropomorphic animal figures, some playing music and some dancing. The center of the ceiling depicts three figures representing youth, middle age, and old age, which are thought to represent the three stages of life.











Above the gate, angels are depicted gazing at a body in a burial shroud (kafan), symbolizing the return to Allah.



Above the warm room are plant images similar to those in the Great Mosque of Damascus, as well as women carrying buckets to bathe children. These paintings are clearly influenced by ancient Roman art, and some figures are very similar to the god of love, Eros.







The top of the hot room depicts the famous sky, including the zodiac and 35 identifiable constellations. Research shows this is the earliest image of the starry sky drawn on a non-flat surface. The radius of the starry sky does not start from the center of the dome, but accurately begins from the North Celestial Pole. Also, the angle of the zodiac is extremely accurate.











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Reposted from the web

Summary: This sixth Beijing halal food list covers ten Muslim-friendly restaurants, including Hongyunlou Huaiyang Cuisine and several local Beijing dining stops. It preserves the source's restaurant names, dishes, prices where given, food details, service notes, and photographs.

Hongyunlou Huaiyang Cuisine

The old Hongyunlou shop in Hujialou has reopened. The first floor serves hot pot, and the second floor focuses on Huaiyang cuisine. There are few seats, but they arranged a private room for us right away, and the service was quite good.

We bought a set meal for four people, which included four braised pufferfish (hetun), steamed Taihu whitefish (taihu bai), garlic bamboo forest chicken (zhulin ji), boiled shredded tofu (dazhu gansi), stir-fried vegetable hearts, mixed salad, and plain noodles (yangchun mian). We also ordered two extra fish meat lion's head meatballs (shizitou).

The people with me were eating pufferfish for the first time. We had tried it once before at Muyuan Restaurant in Zhenjiang, and I didn't expect to find it in Beijing. Their pufferfish is very well-made. The sauce goes great with rice, the fish skin is soft, chewy, and full of collagen, and the tiny spines have a grainy texture that is fun to eat. The meat inside is soft and tender with a very fresh flavor. The fish liver served on the side has a strong fishy smell, so don't eat it if you don't like that.

The meat of the Taihu whitefish is also good. Steaming it keeps the original flavor, though river fish have many small bones. The bamboo forest chicken is pan-seared with black truffles. The meat is very tender, and the kids loved it. The cooked garlic cloves are soft and sticky, which is also quite tasty. Boiled shredded tofu is a classic Huaiyang dish. We have eaten it many times in Yangzhou, and this place makes it very well. It is cooked in chicken broth and tastes very fresh. The shredded tofu is not the hard kind found in the north; it is cut very thin, just like what we had in Yangzhou.

The plain noodles are likely cooked in chicken broth too. They taste good and are not hard, but you should eat them quickly after they are served so they don't dry out.

Lion's head meatballs are a classic Huaiyang dish. I only knew about the version for the general public before, but this time I learned there is also a fish version. I looked it up and it is not their original creation; it is just another way to make lion's head meatballs. To make fish lion's head meatballs, you mince the fish into a paste, add egg white and salt to make it firm, then add diced water chestnuts and starch. When making them, you slap the fish paste into balls and steam them over high heat. When you eat them, the fish is soft and smooth, and the water chestnuts are crunchy.

The only downside is that the mixed salad must have been taken straight out of the refrigerator; it was way too cold to eat in winter.



















Sanhe Beef Noodles

A new small restaurant run by Hui Muslims has opened at the west entrance of Dongsi 7th Alley. The owner is from Dezhou, Shandong. It is a quiet place with no alcohol, and the kitchen is clean.

They specialize in beef noodles with old-pot stewed meat and beef pies (niurou bing). Beef noodles are 18 yuan, and with extra meat, they are 22 yuan. The taste is very authentic and on the salty side. The beef pies come in three fillings: beef and green onion, chives, and fennel. They are wrapped and pan-fried to order. We had the fennel one. The crust is dry and crispy, with a richer texture than Jingdong meat pies. The filling is neither greasy nor salty, and it tastes great with the free millet porridge (xiaomizhou). I also tried their deep-fried vegetable balls (suwanzi), and they tasted pretty good too. They are serving breakfast for the next two days, so I will go back to try it when I pass by.



















