The Crusades- Islamic Perspectives

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The Crusades- Islamic Perspectives Page 4

by Carole Hillenbrand


  6.47 Romanesque capitals reused in Muslim buildings (a: Mashhad al-Husayn, Aleppo; b: Madrasa al-Zahiriyya, Aleppo; c: Citadel, Damascus); twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Syria

  6.48 Frankish capitals reused in the Jami‘ al-Hanabila, 599/1202-3, Damascus, Syria

  6.49 Crusader capital reused deliberately upside down as a trophy of victory, mihrab of Abu’l-Fida, Jami‘ al-Nuri, early fourteenth century, Hama, Syria

  6.50 Mosque lamps, Fatimid manuscript, twelfth century, Egypt

  6.51 Inscription in the form of a lamp carved in a mihrab, stone, Mosque of Qusun, 730/1329-30, Cairo, Egypt

  6.52 Mamluk stained-glass windows, fifteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  6.53 The Virgin and Child, inlaid metal pyxis, early thirteenth century, Syria

  6.54 Christian figures, tray, inlaid metal, early thirteenth century, Syria

  6.55 Christian figures, tray, inlaid metal, early thirteenth century, Syria

  6.56 Christian figures, tray, inlaid metal, early thirteenth century, Syria

  6.57 Sphinxes in wheel formation, inlaid metal trays made for Badr al-Din Lu’lu’, first half of thirteenth century, Mosul, Iraq

  6.58 Musicians, Cappella Palatina, ceiling, c. 1140, Palermo, Sicily

  6.59 Dancer, Cappella Palatina, ceiling, c. 1140, Palermo, Sicily

  6.60 Brass casket with benedictory Kufic inscriptions and musicians, c. 1200, Iraq or Iran

  6.61 Border of Fatimid tiraz textile, twelfth century, Egypt

  6.62 Fatimid textile with repeat patterns of lionesses attacked by birds, eleventh century, Egypt

  6.63 Crusader gold coin imitating Ayyubid issues. Inscribed in Arabic on the obverse: ‘Struck at Acre in the year 1251 of the Incarnation of the Messiah’ and on the reverse ‘We take pride in the Cross of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. In Him is our salvation, our life and our resurrection, in Him our safety and redemption’

  6.64 The Islamic heartlands showing the main trade and hajj routes

  6.65 Lutanist, Seljuq stone sculpture, thirteenth century, Turkey

  6.66 Seljuq silk chasuble with lions in roundels, thirteenth century, Turkey

  6.67 Urban khans, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), 634/1237 and c. 1230, probably Baghdad, Iraq

  6.68 Shop front, with details of its woodwork, fifteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  6.69 Musicians, Cappella Palatina, ceiling, c. 1140, Palermo, Sicily

  6.70 Musicians, Blacas ewer, 629/1232, Mosul, Iraq

  6.71 Seljuq mirror, cast bronze. The contemporary obsession with astrological images reflects the abnormal and terrifying frequency of eclipses and other celestial phenomena in the Near East at this period. Twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Turkey or Iran

  6.72 Mounted huntsman with spear, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  6.73 Leisure pursuits, inlaid metal basin made by Da’ud ibn Salama al-Mawsili, 650/1252, probably Damascus, Syria

  6.74 Virgin and Child, Gospel book, 1216-20, Mosul, Iraq

  6.75 Bust of Christ, lustre ceramic fragment, eleventh-twelfth century, Fustat, Egypt

  6.76 ‘Blessing from Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate’: Kufic inscription on a metal lamp, c. 900, perhaps from Iran

  6.77 Coptic priest swinging a censer, lustre bowl, after c. 1050, Egypt

  6.78 Depictions of houses on a brass bowl inlaid with silver and gold, fifteenth century, Egypt or Syria

  6.79 Design for a playing card, c. 1250, Fustat, Egypt

  6.80 Leisure pursuits, Fatimid carved ivory plaques, eleventh-twelfth centuries, Egypt

  6.81 Polo-sticks on a Mamluk playing card, fifteenth century, Egypt

  6.82 Leisure pursuits, vintaging and animals, Fatimid carved ivory plaques (from a book-cover?), eleventh-twelfth centuries, Egypt

