Karak - Think Crusaders, Muslims, and a whole lot of something

Since I can't remember anything else really worth mentioning since Wadi Mujib, I have thus decided to move on to the recent trip to Karak, Petra, and Wadi Rum. Since I know I can be a little long winded they will be split up into their perspective days and events, more or less, starting with the first event, Kerak.

Now, I know what you are all thinking...What is a Karak? And can I eat that? Well, you would be wrong in wondering that, mostly because Karak is an old Crusader Castle, and unless you are a "rock eater" from the Never Ending Story I highly doubt that you would want to be eating any of that. Karak is located in Southern Jordan on the Kings Highway. The Kings highway was the ancient highway that essentially connected everything in the region, and through which most of the spice and other trade routes went through, and which connected Egypt to Syria and Jerusalem to the rest of the Middle East.

The Castle was built by the Crusaders following the capturing of Jerusalem, and served as the capital for crusaders in the area, who would then travel to other districts of the area from there. The castle belonged to a Crusader of the time Renauld de Chatillon, who was in a nut shell, a bad guy. He enjoyed torturing Muslims, and throwing prisoners off the walls down into the valleys some 450 m (150 ft) below. More over, when Saladin began his campaign against the Crusaders to retake Jerusalem, he made a stop on his way to defeat Renauld and essentially pull a Queen of Hearts, and lopped off his head. Renauld was the only crusader leader who received that type of ending at the hands of the Muslims.

Essentially the castle served as a base for travel and trade, as well as defense and offense both during and after the crusaders. Today it is one of the more famous crusader castles remaining, and is even featured on the movie Kingdom of Heaven.