Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (127 page)

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Authors: Kate Raphael

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158 Barthoux, “Forteresse de Saladin,” 52. It is quite likely that the passage was sealed at an earlier period or that its construction was never completed.

159 Wiet, “
Guindi,” 59. Barthoux, “Forteresse de Saladin,” 50–1.

160 This seems to be the main difficult, since it hardly seems possible that garrisons stabled their horses outside the fortress.

161 Genequand, D., “Umayyad castles; the shift from Late Antique military architecture to early Islamic palatial buildings,” in
Military Architecture in Greater Syria
, ed. H. Kennedy (Leiden and Boston, 2006), 3–25. See especially pages 13–20.

162 Hartal,
, 9–17.

163 Amitai, “Ayyubid Inscriptions,” 113–19.

164 The size of this gate tower is somewhat obscure, since there is no apparent correlation between the measurements given in the plan in Bagatti and Batistta’s publication and the measurements given in the text (20 × 15m). Battista and Bagatti,
Monte Tabor
, 46. As the tower no longer exists it is impossible to ascertain the true size of the construction. I decided to follow the plan, and the gate tower measurements of 12.5 × 17.5m.

165 A French team comprised of architects, an archaeologist and a historian conducted a comprehensive study of the gate and its development. Dangles,“
Āğlūn
,” 3–4.

166 Fleming, J., Honour, H. and Pevsner, N.,
Dictionary of Architecture
(London, 1991), 278.

167 For similar examples of gate towers see Belvoir, Caesarea, Chastel Pelerin, Beaufort, Saone, Crac des Chevaliers, and Margat.

168 For a detailed description of this site see Ellenblum,
Modern Histories
, ch. 16.

169 The fortress of Vadum Iacob was never completed. It is in fact a building site, a fortress under construction. The fortress is being excavated by a team from the Hebrew University headed by Professor Ellenblum from the Department of Geography, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

170 Barthoux, “Forteresse de Saladin,” 52.

171 Kennedy,
Castles
, 17–19; Edwards,
Fortifications
, 14.

172 Shapira,
Tower
. Chevedden gives an extensive survey emphasizing the increase in the size of towers during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Chevedden,
Damascus
, 277–80. See also Benvenisti,
Crusaders
, 288–9; Pringle, D., “Towers of Crusader Palestine,”
Château Gaillard
16 (1994): 335–50.

173 Barthoux, “Forteresse de Saladin,” 52.

174 Tamari, “Inscriptions,” 263–5; Wiet, “
Guindi,” 59.

175 Barbé
et al.
, “Habonim,” 34–8; Benvenisti,
Crusaders
, 329–31; Pringle,
Secular Buildings
, 58, fig. 31.

176 Pringle,
Secular Buildings
, 72; Benvenisti,
Crusaders
, 326–7.

177 Benvenisti,
Crusaders
, 128. It seems that the walls and towers were partly rebuilt and repaired by Richard Coeur de Lion before they were destroyed again under the treaty signed in the summer of 1192 between the Franks and the Ayyubids.

178 The term
manjanīq
is used here as a generic name for a variety of machines used for hurling stones.

179 Barthoux, “Forteresse de Saladin,” 52.

180 Kennedy,
Castles
, pl. 36; Pringle, “Towers,” 339.

181 Pringle, “Towers,” 339.

182 At
, the L-shaped tower at the northeastern corner was a later addition by
.

183 Mesqui, J.,
Châteaux forts et fortifications en Franc
(Paris, 1997), 25.

184 Brown, R. A.,
English Castles
(London, 1976), 10, 106.

185 Jones P. N. and Renn, D., “The military effectiveness of arrow loops: some experiments at White-Castle,”
Château Gaillard
9–10 (1982): 445–56.

186 The date of construction is stated in an inscription found in situ in tower one. Amitai, “Ayyubid inscriptions,” 113–14.

187 This was first observed by Kennedy. Kennedy,
Castles
, 184.

188 Hartal,
, 94–6.

189 Very few towers have survived and it is almost impossible to derive all the measurements directly from the archaeological remains. My own measurements are partly taken on the site and partly based on the plan published by Bagatti and Battista and drawn by Berlutzi. There is, however an earlier plan, dated 1881, drawn by the German surveyor Lendle, who was able to take measurements of what was left of the original gate tower. This was completely rebuilt in 1897 by the Franciscans.

190 Chevedden,
Damascus
, 277.

191 Ibid., 285–6.

192 Shapira,
Tower
, 13–14.

2

Mongolian siege warfare and the defense of Mamluk fortresses

1 Smith, J. M. Jr., “Mongol manpower and Persian population,”
JESHO
18 (1975): 271–99; ibid., “Mongol society and military in the Middle East: antecedents and adaptations,” in
War and Society in the Eastern Mediterranean 7th–15th centuries
, ed. Y. Lev (Leiden, NY and Cologne, 1997), 249–66; Allsen, T.,
Mongol Imperialism: The Policies of the Grand Qan Möngke in China, Russia and the Islamic Lands 1251–1259
(Berkeley, 1987), 189–93. For a comprehensive study on Mongol warfare see May, T.,
The Mongol Art of War
(Yardley, PA, 2007), especially pp. 77–9.

2 Hsiao, C.
The Military Establishment of the Yuan Dynasty
(Cambridge, MA, 1978), 12.

3
The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century,
trans. and ed. with historical and philological commentary by I. de Rachewiltz (Leiden, 2004), vol. 1. 207; vol. 2. 1012–1015. Batu (d. 1255/6) was the son of Jochi, the eldest son of Chinggis Khan.

4 Smith, J.M. Jr., “Demographic considerations in Mongol siege warfare,”
Archivum Ottomanicum
13 (1993–4): 332–3.

5 Sinor, D., “On Mongol strategy,”
Inner Asia and its Contacts with Medieval Europe
(London, Variorum 1977), XVI, 239–47.

6 Morgan, D. O., “The Mongol armies in Persia,” DI
56
(1979): 86–7.

7 Allsen, T.T., “The circulation of military technology in the Mongolian empire,” in
Warfare in Inner Asian History
, ed. N. Di Cosmo (Leiden, 2002), 265–93; Morgan, D.,
The Mongols
(Oxford, 1986), 91; Martin, D. H.,
The Rise of Chingis han and his Conquest of North China
(Baltimore, MD, 1950), 30–1.

8 Allsen, “Military technology,” 265–93.

9 Hsiao,
Yuan Dynasty,
133, fn. 79.

10 Ibid., 133, fn. 79. This information was drawn from the Persian historian Jūzjanī, who wrote
Tabakát-i-Násiri
.

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