KERAK

This article appears in Volume V15, Page 753 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: JUN-KHA

KERAK , a town in eastern Palestine, 10 m. E. of the southern

angle

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

of the Lisan promontory of the Dead Sea, on the top of a rocky hill about 3000 ft. above sea-level. It stands on a platform forming an irregular triangle with sides about 3000 ft. in length, and separated by deep ravines from the ranges around on all sides but one. The population is estimated at 6000 Moslems and 1800 Orthodox Greek Christians. Kerak is identified with the Moabite town of Kir-Hareseth (destroyed by the Hebrew-Edomite coalition, 2 Kings iii. 25), and denounced by Isaiah under the name Kir of Moab (xv. 1), Kir-Hareseth (xvi. 7) or Kir-Heres (xvi. II): Jeremiah also refers to` it by the last name (xxxix. 31, 36). The modern name, in the form Xapa, appears in 2 Mace. xii. 17. Later, Kerak was the' seat of the archbishop of

Petra

PETRA (r)

. The Latin kings of Jerusalem, recognizing its importance as the key of the E. Jordan region, fortified it in 1142: from 1183 it was attacked desperately by Saladin, to whom at last it yielded in r,88. The Arabian Ayyubite princes fortified the town, as did the Egyptian Mameluke sultans. The fortifications were repaired by Bibars in the 13th century. For a

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

time after the Turkish occupation of Palestine and

Egypt

EGYPT

it enjoyed a semi-independence, but in 1893 a Turkish

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

with a strong garrison was established there, which has greatly contributed to secure the safety of travellers and the general quiet of the

district

DISTRICT

. The town is an irregular congeries of flat mud-roofed houses. In the Christian

quarter

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

is the

church

of St George; the mosque also is a building of Christian origin. The town is surrounded by a

wall

WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the
original
- ORIGINAL
O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

with five towers; entrance now is obtained through bleaches in the

wall

WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the
original
- ORIGINAL
O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

, but formerly it was accessible only by means of tunnels cut in the rocky substratum. The castle, now used as the headquarters of the garrison and closed to visitors, is a remarkably fine example of a crusaders' fortress.
(R. A. S. M.)

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