136-786: Roman Palestine was a period in the history of Palestine characterised by Roman rule in the Palestine region , starting from the Hasmonean civil war 63 BC, up until either the end of the Second Temple Period with the First Roman-Jewish war in 70 CE, or the Early Muslim Conquest in the 7th century, depending on whenever the Eastern Roman or Byzantine period is included. The time period
272-531: A Genoese fleet captured Beirut . In the same month, Muhammad I Tapar , sultan of the Seljuk Empire, sent an army to recover Syria, but a Frankish defensive force arrived at Edessa, ending the short siege of the city. On 4 December, Baldwin captured Sidon , aided by a flotilla of Norwegian pilgrims led by Sigurd the Crusader . Next year, Tancred's extortion from Antioch's Muslim neighbours provoked
408-540: A Turkish ambush at the Battle of Civetot . Conflict with Urban II meant that King Philip I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV declined to participate. Aristocrats from France, western Germany, the Low Countries , Languedoc and Italy led independent contingents in loose, fluid arrangements based on bonds of lordship, family, ethnicity and language. The elder statesman Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse
544-700: A consequence they lost their frankincense trade privileges. The trade privileges were taken over by the Nabataeans, an Arab tribe whose capital was in Petra in Transjordan. They established themselves in the Negev where they built a flourishing civilization. Despite the devastating Greco-Persian Wars , Greek cultural influences rose steadily. Greek coins began to circulate in the late 6th and early 5th centuries. Greek traders established trading posts along
680-526: A focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont . He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there
816-562: A hunting accident. On Christmas Day 1143, their son Baldwin III of Jerusalem was crowned co-ruler with his mother. That same year, having prepared his army for a renewed attack on Antioch, John II Komnenos cut himself with a poisoned arrow while hunting wild boar. He died on 8 April 1143 and was succeeded as emperor by his son Manuel I Komnenos . Following John's death, the Byzantine army withdrew, leaving Zengi unopposed. Fulk's death later in
952-835: A larger force, led by the Seljuk Ridwan of Aleppo . He was then able to secure Antioch's borders and push back his Greek and Muslim enemies. Under Paschal's sponsorship, Bohemond launched a version of a crusade in 1107 against the Byzantines, crossing the Adriatic and besieging Durrës . The siege failed; Alexius hit his supply lines, forcing his surrender. The terms laid out in the Treaty of Devol were never enacted because Bohemond remained in Apulia and died in 1111, leaving Tancred as notional regent for his son Bohemond II . In 1007,
1088-461: A matter of debate among contemporary historians. At the time of the First Crusade , iter , "journey", and peregrinatio , "pilgrimage" were used for the campaign. Crusader terminology remained largely indistinguishable from that of Christian pilgrimage during the 12th century. A specific term for a crusader in the form of crucesignatus —"one signed by the cross"—emerged in
1224-605: A number of walls, a religious shrine, and a 23-foot (7.0 m) tower with an internal staircase Jericho is believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world , with evidence of settlement dating back to 9000 BCE, providing important information about early human habitation in the Near East . Along the Jericho– Dead Sea – Bir es-Saba – Gaza – Sinai route, a culture originating in Syria , marked by
1360-673: A power struggle. This gave the Crusaders a crucial opportunity to consolidate without any pan-Islamic counter-attack. Urban II died on 29 July 1099, fourteen days after the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, but before news of the event had reached Rome. He was succeeded by Pope Paschal II who continued the policies of his predecessors in regard to the Holy Land. Godfrey died in 1100. Dagobert of Pisa , Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Tancred looked to Bohemond to come south, but he
1496-512: A ransom for his and Raymond's freedom. John II Komnenos , emperor since 1118, reasserted Byzantine claims to Cilicia and Antioch , compelling Raymond of Poitiers to give homage. In April 1138, the Byzantines and Franks jointly besieged Aleppo and, with no success, began the Siege of Shaizar , abandoning it a month later. On 13 November 1143, while the royal couple were in Acre, Fulk was killed in
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#17327651357211632-647: A small number of mercenaries he could direct. Alexios had restored the Empire's finances and authority but still faced numerous foreign enemies. Later that year at the Council of Clermont , Urban raised the issue again and preached a crusade. Almost immediately, the French priest Peter the Hermit gathered thousands of mostly poor in the People's Crusade . Traveling through Germany, German bands massacred Jewish communities in
