Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols Read Free Page A

to quarry. Cutting and dressing building blocks or hewing out a moat in the bedrock was easier thanks to the softness of the local stone. The topography ofis more dramatic. The almost vertical cliffrunning down to the riverbed ofGovta along the northern side of the fortress is truly forbidding, while the southern side of the spur has a relatively moderate slope. Where possible the fortress plan makes the most of those natural defenses and the curtain wall runs almost exactly along the topographical contour lines. The qualities of the rock are very different to those at Mount Tabor. The had dolomite is more difficult to carve, and cutting and dressing the stone blocks as well as hacking out a wide moat must have been a more time-consuming task.uses the topography in a similar fashion. It is located at the highest edge of the spur. The southern and eastern walls of the fortress rise directly from the edge of the steep cliffs of Wādī, so that there is virtually no access to the fortress from those directions. Because the northern slope provides no real natural defense, an artificial cliff was cut from the bedrock in order to give the fortress wall better protection.
    Out of all four fortressesnatural terrain gives the least protection, and it is altogether quite an enigma as to why this site was chosen. The small hill that the fortress is built on commands a fine view but this would hardly suffice as an answer. In fact, during many hot summer days the view can hardly be seen through the heavy haze that settles over the Jordan Valley. Since the topography provides the fortress with no natural defenses it was surrounded by a deep moat cut into the stone.

The order of building
    Before analyzing the separate elements of the fortresses, methods of construction and their general as well as particular role in the scheme of defense the sequence of construction should be considered. How was a plan carried out? What part of the fortress was built first? The curtain wall and towers or the inner defenses and living quarters? Or perhaps the water cisterns? Was there a rule followed by all fortress builders? Or was each site built in a different order?
    One of the few attempts to follow the precise order of building was made during the excavations of the Crusader fortress at Vadum Iacob. The excavation showed that the site had still been under construction and the fortress was never completed. This enabled the study of the order of building and the length of time required to construct certain sections of the fortress. 140
    A similar exercise can be carried out at the fortress of Mount Tabor by following the dates given on the inscriptions, which state what exactly was built and when the work began or when it was completed. This may help reconstruct not only the order of building but also the time schedule. The fact that the fotress was built by the Ayyubids during a relatively short period, and was only occupied once again by the Hospitallers in 1255, for a few years before Baybars conquered it (1263), 141 allows us to follow the process with reasonable accuracy ( Table 1.1 ).
    The construction of the fortress lasted almost four years. It began with the building of the bāshūra . This immediately poses a problem as the word bāshūra can mean any of the following: barbican, bastion or gate. 142 The only aspect common to the thee is that they are all part of the outer defense of the fortress. It seems, however, that as the inscription commemorating the building of the bāshūra was found in front of the gate tower it probably refers to the building of the main gate. 143 The reservoir is dated the same year as the bāshūra . As there is no natural source of water at the summit it clearly received priority. Even if the reservoir constructed by the monasteries was still functioning, an additional reservoir was necessary. The manzil was built during the following year. The term probably refers to the living quarters. Their exact location,