  6.83 Scenes of work, leisure and animals, Fatimid carved ivory plaques, eleventh- twelfth centuries, Egypt

  7.1 The planet Mars, Artuqid coin, c. 1200, Diyarbakr, Turkey

  7.2 Officer, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, 619/1222, Iraq

  7.3 Foot soldier, Varqa va Gulshah (‘Varqa and Gulshah’), c. 1250, Turkey

  7.4 Spear, Nasir al-Din, Anthology, 671/1272-3, Turkey

  7.5 A combination of shield and bow, Tabsirat arbab al-albab (‘The Perception of Those with Understanding’), written by al-Tarsusi for Saladin, c. 583/1187, probably Syria

  7.6 Protective shelter for manoeuvring a piece of siege machinery into position, Tabsirat arbab al-albab (‘The Perception of Those with Understanding’), written by al-Tarsusi for Saladin, c. 583/1187, probably Syria

  7.7 Catapult with counter-weight, Tabsirat arbab al-albab (‘The Perception of Those with Understanding’), written by al-Tarsusi for Saladin, c. 583/1187, probably Syria

  7.8 Prince in majesty, Seljuq stone relief on city wall, c. 1220, Konya, Turkey

  7.9 Seated ruler, Kitab al-Diryaq (‘The Book of Antidotes’), c. 1250, Mosul, Iraq

  7.10 Plans for mobilising troops in battle, furusiyya manuscript, c. 1500, Egypt

  7.11 Enthroned ruler and attendants, underglaze painted ceramic dish, early thirteenth century, Kashan, Iran

  7.12 Mounted warrior, Seljuq tombstone, thirteenth century, Turkey

  7.13 Mounted warriors, stucco relief, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Iran

  7.14 Standard Mamluk blazons of office showing the types of shield employed, thirteenth-fifteenth centuries, Egypt and Syria

  7.15 Two warriors, ink drawing on paper, eleventh century, Egypt

  7.16 Bedouin lances, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), c. 1230, Iraq

  7.17 Polo players, enamelled and gilded glass beaker, c. 1260-70, Damascus, Syria

  7.18 Horseman, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 767/1366, Egypt

  7.19 Knight with a deliberately ignited shield, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 767/1366, Egypt

  7.20 Mounted warrior, painted ivory box, twelfth century, Sicily

  7.21 Combat scene, manuscript painting, seventeenth century, Iran

  7.22 Knight holding two swords, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 767/1366, Egypt

  7.23 Lance play, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 773/1371, Egypt

  7.24 Equestrian exercise in the maidan (hippodrome), al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 767/1366, Egypt

  7.25 Spear of Governor of Rahba, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), 634/1237, probably Baghdad, Iraq

  7.26 Horsemen with lances, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 767/1366, Egypt

  7.27 Mamluk targets (casks) for lance and archery practice, furusiyya manuscript, c. 1500, Egypt

  7.28 Sword play, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 773/1371, Egypt

  7.29 Sword of Badr al-Din Lu’lu’, Kitab al-Aghani (‘The Book of Songs’), 614/1217-18, Mosul, Iraq

  7.30 Horseman with sword, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 773/1371, Egypt

  7.31 Seljuq swords, probably thirteenth century, Turkey

  7.32 Mace (jukan) of the Mamluk sultan Tuman Ba’i, early sixteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  7.33 Mechanism for a triple bow from a treatise on war, Tabsirat arbab al-albab (The Perception of Those with Understanding’), written by al-Tarsusi for Saladin, c. 583/1187, probably Syria

