Situated on the southern slopes of Mount Hermon, about 800 m (2600 feet) above sea level, overlooking the Golan Heights, this Ayyubid fortress was built to guard the road to Damascus. Because of its strategic location, earlier fortresses had existed on the site, possibly as early as 332 BCE, but the remains that exist on the site today are of the structure built by the Ayyubids and expanded by the Mamluks. The site was abandoned in the 16th c.