JM Coffee and Bakery Daji Lane Branch

JM is a coffee and bakery chain opened in Beijing by Xinjiang Dosti. They have shops in major business districts like Niujie, Dongsi, Beiluoguxiang, and Tuanjiehu. The Daji Lane branch specializes in pizza, while the Niujie branch focuses on hot dogs.

I was surprised to find big plate chicken (dapanji) pizza at the JM Daji Lane branch; it really lives up to being a shop opened by Xinjiang Dosti. The big plate chicken uses Anjihai chili skins (lapizi) flown in by air, which are spicy with a hint of sweetness and taste very authentic. The only pity is that they use chicken chunks instead of stir-frying the whole chicken like they do back home in Xinjiang.

We also ate Korean-style spicy cream shrimp pasta and fried chicken. The pasta came with plenty of shrimp, and the cream sauce was very rich. The fried chicken was cooked perfectly, and I liked it a lot.

I also tried their pour-over coffee, and it tasted quite good. However, it is very crowded on weekends and not really a place for a quiet coffee; it is probably better on weekdays.

















Wanhe Fatty Beef

The popular Wanhe Fatty Beef from Nanguan in Lanzhou has opened a branch in Dongsi, Beijing! It is right above Ziguangyuan in Longfusi, and there is an elevator that goes straight up. The new shop only opened at the end of November. We went during the trial period, but there were already quite a few people.

They specialize in small pots of fatty beef, but we ordered the Northwest warm pot (nuanguo), which is served ready-cooked in a charcoal-heated copper pot. Besides the traditional hot pot ingredients like meatballs, meat slices, and cabbage at the bottom, their warm pot has a rich variety of items, including tofu, fish balls, fish tofu, quail eggs, potato slices, Dingxi wide noodles (kuanfen), black fungus, oyster mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms. The meatballs inside are very authentic, just like the taste of home in the Northwest.

The warm pot set also includes Lanzhou spicy meat skewers, roasted eggplant, and eight-treasure tea (babaotea). For the staple food, you can choose small fried dough (youxiang). Three adults and one child were very full. Later, we ordered Hezhou steamed buns (baozi). The beef and carrot filling was very authentic, just like what we ate in Hezhou.

Let me mention some shortcomings. Their service is quite good, but because it is newly opened, things are a bit chaotic. They put too little charcoal in the warm pot, so it wouldn't boil at all, and after they added more charcoal, it kept smoking and releasing ash. The hand-beaten beef balls were not good. They lacked chewiness because they were not pounded enough. We packed the leftovers and stir-fried the meat at home the next day.



















Xiangqing Roast Duck

At noon, we went to Xiangqing Roast Duck next to Changhong Bridge and ordered half a roast duck, soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian), corn with pine nuts (songren yumi), and nail-shaped meat pies (mending roubing). The restaurant faces Changhong Bridge directly. The large windows let in great sunlight in the afternoon, making it perfect for soaking up the sun in winter!

Little Suleiman liked the roast duck and the corn with pine nuts. The duck was a bit dry, but it wasn't greasy, so it was fine. The lotus leaf pancakes (heye bing) should be served with an alcohol lamp underneath, otherwise they get cold very quickly.

The corn with pine nuts had very few pine nuts, but they gave us a huge plate of corn.

The noodles in the soybean paste noodles were not good. They were not chewy at all and were very disappointing. I won't order them again.

My father-in-law ate the nail-shaped meat pie. He said it tasted good, the crust was thin, and there were no hard bits inside.

















Culture Pakistani Restaurant

On Saturday at noon, we had curry at Culture, a new Pakistani restaurant that opened this year in Sanlitun SOHO. The long-standing Pakistani restaurant Khan Baba is in this same building. It used to be on the 5th floor but moved down to the 2nd floor, which is the same floor as Culture. Taiba Middle Eastern restaurant is downstairs. Sanlitun SOHO now has three Pakistani restaurants—Khan Baba, Ahmed, and Culture—plus one Indian halal restaurant called Dastan. The options are really getting better.

We ordered the set meal for two, which included fried fish, Karhai chicken curry, vegetable curry, lamb biryani rice, vegetable salad, crispy pani puri balls, plain roti flatbread, pudding, and two glasses of sweet lassi yogurt drink. The set meal for two is a great value, but most of the food is spicy and not suitable for children. They gave us a huge pot of biryani rice. It is the largest portion I have ever had in Beijing.

