Qasr Al-Mushatta - Travel & Tourism Guide Qasr Al-Mushatta - Jordanie

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Al-Mushatta was the most ambitious work of the Umayyads in the desert. Its name means 'winter residence'. The palace was built under the orders of Caliph Walid II, around 743, shortly before his dynasty ceded power to the Abbasids. Walid II wanted to build a city there, but he was killed by his own workers who could no longer bear to die of thirst. Today, only the imposing remains of the throne room and some adjoining rooms can be seen. The splendid sculptures that decorated the facade were presented to German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1904 and are on display in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.