Why did the Muslims build a castle in the northern Golan the middle of nowhere?

 

Why did the Muslim Ayyubid dynasty build such an impressive fortress in this isolated part of the northern Golan?

 

The answer is that although Salah a-Din (Saladin), who commanded the Ayyubid army, defeated the Crusader army at Karnei Hittin in 1187 and then systematically destroyed all their fortresses, there was still a Crusader kingdom remaining along the Mediterranean coast. The Christians also began mobilizing for another Crusade to reconquer Jerusalem and reestablish the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This citadel was built in 1227 to prevent the Crusaders from attacking Damascus. The valley Wadi Nakeb, which is below the fortress, extends from the Upper Hula Valley and was an important highway between Sidon in Lebanon and Damascus in Syria. In other words, this castle was very strategically situated.

 

The fortress was completed within 3 years. In 1253, the Crusaders did attempt to conquer it, but were unsuccessful. Two decades later the castle was handed over by the Ayyubids to the Mongols who had invaded Syria and Palestine from Central Asia.

 

The progress of the Mongols was stopped by the Mamlukes, the next power in the Middle East, at the Battle of Ein Jalud, and the Mamluke commander Baybars appointed himself sultan. Between 1260 to 1277 his governor Bilik reconstructed this fortress, including its semicircular towers. When the Mamlukes were finally able to eject the Crusaders from the Holy Land at the end of the 13th century, this castle lost its importance and was abandoned.