The curry is very spicy. Karhai curry originated near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Karahi refers to the iron wok used to stew the curry, which can also be flipped over to cook roti flatbread. The difference between Karhai curry and other curries is that it doesn't use onions. Instead, it uses tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green peppers, and cilantro as ingredients.

Their roti flatbread is delicious and very fragrant since it is made to order. The lassi yogurt drink was not very sour and was quite sweet.



















Firenze Italian Restaurant

We took the kids out in Tongzhou on the weekend and ate at Firenze Italian restaurant in Tongzhou Beiguan in the afternoon. The chef is Pakistani, and the restaurant specializes in pizza, pasta, and Pakistani dishes. They also have a simple Pakistani buffet for lunch and dinner.

We ordered a snack platter, beef cheese pizza, and basil pesto pasta. The kids eat beef pasta often, so they really liked the change to basil pesto. They are generous with the cheese on their pizza, and both the beef and the crust have a great texture. Before leaving, we bought chicken sandwiches to eat on the big lawn at the nearby North Canal Greenway, which was very relaxing.



















Dashuntang on Niujie Street

We had a dinner gathering at Dashuntang on Niujie Street. We ate almond tofu (xingren doufu), sugar-rolled fruit (tang juanguo), fried meat pockets (zha huitou), stir-fried beef with vinegar (culiu muxu), braised meat strips (ba routiao), roast duck, honey-glazed lamb (ta simi), fermented bean curd (ma doufu), and sesame lamb. Everything was delicious, especially the sesame lamb, which is hard to find with such a tender, non-chewy texture these days. The skin of the fried meat pockets is made with hot water dough, which is very different from the ones in Tianjin or Northeast China and has a unique character.

Their dishes have the distinct flavor of traditional halal banquets, making it feel like attending a religious celebration at a mosque. This is one of the restaurants where Hui Muslims from Niujie often go for religious gatherings (nietie), but because they do not do marketing or promotion, and young people do not care for traditional halal banquet dishes, there are very few walk-in customers now.

Dashuntang was opened by the Liang family of Niujie, known as Dashuntang Liang. It is said the Liang family originally came from Nanjing, where their ancestors were military cooks. They came to Beijing with the Prince of Yan in the early Ming Dynasty, and the name Dashuntang was bestowed by the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di. During the Qing Dynasty, the Liang family continued to work as cooks, so they were also called Chef Liang (chuzi liang).



















Zhenweizhai Tianjin Cuisine

We went for lunch at the newly opened branch of the old Tianjin Northwest Corner shop, Zhenweizhai, at Yangqiao on the South Third Ring Road. Their original shop in Tianjin is right at the corner of the Northwest Corner, and I used to pass by it often.

We ordered the classic Tianjin dishes: stir-fried lamb trio (lao bao san), creamy mixed seafood (naizhi quanbao), stir-fried vegetables with cashews (yaoguo quansu), and silver thread rolls (yinsi juan). First, their portions are huge; we couldn't finish it all, so we packed it up and had it for dinner. Second, their food is salty, so if you bring children, tell the server to make it lighter.

The stir-fried lamb trio consists of lamb meat, liver, and kidney. It is a typical dish that goes well with rice, and I ate two bowls. Their version has a strong garlic flavor. I think it is fine, but friends (dost) who do not like strong garlic might not be used to it.

The creamy mixed seafood includes fish chunks, shrimp, scallops, squid, and chicken gizzards. This dish is more approachable for non-locals than soy-sauce-based stir-fries, and my wife and son both liked it. The only thing is that the fish chunks occasionally have bones, so be careful when feeding children.

I often order the stir-fried vegetables with cashews. The mix of vegetables is healthy, and the cashews are a big hit with the kids.

The silver thread rolls are basically buns filled with noodles. It is a fun, new experience for the kids.















Dardanelles kids' meal.

I brought Suleiman to Ritan Upper Street for a meal. My son really wanted to eat at Dardanelles, and since we hadn't been there in a long time, we went to have some Turkish/Azerbaijani food.

