Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria: From the Coming of Islam to the Ottoman Period
This volume consists of an introduction and twenty-one papers presented at the international conference, Islamic Fortifications in Bilad al-Sham that met, appropriately enough, in the citadel of Aleppo in 2003. The papers span centuries and offer much to those interested in not only fortifications, but changes in architecture in general. All of the papers cover the historic Syria, consisting of much of modern Syria, Jordan, parts of Israel and Palestine, Turkey and Lebanon while spanning a time-frame from the Umayyad Caliphate of the seventh century to the Ottoman Empire. With twenty-one articles, this review will not attempt to critically evaluate all of them, but rather inform the reader of them and a few salient points that should interest readers of this forum.
Covering the Umayyad period are articles by Denis Genequand and Ignacio Arce. Genequand examines the shift from the fortification architectures of late antiquity into early Islamic architecture, particularly as fortifications often resulted in the building of palaces. Her work is well illustrated with diagrams of several sites from the region. Arce’s paper examines a specific castle in Jordan, Qasr Hallabat, and investigates it transformation from a military site into a civil administrative center. This piece has several beautiful photographs of the different sections of Qasr Hallabat in addition to a number of detailed site maps.
Jan-Waalke Meyer provides an report on the excavations at the Abbasid period site of Kharab Sayyar. Claus-Peter Haase’s discussion of Hisn Maslama crosses from the Umayyad period into that of the Abbasids. Donald Whitcomb’s study of the early Islamic fortress of Ayla, now located in the Jordanian port of Aqaba, is an interesting study on the purpose of the fortress. Was it actually a defensive structure or a symbol of Arab expansion, replacing the old Roman-Byzantine fortresses with Islamic cities? Finally, there is J. L. Biscop’s examination of the Kastron of Qal’at Sim’an which sheds light on a site whose military architecture has generally been overshadowed by its cathedral.
The majority of the book focuses on the era of the Crusades, being defined here as 1100 to 1300 as all of the articles in this section invariably overlap it. Nasser Rabbat presented a fascinating paper titled “The Militarization of Tase in Medieval Bilad al-Sham”, which examines the impact of the arrival of the Turks in military architecture. Rabbat demonstrates that architecture changed and reflected the outlook of the Turks as they became the dominant military elite in the Middle East. For them, the fortresses were meant to maintain a separation between the ruler and the ruled, allowing the Turks to cultivate this sense of superiority not only through military architecture but through the patronage of religious architecture. Benjamin Michaudel examines the development of Islamic military architecture from two other elite groups, the Kurdish Ayyubids and the Mamluks. In this he determines the main features that differentiate the two groups as well as any variances over time.
Stefan Heidelmann offers an examination of the citadel of al-Raqqa and fortifications along the Euphrates. This is worth a look simply because most works on fortifications in the region focus on those directly involved in the Crusades, whereas this area was on the periphery. Sophie Berthier’s archaelogical report on the Citadel of Damascus is the only non-English piece (French) in the volume. This is remarkable considering that the French government and institutions have contributed greatly to the reconstruction and excavation of many sites in the region. While Berthier’s chapter is intriguing, one wishes it was a bit longer simply because of the importance of the citadel.
Moving north, Julia Gonnella discusses several recent studies on the Citadel of Aleppo, perhaps one of the most imposing fortresses in the Middle East. Those who have visited this site will appreciate Gonnella’s work as she breaks down what has been added to the fortress, which gained most of its form during the Ayyubid period. Gonnella also discusses the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, demonstrating the importance of the citadel through time even if its importance changed from a seat of power to simply an Ottoman garrison. Her article is complimented by Yasser Tabbaa’s interesting study of the citadel and other defenses of Aleppo during the Ayyubid period
Other regional fortresses are also examined. Sauro Gelichi discusses the citadel of Harim, providing not only a brief history of it, but also the results of various archaeological digs at the site. Cristina Tonghini and Nadia Montevecchi focused their attention on the castle at Shayzar, while Cyril Yovitchitch examines the spread of Ayyubid architecture at the ‘Ajlun Castle in northern Jordan. Janusz Bylinski adds to our knowledge of the lesser known, but still important fortifications, with his findings from an exploratory mission to Shumaymis. The importance of his article is that it reveals that there is still much to be gained from examining even the most dilapidated fortifications. Often overlooked among the castles in the Bilad al-Sham are the cave fortifications. Fortunately, Balazs Major’s piece on those in the Upper Orontes Valley, helps fill this gap. Even though it is on a preliminary report, it is impressive and should serve as the basis for a much lengthier work.
Angus Stewart’s article on the Qal’at al-Rum moves the volume further north. This is a welcome addition to the volume. Although the book is exactly as the title indicates, a greater appreciation of military architecture is often gained by an examination of it under siege. Stewart discusses not only the site but also the 1292 Mamluk siege of the fortress. While not really a siege of military significance, Stewart points out that its real importance was political.
John France’s inclusion in this volume is a bit odd in comparison with the other entries. Whereas the other articles discuss specific sites, France’s topic is “Fortifications East and West”. This is not to say it is out of place. In many ways France’s piece helps tie the articles together and focus on the influence of Islamic military architecture. In addition, he discusses how historians have viewed eastern influences on western castles and vise-versa. He also includes examples from Armenian and Byzantine influences. Ultimately, he concludes that the threat of the Crusades was partially responsible for something of a renaissance in Islamic military architecture.
The final two articles are of the Ottoman period. Kay Prag’s topic deals with defensive ditches. Prag uses the Ottoman ditch at Jerusalem as a model for a wider discussion. At first glance this seems somewhat of a questionable topic, but the article amply displays the importance of such a simple, yet effective defensive device. An accompanying table showing the depth and width of these ditches also demonstrates just how impressive the ditches must have been to attackers. The final article, by Andrew Petersen, concerns the line of forts built by the Ottomans to protect the Hajj. He discusses them not only in their element, but also in the wider context of Ottoman fortifications.
Those with any interest in fortifications and the history of fortifications will find something of merit in Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria. Virtually all of the chapters are accompanied by illustrations of the discussed sites, in both black and white diagrams and maps, as well as several color photographs. The latter, if nothing else, should encourage even those with the slightest of interest to peruse its pages.
While all of the articles are interesting, John France’s piece probably ranks as the “must read” chapter. The unfortunate part of archaeology is that it is often tedious work, and tedious writing. Several of the articles do suffer from this, although one must keep in mind that the book is a collection of conference articles. Thus, they were written for an audience of others with similar interests. France’s piece is a bit more lively reading, but more importantly, because of its theme, is able to bring the majority of the articles into a bigger picture.