  7.34 Cross-bow training, Kitab al-makhzun (‘Book of Treasure’), 875/1470, probably Egypt

  7.35 Archer, glazed ceramic bowl, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Shirvan, southern Caucasus

  7.36 Helmeted soldier holding shield with multiple bosses, glazed ceramic statuette, late twelfth century, Raqqa, Syria

  7.37 Shield types, Varqa va Gulshah (‘Varqa and Gulshah’), c. 1250, Turkey

  7.38 Kite-shaped shield, glazed ceramic bowl, late twelfth century, Raqqa, Syria

  7.39 Warrior in mail armour, glazed ceramic c
up, c. 1200, al-Mina, Syria

  7.40 Soldier in mail hauberk, inlaid metal pen-case, early thirteenth century, probably Iraq

  7.41 Warrior wearing a ‘corset cuirass’ with lamellar and laminated armour, Firdawsi, Shahnama (‘Book of Kings’ - the Great Mongol Shahnama), c. 1330, Tabriz, Iran

  7.42 Foot soldier, inlaid bronze bowl of Aybak, c. 1250, Damascus, Syria

  7.43 Helmet of the Mamluk sultan Barsbay (reigned 825-41/1422-38), Egypt

  7.44 Helmet types, Varqa va Gulshah (‘Varqa and Gulshah’), c. 1250, Turkey

  7.45 Armour types, Varqa va Gulshah (‘Varqa and Gulshah’), c. 1250, Turkey

  7.46 Helmet of the Mamluk sultan Tuman Ba’i, early sixteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  7.47 Turkish bodyguard, fresco in palace, eleventh century, Lashkar-i Bazar, Afghanistan

  7.48 Iranian warrior, Kitab-i Samak ‘Ayyar (‘Book of Samak the Adventurer’), c. 1330, Shiraz, Iran

  7.49 Iranian warrior, Firdawsi, Shahnama (‘Book of Kings’), c. 1320, Iran

  7.50 Castle, aerial view from the north, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Shayzar, Syria

  7.51 Castle, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Shayzar, Syria

  7.52 Citadel, mainly twelfth century, Bosra, Syria. Note that the citadel hugs the perimeter of the Roman theatre

  7.53 Citadel, twelfth century, Qal‘at al-Mudiq (Apamea/Afamiyya), Syria

  7.54 Kizil Kule (‘Red Tower’), plans at various levels, 623/1226, Alanya, Turkey

  7.55 Fortifications expanded by ‘Ala’ al-Din Kayqubad, 623-9/1226-31, Alanya, Turkey

  7.56 Citadel, plan, mainly twelfth century, Damascus, Syria

  7.57 Citadel tower, 606/1209, Damascus, Syria

  7.58 Citadel tower, 606/1209, Damascus, Syria

  7.59 Citadel, mainly thirteenth century, Aleppo, Syria

  7.60 Citadel, plan, mainly thirteenth century, Aleppo, Syria

  7.61 Citadel, outer and inner gateway, mainly thirteenth century, Aleppo, Syria

  7.62 Citadel, palace of al-Malik al-‘Aziz, plan, 628/1230-1, Aleppo, Syria

  7.63 Citadel, palace of al-Malik al-‘Aziz, portal elevation (note the apotropaic knots flanking the doorway), 628/1230-1, Aleppo, Syria

  7.64 Castle, 580/1184-5, ‘Ajlun, Jordan

  7.65 Castle, proposed original state, 580/1184-5, ‘Ajlun, Jordan

  7.66 Castle, Masyaf, proposed original state, mainly twelfth century, Syria

  7.67 Castle, Masyaf, mainly twelfth century, Syria

  7.68 Map of the Syrian Isma‘ili Amirate at the time of the Crusades

  8.1 Warrior wearing traditional Iranian armour, Kitab-i Samak ‘Ayyar (‘Book of Samak the Adventurer’), c. 1330, Shiraz, Iran

  8.2 Turkish horse-archer, Pseudo-Galen, Kitab al-Diryaq (‘The Book of Antidotes’), c. 1250, Iraq

  8.3 Turco-Mongol mounted archer, painting, sixteenth century, Iran

  8.4 Horseman, fresco, tenth century, Nishapur, Iran

  8.5 Coins of various Turcoman principalities, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Turkey and Iraq

  8.6 Horsemen waiting to participate in a parade, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), 634/1237, probably Baghdad, Iraq

  8.7 A drum in use during an attack on a city, fragment of Rashid al-Din, Jami‘ al-Tawarikh. (‘World History’), early fourteenth century, Tabriz, Iran

