Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lawrence describes in his book
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
how it 'went shut with a clang
and crash that made tremble the west wall of the castle'.
Getting There & Away
The fort is situated on the edge of Azraq ash-Shomali (North Azraq), about 5km north of
the Azraq T-junction. From the town centre, a taxi to the fort costs around JD1 (JD5 with
a 30-minute wait) - if you can persuade a taxi to bother with such a small commission.
DIARY OF AN ECOLOGICAL DISASTER
The
Azraq Oasis
and surrounding wetlands originally fanned out over 12,710 sq km (an area larger than Lebanon),
and was once regarded as the most important source of water in the region. Today it is considered one of the re-
gion's largest ecological disasters. The diary of this catastrophe makes for tragic reading.
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200,000 BC
Human settlement and herds of elephants, cheetahs, lions and hippos are evident around the Azraq
Oasis
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8000 BC
Age of the 'fossil water' collected in Azraq
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1950
Around 3000 cu metres of water fills the wetlands per year
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1960s
Extraction of fossil water from the wetlands to the expanding cities of Amman and Irbid begins
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1967
On 2 February, 347,000 birds are recorded in the wetlands
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1975
Twice as much water is pumped from Azraq than the oasis can replenish in order to supply one quarter of
Amman's water demands
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1977
The Jordanian government signed an international wetlands-protection treaty that led to the establishment
of the Azraq Wetland Reserve
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1980
Only 10 cu metres per year of water (compared with 3000 cu metres in 1950) fills the wetlands, exacer-
bated by the sinking of private, illegal wells for farming
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1991
The water table drops to over 10m below the ground, and the wetlands dry up completely
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1994
Funding and commitment from the UN Development Program (UNDP), Jordanian government and RSCN
tries to halt the pumping of water from the wetlands to urban centres
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Mid-1990s
Over-pumping destroys the natural balance between the freshwater aquifer and the underground
brine, resulting in brackish water unpalatable for wildlife, and hopeless for drinking and irrigation
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1998
Species of killifish
(Aphanius sirhani),
a small fish of only 4cm to 5cm in length and unique to Azraq, is
brought to the edge of extinction
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2000
On 2 February, only 1200 birds are recorded in the wetlands
