The town is built on a triangular plateau, with the castle at its narrow southern tip. The castle is some 220m long, 125m wide at the
north end, and 40m wide at the southern end where a narrow valley deepened by a ditch separates it from the adjoining and much
higher hill – once Saladin's favourite artillery position. Throughout the castle, dark and roughly shaped Crusader masonry is easy to
discern from the finely crafted blocks of lighter and softer limestone used in later Arab work. While the castle we see today
essentially dates back to the 12th century, Karak has been a fortress since biblical times. The Bible relates how the King of Israel
and his allies from Judah and Edom ravaged Moab and besieged its king Mesha in the fortress of Kir Heres, as Karak was then
known." Source: Jordan Tourism Board