Qasr Al-Abed: A Hellenistic Palace in Jordan

Qasr Al-Abed, also known as Castle of the Slave, is a large Hellenistic palace from the first quarter of the second century BC. Most scholars agree it was built by the Tobiads, a notable Jewish family of the Second Temple period. Its ruins stand in modern-day Jordan in the valley of Wadi Seer, close to the village of Iraq Al-Amir, approximately 17 kilometres west of Amman. Qasr Al-Abed is believed to be Tyros, the palace of a Tobiad noble, Hyrcanus of Jerusalem, head of the powerful Tobiad family and governor of Ammon in the 2nd century BCE. The first known written description of the castle comes down to us from Josephus, a first-century Jewish-Roman historian. The association of the site with the Tobiads is based on a cave inscription found nearby. #2024wish