1768-476: A tyrant and involved in many political and familial intrigues. Crusaders In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in
1904-518: A vassal of Israel, rebelled against it, destroying the main Israelite settlements in the Transjordan. In the 830s BCE, king Hazael of Aram Damascus conquered the fertile and strategically important northern parts of Israel which devastated the kingdom. He also destroyed the Philistine city of Gath . During the late 9th century BCE, Israel under King Jehu became a vassal to Assyria and
2040-580: Is sometimes further sub-divided into early and late periods, with the transition between the early and late periods occurring in either 70 or 135 CE. During this period, Palestine went through a series of administrative changes, beginning as a series of Roman client states under the Judean Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties before being gradually annexed into the Roman Empire as the fully incorporated Roman province of Judaea , as well as
2176-706: The Reconquista and Northern Crusades are also sometimes associated with this Crusade. The aftermath of the Crusade saw the Muslim world united around Saladin , leading to the fall of Jerusalem . Eugene III , recently elected pope, issued the bull Quantum praedecessores in December 1145 calling for a new crusade, one that would be more organized and centrally controlled than the First. The armies would be led by
2312-682: The Amarna Letters . These refer to local chieftains, such as Biridiya of Megiddo , Lib'ayu of Shechem and Abdi-Heba in Jerusalem . Abdi-Heba is a Hurrian name, and enough Hurrians lived in Canaan at that time to warrant contemporary Egyptian texts naming the locals as Ḫurru . In the first year of his reign, the pharaoh Seti I (c. 1294–1290 BCE) waged a campaign to resubordinate Canaan to Egyptian rule, thrusting north as far as Beit She'an , and installing local vassals to administer
2448-687: The Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, the Babylonians routed the Egyptian forces, causing them to flee back to the Nile . The next year, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Philistine cities Ashdod , Ekron , Ashkelon , and Gaza . By 601 BCE, all the former states in the Levant had become Babylonian colonies. The Babylonians continued the practices of their predecessors
2584-571: The Battle of the Meander . Louis was not as lucky at the Battle of Mount Cadmus on 6 January 1148 when the army of Mesud inflicted heavy losses on the Crusaders. Shortly thereafter, they sailed for Antioch, almost totally destroyed by battle and sickness. The Crusader army arrived at Antioch on 19 March 1148 with the intent on moving to retake Edessa, but Baldwin III of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar had other ideas. The Council of Acre
2720-752: The Caucasus mixed with the local population to produce the Canaanite culture that existed during the Bronze Age. During 1550–1400 BCE, the Canaanite city-states became vassals to the New Kingdom of Egypt , which expanded into the Levant under Ahmose I and Thutmose I . Political, commercial and military events towards the end of this period (1450–1350 BCE) were recorded by ambassadors and Canaanite proxy rulers for Egypt in 379 cuneiform tablets known as
2856-697: The County of Edessa ; the Principality of Antioch ; the Kingdom of Jerusalem ; and the County of Tripoli . A European presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291. After this, no further large military campaigns were organised. Other church-sanctioned campaigns include crusades against Christians not obeying papal rulings and heretics , those against the Ottoman Empire , and ones for political reasons. The struggle against
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#17327651357212992-666: The Crusade of Varna . Popular crusades , including the Children's Crusade of 1212, were generated by the masses and were unsanctioned by the Church. The term "crusade" first referred to military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to the Holy Land . The conflicts to which the term is applied have been extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported and sometimes directed by
3128-495: The Fatimids who were Shi'ite . The Seljuks were nomadic, Turkic speaking and occasionally shamanistic, very different from their sedentary, Arabic speaking subjects. This difference and the governance of territory based on political preference, and competition between independent princes rather than geography, weakened existing power structures. In 1071, Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes attempted confrontation to suppress
