Built in the ear­ly 8th cen­tu­ry, this excep­tion­al­ly well-pre­served desert cas­tle was both a fortress with a gar­ri­son and a res­i­dence of the Umayyad caliphs. The most out­stand­ing fea­tures of this small plea­sure palace are the recep­tion hall and the ham­mam, both rich­ly dec­o­rat­ed with fig­u­ra­tive murals that reflect the sec­u­lar art of the time.