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- The Mamluk castle (13th-14th centuries)
- Redesign of the entrance system
The gate tower
The gate tower is one of the reconstructed or restored elements of the eastern face of the castle. It now serves as its the entrance. It is a large, slightly protruding quadrangular tower defended by three brettices. The entrance arch is surmounted by several inscriptions in Arabic: one is a long decree relating to the pay of the garrison’s soldiers, dated 1345, the other mentions a restoration dated 1301-1302:
”This blessed tower was built during the days of our master Sultan al-Malik al-[Na]sir [Muha]mmad, son of the martyred Sultan al-Malik al-Mansur Qalaʾun al-Salihi, the associate of the Emir of the Believers. It (was completed) during the days of His Highness the Great Emir Badr al-Din Bilik al-Sadidi, Lieutenant-General in Hisn al-Akrad the well-guarded, in the months of the year 701 (1301-1302)” .
The vaulting of the access ramp
The gate tower opens onto a long access ramp, originally without roof and vaulted over several levels. This type of vaulted entrance ramp was quite a common feature of 13th century Ayyubid fortifications. Examples include the citadels of Ajloun in Jordan and those of Aleppo, Bosra and Qal’at Najm in Syria.