This large palatial complex located in the middle of the Syrian desert was built by the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, who ruled between AH 105 and 125 / AD 723–42. In addition to the courtly palaces, gardens and hammams, there existed a corner in the palace enclosure which seemed to have been an urban area featuring smaller housing and even a communal mosque designed in the shape of the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. The dimensions of the entire site, including the smaller and larger palaces, are approximately 7 km x 4 km, all of which was cleverly supplied with water.