  8.8 Page explaining battle tactics in diagrammatic form, al-Aqsara’i, Nihayat al-Su’l (‘An End to Questioning’), 773/1371, Egypt

  8.9 Mamluk brass drum inlaid with silver and gold and inscribed with the name of al-Malik al-Ashraf, late fifteenth century, Egypt

  8.10 Mangonel, furusiyya (military horsemanship) manuscript, thirteenth century, perhaps Egypt

  8.11 Specialists in Greek fire (naffatin); rockets known as ‘Chinese arrows’ and using saltpetre (‘Chinese snow’) are mentioned by al-Hasan al-Rammah in the late thirteenth century. Furusiyya (military horsemanship) manuscript, c. 1500, Egypt

  8.12 Glass projectiles containing white naphtha, Kitab al-makhzun (‘Book of Treasure’), 875/1470, probably Egypt

  8.13 Siege of fortress by mailed cavalrymen, silver dish, perhaps tenth century, Central Asia

  8.14 Blazons on Mamluk coins, thirteenth-fifteenth centuries, Egypt and Syria

  8.15 Mangonel, Rashid al-Din, Jami‘ al-Tawarikh (‘World History’), 714/1314, Tabriz, Iran

  8.16 Mounted huntsman with spear, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  8.17 Foot soldiers in combat, Blacas ewer, inlaid brass, 629/1232, Mosul, Iraq

  8.18 Mangonel, Rashid al-Din, Jami‘ al-Tawarikh (‘World History’), 714/1314, Tabriz, Iran

  8.19 Foot soldier, drawing with added colour, twelfth century, Fustat, Egypt

  8.20 Battle scene, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  8.21 Battle scene, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  8.22 Horsemen, mina’i dish, c. 1240, probably Kashan, Iran

  8.23 Armour types, mina’i dish, c. 1240, probably Kashan, Iran

  8.24 Mamluk blazons for the barid (postal service) couriers, thirteenth-fifteenth centuries, Egypt and Syria

  8.25 Tents in an early fourteenth-century album painting, probably Tabriz, Iran

  8.26 The state of the postal routes at the time of Baybars’ death, 676/1277. The network of pigeon-houses is marked by a strong black line, and signal towers by a dotted line

  8.27 The Pisa Griffin, cartouche with pigeon, cast and engraved bronze, eleventh century, Egypt(?)

  8.28 Prisoners wearing the yoke or cangue, early fourteenth-century album painting, probably Tabriz, Iran

  8.29 Warrior wearing the khayagh or ‘cut coat’ in lamellar armour, Rashid al-Din, Jami‘ al-Tawarikh (‘World History’), 714/1314, Tabriz, Iran

  8.30 Warrior, album, early fourteenth century, Tabriz, Iran

  8.31 Warrior wearing the khayagh or ‘cut coat’ in lamellar armour, Firdawsi, Shahnama (‘Book of Kings’ - the Great Mongol Shahnama), c. 1330, Tabriz, Iran

  8.32 Warrior wearing the khayagh or ‘cut coat’ in lamellar armour, Firdawsi, Shahnama (‘Book of Kings’ - the Great Mongol Shahnama), c. 1330, Tabriz, Iran

  8.33 Ocean-going ship, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), c. 1230, probably Baghdad, Iraq

  8.34 Boat, al-Hariri al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), 634/1237, probably Baghdad, Iraq

  8.35 Broken-masted dhow, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), c. 1230 (note the single cabin for the captain on the main deck, the high prow, anchor and hinged rudder), probably Baghdad, Iraq

  8.36 Fatimid galley, lustre dish, tenth century, Bahnassa, Egypt

  8.37 Probably a Fatimid shalandi, of the kind described by Ibn Mammati: a ‘decked ship on which soldiers fought while rowers plied their oars beneath’; c. twelfth century, Fustat, Egypt

