Jaabar castle a painting lying between water and desert

AL-TABQA

Jaabar castle is attributed to ibn al-Qusairi, who dates back to the 11th century. His sons are known to be bandits, some people such as Ibn Khalkan has mentioned that this castle was known before it was attributed to Jaabar as al-Dossariya as of Doser the son of Numan bin Munzer and that its history dates back to pre-Islam.

The castle is located on a fragile calcareous plateau and rises to a height of 347 meters above sea level, it has a long north-south shape of 320 meters, from east to west 170 meters, it is surrounded by two giant walls, one inside and one outside.

There are a large number of defensive towers including more than thirty-five towers, it is built of bricks like the rest of the castle building, it is reached to an upper tower, and on the left, there is a rock-cut tunnel that leads to the roof of the castle. Its entrance is built with stones, the tunnel, which is about 50 meters long, is covered with bricks.

A mosque was built in the center of the citadel and its minaret still stands at the highest point of view of all that surrounds it. Also, buildings were erected in the southwestern corner, which is perhaps of great importance to the houses of the citadel owners and princes.

A large scale of ​​excavation, in which excavations were conducted in and around the mosque, and in the southwestern buildings and the buildings north of the mosque, revealed that one of them consisted of a courtyard in the middle, with a water cistern, many rooms, buildings, well water and decorative pottery in the middle.

A number of rock-hewn tombs were found in the western side of the castle, dating back to the Byzantine period, most notably a large burial complex consisting of a rectangular courtyard carved with nine ions, each with a cylindrical shape.

Castle in contemporary history

The castle was neglected for a hundred years until the lake surrounded it half a century ago, prompting the project's founders to consolidate their foundations and crumbling walls for fear of collapsing inside the lake, which could lead to an unforeseen disaster.

Noting that dozens of archaeological sites adjacent to them from villages and tombs dating back to ancient historical periods had been flooded within the Euphrates dam project.

The castle was just a local historical landmark that did not reach the international level due to its neglect by the Tourism Directorate until 2011.

Armed gangs took control of the castle and became chaotic, plundering its museum, which secured a collection of archaeological finds.

With the control of IS mercenaries on the cities and villages of the Euphrates basin, the castle was one of the points captured by them and some of the people of the area have mentioned that the leaders of Daesh issued permits to explore the archaeological areas of artisans and heritage for money.

ISIS turning Jaabar into a semi-closed military zone with the launching of the Wrath of Euphrates campaign of the Syrian Democratic Forces to liberate the northern and western countryside of al-Raqqa.

By the beginning of 2017, SDF were able to control the entire island of Jaabar, including the castle, which did not was not inflicted significant damage by the military operations.

After liberation

The rest of Jaabar is a dangerous area because of its presence on the other side of the lake, and from time to time it was subjected to attacks that ended in failure.

With the liberation of al-Tabqa city on 10 May, the interest in archaeological sites began, democratic civil administration of al-Tabqa has been transformed to the Office to the Tourism Committee where it placed guarding points, renewed its gate, cleaned it in cooperation with Women’s Council in al-Tabqa.

The committee is currently studying with the People's Municipality and the Energy Department in al-Tabqa to illuminate the citadel and its environs to deliver an aesthetic and spectacular reflection on the surface of the lake.

The number of visitors to the castle is currently a few hundred per week most of them are the people of the area and North Syria

H/S

ANHA