We ordered Azerbaijani beef pilaf (pilov), a cheese platter, a kids' meal, salty yogurt drink (ayran), and sesame flatbread (simit). The restaurant also gave Suleiman a free milk pudding. The Azerbaijani pilaf is sweet and contains dried apricots, raisins, and sour plums. I had it before in Baku, and this place makes it very authentic. The cheese platter includes salty cheese cubes, plain cheese cubes, and cheese balls, served with bread and grapes. It is perfect for a tea snack. The kids' meal features a cheese toast, along with french fries, pumpkin porridge, vegetable rolls, and other items. It is very filling. The yogurt flavor in the ayran is very strong, and I love drinking it.



















Part 1: 10 halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying: Pakistani restaurant Lahore Courtyard, Henan Jiaozuo beef knife-cut noodles Maimairehong, halal Mongolian food Hulun Aile, West African Ghana Tribe Garden, Xi'an Xing Laosi meatball spicy soup, Xinjiang Changji Jinying meatball soup, Xinjiang Hotan Canteen, Syrian BRBR, Beijing fusion food Gulou Chimian, and Beijing traditional food Xilaisun.

Part 2: 10 halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 2): UAE restaurant Gulf Mandi Restaurant, Xinjiang Mansion Xihan meatball soup, Xinjiang Mansion lobby Altay afternoon tea, Muhejia revolving hot pot, Xinjiang Urumqi Nazilan (closed), Beijing pastry shop Baoyuanzhai (closed), Pakistani Samosa China-Pakistan Friendship Restaurant, Ma Ye Roast Duck, Bangladeshi Benjiebi Restaurant, and Huairou Shihu Cheng Resort.

Part 3: 10 recently tried Beijing restaurants recommended: JM Italian Coffee Dongsi branch, halal Hunan food Huixiangyun Xiaochao Wangjing branch (closed), Shandong Dezhou Lao Ma Jia lamb soup and steamed dumplings, Sanlitun Philly cheesesteak, Pakistani Roma Restaurant, Muyuzhai garlic lamb intestines, Inner Mongolia Lianying steamed dumplings (shaomai) Caoyuan Shiliuhong, Wangfujing Gansu spicy hot pot (malatang), and Yuezhen Yayuan halal courtyard restaurant.

Part 4: 10 halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 4): Hotan Rose Pilaf Yizhuang branch, Taiba Western-style bakery, Taiba South Sanlitun Road street shop, Zhaotong small meat skewers Guijie Ganmaya BBQ, Bai Xiaobei Heilongjiang BBQ, Yunnan Muwenzhai dry-pot beef, Sanlitun Xinjiang restaurant Jiangjiang, Huixiangyun halal Hunan restaurant Zuojiazhuang branch, Yili ice cream shop Bazaar Sweetheart, and Dongzhimennei Qianyuan Hotel.

Part 5: 10 halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 5): Sandyq Kazakhstan restaurant, Kashgar Restaurant, Ahmed Restaurant, Jingbalang Naan Bazaar, MacMac Lebanese restaurant, Humaer Xinjiang specialty food, Lao Huihui Dumpling Restaurant Zoo branch, Fresh Milk Town Shuangjing branch (closed), Nawab Restaurant, and Liu Ji Watch Repair BBQ. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: The Saudi National Museum exhibition Forging Narratives: The Coinage Heritage of Saudi Arabia traces Islamic coinage from early Umayyad gold coins to later dynasties. This English account keeps the source's dates, rulers, coin details, exhibition context, and photographs in one clear museum note.

The Saudi National Museum is hosting a special exhibition called "Forging Narratives: The Coinage Heritage of Saudi Arabia" from September 17 to December 16, 2025, featuring items from the famous coin collector Alain Baron. The exhibition follows a chronological order, starting with the oldest Umayyad gold coins, which surprisingly feature Byzantine emperors.

Before the Umayyad Caliphate was established, the Syrian region used Byzantine gold coins. After the Umayyad Caliphate was founded in 661, it began minting gold coins in Damascus. Early Umayyad gold coins continued to use Byzantine imagery. You can see coins showing the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (reigned 610-641) and his two sons, Constantine III and Heraklonas, on the front, with Latin text on the back. Unlike Byzantine coins, the crowns and scepters of the emperors on Umayyad coins lack crosses, and the cross on the steps on the back is just a vertical line without a horizontal bar.

These Umayyad coins reflect the early culture of the Umayyad Caliphate, which continued to inherit Byzantine traditions. When Bedouin nomads from the Arabian Peninsula flooded into the grand city of Damascus, they saw a rich and colorful Byzantine culture. Because of this, they continued to use Byzantine culture in areas outside of religion, such as music, art, and architecture, becoming heirs to the Byzantine legacy.

