3264-468: The Genoese to Jaffa tilted the balance. Two large siege engines were constructed and the one commanded by Godfrey breached the walls on 15 July. For two days the crusaders massacred the inhabitants and pillaged the city. Historians now believe the accounts of the numbers killed have been exaggerated, but this narrative of massacre did much to cement the crusaders' reputation for barbarism. Godfrey secured
3400-475: The Judahite–Babylonian War . Nebuchadnezzar responded by laying siege to Jerusalem in 598 to end its revolt. In 597, the king Jeconiah of Judah, together with Jerusalem's aristocracy and priesthood, were deported to Babylon. In 587 BCE Nebuchadnezzar besieged and destroyed Jerusalem , bringing an end to the kingdom of Judah. A large number of Judahites were exiled to Babylon . Judah and
3536-913: The Moors in the Iberian Peninsula–the Reconquista – ended in 1492 with the Fall of Granada . From 1147, the Northern Crusades were fought against pagan tribes in Northern Europe. Crusades against Christians began with the Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century and continued through the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century. Crusades against the Ottomans began in the late 14th century and include
3672-606: The Nabatean Kingdom in the peripherial areas. After 135 CE, Roman Palestine was re-organised into the Roman province of Syria Palaestina , an administrative unit that persisted until 390 CE, when the province was expanded and subdivided into Palaestina Prima , Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Salutaris -the last including parts of the Arabia Patraea province the name given to the annexed Nabatean Kingdom- under
3808-731: The Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the PLO established the Palestinian Authority (PA), an interim body to run Gaza and the West Bank (but not East Jerusalem), pending a permanent solution. Further peace developments were not ratified and/or implemented, and relations between Israel and Palestinians has been marked by conflict, especially with Islamist Hamas , which rejects the PA. In 2007, Hamas won control of Gaza from
3944-527: The Peace and Truce of God movements restricted conflict between Christians from the 10th century; the influence is apparent in Urban II's speeches. Other historians assert that the effectiveness was limited and it had died out by the time of the crusades. Pope Alexander II developed a system of recruitment via oaths for military resourcing that his successor Pope Gregory VII extended across Europe. In
4080-621: The Pleistocene , c. 1.5 million years ago. These are traces of the earliest migration of Homo erectus out of Africa. The site yielded hand axes of the Acheulean type. Excavations in Skhul Cave revealed the first evidence of the late Epipalaeolithic Natufian culture, characterized by the presence of abundant microliths , human burials and ground stone tools. This also represents one area where Neanderthals – present in
4216-563: The Rhineland massacres during wide-ranging anti-Jewish activities. Jews were perceived to be as much an enemy as Muslims. They were held responsible for the Crucifixion , and were more immediately visible. People wondered why they should travel thousands of miles to fight non-believers when there were many closer to home. Quickly after leaving Byzantine-controlled territory on their journey to Nicaea , these crusaders were annihilated in
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4352-582: The Seljuks' sporadic raiding , leading to his defeat at the battle of Manzikert . Historians once considered this a pivotal event but now Manzikert is regarded as only one further step in the expansion of the Great Seljuk Empire . The evolution of a Christian theology of war developed from the link of Roman citizenship to Christianity, according to which citizens were required to fight the empire's enemies. This doctrine of holy war dated from
4488-764: The West Bank (and East-Jerusalem ), annexed by Jordan , and the Gaza Strip occupied by Egypt , which were conquered by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. Despite international objections, Israel started to establish settlements in these occupied territories. Meanwhile, the Palestinian national movement gained international recognition, thanks to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), under Yasser Arafat . In 1993,
4624-444: The medieval period . The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with the First Crusade , which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 , dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing
4760-454: The 11th century, Christian conflict with Muslims on the southern peripheries of Christendom was sponsored by the Church, including the siege of Barbastro and the Norman conquest of Sicily . In 1074, Gregory VII planned a display of military power to reinforce the principle of papal sovereignty. His vision of a holy war supporting Byzantium against the Seljuks was the first crusade prototype, but lacked support. The First Crusade
