Ma'ān

Ma'an is an oasis town on the edge of the southern Jordanian desert, long used as a stopping place by travellers between Syria and Arabia. Springs and gardens made it a welcome halt before the long journey south. Medieval geographers described a fortified settlement where travellers were received, and the pilgrimage caravan from Damascus made the oasis one of its principal places of rest and supply.

In the sixteenth century the Ottomans built a fort at Ma'an to protect the Hajj route. Its square stone walls enclosed rooms for the garrison and the services needed along the road. Pilgrims might spend two days at the oasis, resting and buying provisions before continuing into the desert. Forts and watchtowers at other points along the route formed part of the same effort to safeguard travellers and their water supplies.