It has been claimed that this was built by
Baldwin I, who was the
King of Jerusalem, in 1116 AD because the island was situated on a place of strategical importance: in the crossroads of trade and
pilgrim routes from Egypt (Sinai) and
Syro-Palestine to the
Arab Peninsula with holy
Mecca. The Crusaders allegedly pursued two objectives: for one thing, to defend southeastern corner of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem against its Muslim neighbours, for another, to exact a ransom from the passing Muslim pilgrims. Location of the castle was easily defendable on high ground, in the narrowest part on the Gulf of Aqaba. According to Prof
Adrian Boas there is, however, no evidence of Frankish occupation of the island. Fulcher of Chartres mentions that when King Baldwin travelled down to the city of Elim (Ailah), the locals fled to the island by boat, but he does not describe the Franks pursuing them or taking the island. The castles played a major rule in the
Crusades,
Mamluk and
Ottoman eras. A battle allegedly took place on the island in about 1170 where the fortress was captured by
Salah El-Din, who largely expanded the fortress. It unclear who he captured it from, however, and there are no records of a Frankish garrison being present. After that period the Mamelukes and Ottomans had some further additions to the fortress. The fortress has many small rooms, which include sleeping quarters for troops, bathhouses, and kitchens with huge ovens. There are
towers for pigeons, which were used for relaying messages and also circular towers for archers. == See also ==