4896-468: The 12th century BCE, the Philistines , who had immigrated from the Aegean region , settled in the southern coast of Palestine. Traces of Philistines appeared at about the same time as the Israelites. The Philistines are credited with introducing iron weapons, chariots, and new ways of fermenting wine to the local population. Over time, the Philistines integrated with the local population and they, like other people in Palestine, were engulfed by first
5032-429: The 20th century, largely undisrupted. During World War I the British government issued the Balfour Declaration , favoring the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, and captured it from the Ottomans. The League of Nations gave Britain mandatory power over Palestine in 1922. British rule and Arab efforts to prevent Jewish migration led to growing violence between Arabs and Jews , causing
5168-431: The 4th-century theologian Saint Augustine . He maintained that aggressive war was sinful, but acknowledged a " just war " could be rationalised if it was proclaimed by a legitimate authority, was defensive or for the recovery of lands, and without an excessive degree of violence. Violent acts were commonly used for dispute resolution in Western Europe, and the papacy attempted to mitigate this. Historians have thought that
5304-407: The 5th century. Another people in Palestine was the Edomites . Originally, their kingdom occupied the southern area of modern-day Jordan but later they were pushed westward by nomadic tribes coming from the east, among them the Nabataeans , and therefore migrated into southern parts of Judea. This migration had already begun a generation or two before the Babylonian conquest of Judah, but as Judah
5440-503: The Assyrian empire and later the Babylonian empire. In the 6th century, they disappeared from written history. Two related Israelite kingdoms, Israel and Judah , emerged during the 10th and 9th centuries BCE: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Israel was the more prosperous of the kingdoms and developed into a regional power. By the 8th century BCE, the Israelite population had grown to some 160,000 individuals over 500 settlements. Israel and Judah continually clashed with
5576-479: The Assyrians and deported populations that resisted its military might. Many of them were settled in Babylon and were used to rebuild the country which had been devastated through the long years of conflict with the Assyrians. In 601 BCE Nebuchadnezzar launched a failed invasion of Egypt which forced him to withdraw to Babylon to rebuild his army. This failure was interpreted as a sign of weakness, causing some vassal states to defect, among them Judah, leading to
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5712-538: The Assyrians by refusing to pay tribute. In response, Sennacherib of Assyria attacked the fortified cities of Judah. In 701 BCE, Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem , though the city was never taken. The Assyrian expansion continued southward, gradually conquering Egypt and taking Thebes in 664 BCE. The kingdom of Judah, along with a line of city-states on the coastal plain were allowed to remain independent; from an Assyrian standpoint, they were weak and nonthreatening. Struggles over succession following
5848-519: The British to announce its intention to terminate the Mandate in 1947. The UN General Assembly recommended partitioning Palestine into two states : Arab and Jewish. However, the situation deteriorated into a civil war . The Arabs rejected the Partition Plan, the Jews ostensibly accepted it, declaring the independence of the State of Israel in May 1948 upon the end of the British mandate . Nearby Arab countries invaded Palestine, Israel not only prevailed, but conquered more territory than envisioned by
5984-401: The Canaanite urban civilization were destroyed around 2500 BCE, though there is no consensus as to why (for one theory, see 4.2-kiloyear event ). Incursions by nomads from the east of the Jordan River who settled in the hills followed soon thereafter, as well as cultural influence from the ancient Syrian city of Ebla . That period known as the Intermediate Bronze Age (2500–2000 BCE),
6120-412: The Crusader states in the Levant By the end of the 11th century, the period of Islamic Arab territorial expansion had been over for centuries. The Holy Land's remoteness from focus of Islamic power struggles enabled relative peace and prosperity in Syria and Palestine. Muslim-Western European contact was only more than minimal in the conflict in the Iberian Peninsula . The Byzantine Empire and
6256-401: The Crusaders retreated before the arrival of a relief army led by Nūr-ad-Din. Morale fell, hostility to the Byzantines grew and distrust developed between the newly arrived Crusaders and those that had made the region their home after the earlier crusades. The French and German forces felt betrayed by the other, lingering for a generation due to the defeat, to the ruin of the Christian kingdoms in