  8.38 The constellation Argo Navis, al-Sufi, Kitab suwar al-kawakib (‘Book of Fixed Stars’), 519/1125, Baghdad, Iraq

  8.39 The constellation Argo Navis from a brass celestial globe dated 674/1275-6, Iraq (?)

  8.40 Tershane (ship-building installation) and citadel walls, elevation, shortly before 634/1237, Alanya, Turkey

  8.41 Tershane (ship-building installation), plan, shortly before 634/1237, Alanya, Turkey

  8.42 Warship, furusiyya (military horsemanship) manuscript, thirteenth century, perhaps Egypt

  8.43 Graffiti of ships, Ehmedek section of citadel walls, undated but post-Seljuq, Alanya, Turkey

  8.44 ‘Hugh de Lusignan [transcribed ‘Uk de Lazinyan’], may his power endure’: Arabic inscription on a brass basin made for Hugh de Lusignan, King of Jerusalem and Cyprus (13 24-59); probably Egypt or Syria

  8.45 Noah’s ark, Rashid al-Din, Jami‘ al-Tawarikh (‘World History’), 714/1314, Tabriz, Iran

  8.46 Mamluk river boat with archers, painted leather (used in shadow plays), fifteenth century, Egypt

  8.47 Ent
hroned ruler with attendants, stucco relief, thirteenth century, Iran

  8.48 Dhow, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), 634/1237, probably Baghdad, Iraq

  8.49 The constellation Argo Navis, al-Sufi, Kitab suwar al-kawakib (‘Book of Fixed Stars’), 400/1009, Iraq (?)

  8.50 Brass box with blazon of ‘Izz al-Din Aydemir al-Ashrafi al-Dawadar, Governor of Aleppo (whose citizens nicknamed him ‘Salam ‘Alaikum’ because of his propensity to hail people before they had a chance to greet him), 773/1371, Syria

  8.51 Centrifugal group of riders on a cast brass bowl, probably first half of thirteenth century, Mosul, Iraq

  8.52 Mounted warrior, glazed ceramic figurine, twelfth century, Raqqa, Syria

  8.53 Spear-head, bow and arrows, furusiyya manuscript, c. 1500, Egypt

  9.1 Sphinx, glazed ceramic bowl, late twelfth-early thirteenth centuries, Raqqa, Syria

  9.2 Animal friezes, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  9.3 Marble panel, Mosque of al-Rifa‘i, fifteenth century, Damascus, Syria

  9.4 Hunting scenes, inlaid metal basin by Da’ud ibn Salama al-Mawsili, 650/1252, probably Damascus, Syria

  9.5 Hunting scenes, Blacas ewer, inlaid brass, 629/1232, Mosul, Iraq

  9.6 Cartoon of the Gulf War (adaptation of a medieval stained-glass window, St-Denis, Paris), Jack Sherman, Newsday, 6 September 1990

  9.7 Blazons on Mamluk coins, thirteenth-fifteenth centuries, Egypt and Syria

  9.8 Marble intarsia work, sabil (fountain), fifteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  9.9 Page of Qur’an made for the Mamluk sultan al-Mu’ayyad, early fifteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  9.10 Kufic inscription forming an architectural silhouette and spelling the shahada or Muslim creed, manuscript frontispiece, fifteenth century, Egypt

  9.11 Marble intarsia work, sabil (fountain), fifteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  9.12 Amirs and servants, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  9.13 Panel, Mosque of Barquq, 786-8/1384-6, Cairo, Egypt

  9.14 Carved stone frieze, modern, outside the Officers’ Club, Cairo, Egypt

  9.15 Radiating inscription on candlestick of Muhammad b. Qalawun, early fourteenth century, Egypt

  Preface

  THIS BOOK on the Crusades is a timely and welcome addition to a burgeoning modern scholarship on the subject in the West. Its publication coincides with the 900th anniversary of the occupation of Jerusalem by the Crusading armies, but it is not written to celebrate this event or to lend support to the ideology which brought it about. On the contrary, the author has as her primary aim the scholarly objective of balancing the skewed picture of the Crusades in Western scholarship. She does so by interrogating the Arabic sources on the subject in a way which throws fresh light on a formative and, for the most part, antagonistic period in the history of Arabo-Islamic and Euro-Christian relations.

 

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