Khirbet al-Mafjar (Qasr Hisham – or Hisham’s Palace) is an Umayyad
palace 5 km north of Jericho in the Jordan valley. A
mosque, a palace, and a bath house are set within a large enclosure is likely
to have been managed as a garden. It is entered by gateway in outer wall. The courtyard is a square pool or
fountain. The audience hall is decorated with a famous mosaic of a lion catching
a gazelle in front of a large tree – thus indicating the character and use of
the large area of enclosed land outside the courtyard. Andrew Petersen, in the Dictionary of Islamic Architecture (Routledge 1996 p 96) wrote that Khirbat al
Mafjar has 'a large square pool with a central pavilion on columns which would
have formed the centerpiece of a garden. .. It is likely that the immediate
vicinity of the palace had a garden whilst there was a large walled garden
enclosure to the west of the main building'.