6392-402: The Fatimids had recaptured Jerusalem. The Franks offered to partition conquered territory in return for the city. Refusal of the offer made it imperative that the crusade reach Jerusalem before the Fatimids made it defensible. The first attack on the city, launched on 7 June 1099, failed, and the siege of Jerusalem became a stalemate, before the arrival of craftsmen and supplies transported by
6528-434: The Frankish army was defeated by the Seljuk rulers of Mosul and Mardin at the battle of Harran . Baldwin II and his cousin, Joscelin of Courtenay , were captured. Bohemond and Tancred retreated to Edessa where Tancred assumed command. Bohemond returned to Italy, taking with him much of Antioch's wealth and manpower. Tancred revitalised the beleaguered principality with victory at the battle of Artah on 20 April 1105 over
6664-455: The Frankish position by defeating an Egyptian force at the Battle of Ascalon on 12 August. Most of the crusaders considered their pilgrimage complete and returned to Europe. When it came to the future governance of the city it was Godfrey who took leadership and the title of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri , Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. The presence of troops from Lorraine ended the possibility that Jerusalem would be an ecclesiastical domain and
6800-439: The Franks. The dismal failures of this Crusade then set the stage for the fall of Jerusalem, leading to the Third Crusade. In the first major encounter after the Second Crusade, Nūr-ad-Din's forces then destroyed the Crusader army at the Battle of Inab on 29 June 1149. Raymond of Poitiers , as prince of Antioch, came to the aid of the besieged city. Raymond was killed and his head was presented to Nūr-ad-Din, who forwarded it to
6936-448: The Hasmonean pretenders, as High Priest but denied him the title of king. Most of the territory the Hasmoneans had conquered were awarded to other kingdoms, and Judea now only included Judea proper, Samaria (except for the city of Samaria which was renamed Sebaste ), southern Galilee, and eastern Idumaea. In 57 BCE, the Romans and Jewish loyalists stamped out an uprising organized by Hyrcanus' enemies. Hoping to quell further unrest,
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#17327651357217072-437: The Holy Land while the pagan Wends were a more immediate problem. The resulting Wendish Crusade of 1147 was partially successful but failed to convert the pagans to Christianity. The disastrous performance of this campaign in the Holy Land damaged the standing of the papacy, soured relations between the Christians of the kingdom and the West for many years, and encouraged the Muslims of Syria to even greater efforts to defeat
7208-428: The Holy Land. In the spring of 1147, Eugene III authorised the expansion of his mission into the Iberian Peninsula, equating these campaigns against the Moors with the rest of the Second Crusade. The successful Siege of Lisbon , from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was followed by the six-month siege of Tortosa , ending on 30 December 1148 with a defeat for the Moors. In the north, some Germans were reluctant to fight in
7344-415: The Islamic world were long standing centres of wealth, culture and military power. The Arab-Islamic world tended to view Western Europe as a backwater that presented little organised threat. By 1025, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II had extended territorial recovery to its furthest extent. The frontiers stretched east to Iran. Bulgaria and much of southern Italy were under control, and piracy was suppressed in
7480-407: The Latin Church with varying objectives, mostly religious, sometimes political. These differed from previous Christian religious wars in that they were considered a penitential exercise, and so earned participants remittance from penalties for all confessed sins. What constituted a crusade has been understood in diverse ways, particularly regarding the early Crusades, and the precise definition remains
7616-444: The Mediterranean Sea. The empire's relationships with its Islamic neighbours were no more quarrelsome than its relationships with the Slavs or the Western Christians. The Normans in Italy; to the north Pechenegs , Serbs and Cumans ; and Seljuk Turks in the east all competed with the Empire and the emperors recruited mercenaries—even on occasions from their enemies—to meet this challenge. The political situation in Western Asia
7752-416: The Middle East. The Seljuk hold on the city was weak and returning pilgrims reported difficulties and the oppression of Christians. Byzantine desire for military aid converged with increasing willingness of the western nobility to accept papal military direction. In 1095, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military aid from Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza . He was probably expecting