It was not until the 690s that the Umayyad Caliphate began to move away from Byzantine culture and design its own gold coins. In 693, Caliph Abd al-Malik (reigned 685-705) minted gold dinar coins in Damascus, and by 696, he removed human figures, keeping only Arabic text. During the same period, Abd al-Malik also promoted the use of Arabic over Greek in Syria, making Arabic the only official language of the Umayyad Caliphate. From then on, the Umayyad Caliphate shifted from being an heir to Byzantine and Sasanian cultures to becoming a true Arab civilization.













This commemorative silver coin was issued between 800 and 810 AD by Queen Zubaidah (Zubaidah bint Ja`far ibn al-Mansur, 765-831) of the Abbasid Caliphate to give to noble dignitaries of the time.

Zubaidah is known as a key figure in the Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate and the most important queen in its history. She was the wife of Harun al-Rashid, the fifth Abbasid caliph. This was the most prosperous era of the Abbasid Caliphate, with the capital, Baghdad, housing libraries and the translation center known as the House of Wisdom. Baghdad was the world center for knowledge, culture, and trade at the time.

Zubaidah was famous for her generosity and donated to many poets, scholars, and doctors, regardless of their social or religious backgrounds. She spent over 20,000 dinars to improve the water supply in and around Mecca, deepened the Zamzam well, and built a series of rest areas, wells, and pools along the road connecting Baghdad, Mecca, and Medina. This road is still called the Zubaidah Road today. The famous traveler Ibn Battuta once said: "Every reservoir, pool, or well on this road from Mecca to Baghdad is there because of her generous gifts... If she had not cared for this road, no one would be able to use it."



















This dirham coin was minted in 1243 in what is now Kurraman, Pakistan, during the reign of Empress Dowager Töregene Khatun of the Yuan Dynasty.

Empress Dowager Töregene Khatun took power in 1242 after the death of her husband, Ögedei Khan, and returned power in 1246 after her son, Güyük Khan, was elected Great Khan. During her time in power, she successfully balanced the competing forces of the Mongol Empire. Over five years, she not only ruled the vast empire but also laid the foundation for her son's succession. While she was in power, the Seljuk Sultan from Turkey and the Abbasid Caliph from Baghdad both sent envoys to her camp.

The city of Kurraman is located in the Kurram Valley of Pakistan and was a famous minting center during the Khwarazmian and Mongol periods.





A gold dinar coin minted by the Ilkhanate in 1338.





A gold dinar coin minted in Baghdad by the Ilkhanate in 1338.



A coin minting mold brought back by Sultan Muhammad ibn Sam of the Ghurid dynasty after he conquered India in 1204. These molds broke easily during the minting process, so they are very hard to preserve.





The interactive coin minting display at the exhibition shows the coin-making process in detail.







A coin from the 7th-century Umayyad Caliphate minted in Bishapur, featuring an image of a camel rider with a spear. Bishapur is located in southwestern Iran and was once the capital of the Sasanian Empire.



A coin from the Seljuk Empire minted between 1040 and 1063, featuring an image of a falconer on horseback.



The earliest Islamic coin found within Saudi territory is this Umayyad dinar minted in 723. It is engraved with the name of the mint, al-Madina Ma'din Amir al-Mu'minin, which tells us this coin was minted in Medina. This coin shows the important status of Medina during the Umayyad Caliphate.



This section features dinar coins minted in Mecca between the 9th-century Abbasid Caliphate and the 10th-century Fatimid Caliphate.



This is a gold dinar minted in Mecca during the Fatimid Caliphate in 971.



The Saudi Ministry of Culture holds two large coin collections. The first was found in 1980 by a farmer cleaning an old well in a village near Ha'il in northern Saudi Arabia. It includes 414 silver dinars, with 7 dating back to the late Umayyad period and 406 to the early Abbasid period, from mints including Baghdad, Basra, Armenia, Balkh, and Kufa. The second collection was found by chance in 2010 by a sand transport worker in another village near Ha'il, containing 2,296 gold and silver coins from the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties.







A modern Saudi gold coin trial strike minted in 1950, with text on the back that differs from the final version in circulation.

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