Qusayr Amra
The most fascinating of the Umayyad castles, with extensive fresco paintings in the audience hall and bath complex. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
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This is the earliest known representations of the Zodiac on a spherical surface. The mythological figures used in this representation show the continuity of the classical tradition.
However it does not depict the starry sky as it was seen in this region in the 8th century. A source from the Late Antiquity was apparently used as model, where the sky is represented from a further north position. In addition, the sky appears inverted. It shows the zodiac signs as seen on the outer surface of a celestial globe or on a bookpage, and not in the way an observer would see them when standing underneath the celestial dome. (Fritz Saxl: The Zodiac of Quṣayr 'Amra, 1933. Quoted in German: DuMont Kunstreiseführer Jordanien, 2011, page 221)
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
The most fascinating of the Umayyad castles, with extensive fresco paintings in the audience hall and bath complex. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.