History of Kerak

It is given various names in the Old Testament - Kir Hareseth, Kir Heres, Kir of Moab - and was certainly one of the chief cities of the kingdom of Moab. The chief Biblical reference to it occurs in 2Ki.3, when Mesha was king of Moab, Jehoram king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, about 850 BCE. Most other Old Testament references are curses against the city by the prophet Isaiah. Kerak was the capital of the Moabite kingdom during the time of king Ajlun.

Little else is known of its history; in Byzantine times it was the seat of an archbishop and contained a much-venerated “church of Nazareth.” Its greatest prominence was during the crusading period, when it was called Crac des Moabites (or Le Pierre du Desert), and was the capital of the province of Oultre Jourdai. It is still the administrative center of a large and fertile district.

The present remains are all of the crusading period and later, the only material evidence of its earlier occupation being the rear half of a lion carved on a basalt slab, and a headless bust of the Nabataean period. Both these pieces are built into later walls.