It is located 3 km north of Jericho's city center,[1] in an area governed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

Spreading over 60 hectares (150 acres),[1] the site consists of three main parts: a palace, an ornate bath complex, and an agricultural estate.

[3] In 1959 Baramki's colleague, colonial administrator for the British Mandate government Robert Hamilton, published the major work on Hisham's Palace, Khirbat al-Mafjar: An Arabian Mansion in the Jordanian Valley.

Baramki's research on the archaeological aspects of the site, particularly the ceramics, was published in various preliminary reports and articles in the Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine.

In 2015, an agreement was signed between the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to enable the 825 square metres (8,880 sq ft) mosaic in the palace, one of the largest in the world, to be uncovered and readied for display.

Robert Hamilton subsequently argued that the palace was a residence of al-Walid ibn Yazid, a nephew of Hisham who was famous for his extravagant lifestyle.

Although there is great variation in the size, location, and presumed function of these different sites, they can be connected to the patronage of different figures in the Umayyad ruling family.

With a few exceptions, the desert castles conform to a common template consisting of a square palace similar to Roman forts, a bath house, water reservoir or dam, and often an agricultural enclosure.

The site is commonly thought to have been destroyed during the earthquake of 749[8] and then abandoned, but an analysis of Baramki's detailed reporting shows that this is incorrect.

The decorative elements at Hisham's Palace are some of the finest representations of Umayyad period art and are well documented in the publications of Robert Hamilton.

During the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid periods, court accounts recall that the caliphs sat behind curtains from where they appeared at specified moments in various rituals.

[22] The tassels that border the "Tree of Life" mosaic may suggest that the scene of the lion and gazelles should be understood through a lens of intimacy.

All of the mosaics found at Hisham's Palace are of very high quality and feature a wide variety of colors and figural motifs.

Of particular note is the statue depicting a male figure with a sword, often presumed to be the caliph, which stood in a niche above the entrance to the bath hall.

While Hamilton described the carvings at Hisham's Palace as amateurish and chaotic, many subsequent art historians have noted similarities with Iranian themes.

Hana Taragan has argued that the artistic themes seen at the site are Levantine examples of an Islamic visual language of power that coalesced from Sasanian influences in Iraq.

[24] According to Global Heritage Fund (GHF), the rapid urban development of Jericho, as well as expansion of agricultural activity in the area, are limiting archaeologists' access to the site, much of which remain unexplored.