7888-500: The Muslim world mistook the crusaders for the latest in a long line of Byzantine mercenaries, not religiously motivated warriors intent on conquest and settlement. The Muslim world was divided between the Sunnis of Syria and Iraq and the Shi'ite Fatimids of Egypt. The Turks had found unity unachievable since the death of Sultan Malik-Shah in 1092, with rival rulers in Damascus and Aleppo . In addition, in Baghdad, Seljuk sultan Barkiyaruq and Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir were engaged in
8024-418: The PA, now limited to the West Bank. In 2012, the State of Palestine (the name used by the PA) became a non-member observer state in the UN , allowing it to take part in General Assembly debates and improving its chances of joining other UN agencies. The earliest human remains in the region were found in Ubeidiya , 3 km south of the Sea of Galilee , in the Jordan Rift Valley . The remains are dated to
8160-435: The Partition Plan. During the war, 700,000, or about 80% of all Palestinians fled or were driven out of territory Israel conquered and were not allowed to return, an event known as the Nakba ("Catastrophe") to Palestinians. Starting in the late 1940s and continuing for decades, about 850,000 Jews from the Arab world immigrated ("made Aliyah ") to Israel. After the war, only two parts of Palestine remained in Arab control:
8296-456: The Persian period. Hebrew remained as a language for the upper class and as a religious language . Hellenistic Palestine is the term for Palestine during the Hellenistic period , when Achaemenid Syria was conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BCE and subsumed into his growing Macedonian empire . The conquest was relatively uncomplicated as Persian control of the region had already waned. After his death in 323 BCE, Alexander's empire
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#17327651357218432-422: The Philistine city-states of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron, were dissolved and incorporated into the Neo-Babylonian Empire as provinces. Judah became the province of Yehud , a Jewish administrative division of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Following Cyrus the Great 's conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, Palestine became part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire . At least five Persian provinces existed in
8568-418: The Roman world brought by the Roman civil wars relaxed Rome's grip on Judea. In 40 BCE, the Parthian Empire and their Jewish ally Antigonus the Hasmonean defeated a pro-Roman Jewish force led by high priest Hyrcanus II , Phasael and Herod I , the son of Hyrcanus' leading partisan Antipater . They managed to conquer Syria and Palestine. Antigonus was made King of Judea. Herod fled to Rome, where he
8704-655: The Romans restructured the kingdom into five autonomous districts, each with its own religious council with centers in Jerusalem, Sepphoris , Jericho , Amathus , and Gadara . Poleis that had been occupied or even destroyed by the Hasmoneans were rebuilt and they regained their self-governing status. This amounted to a rebirth for many of the Greek cities and made them Rome's trusty allies in an otherwise unruly region. They expressed their gratitude by adopting new dating systems commemorating Rome's advent, renaming themselves after Roman officials, or minting coins with monograms and imprints of Roman officials. The turmoil in
8840-431: The Seljuk army in 1115 against an alliance of the Franks, Toghtekin, his son-in-law Ilghazi and the Muslims of Aleppo. Bursuq feigned retreat and the coalition disbanded. Only the forces of Roger and Baldwin of Edessa remained, but, heavily outnumbered, they were victorious on 14 September at the first battle of Tell Danith . In April 1118, Baldwin I died of illness while raiding in Egypt. His cousin, Baldwin of Edessa,
8976-509: The accumulation of social power. Evidence of contact and immigration to Lower Egypt is found in the abundance of pottery vessels of southern–Levantine type, found in sites across the Nile , such as Abydos . During the last two hundred years of that period and following the Unification of Egypt and pharaoh Narmer , an Egyptian colony appeared in the southern Levantine coast, with its center at Tell es-Sakan (modern-day Gaza Strip ). The overall nature of this colony as well as its relation with
9112-421: The area in his name. The Egyptian Stelae in the Levant , most notably the Beisan steles , and a burial site yielding a scarab bearing the name Seti found within a Canaanite coffin excavated in the Jezreel Valley , attests to Egypt's presence in the area. The Late Bronze Age collapse had greatly affected the Ancient Near East, including Canaan. The Egyptians withdrew from the area. Layers of destruction from
9248-452: The assistance of the crusaders after the deserting Stephen of Blois told them the cause was lost. Alexius retreated from Philomelium , where he received Stephen's report, to Constantinople. The Greeks were never truly forgiven for this perceived betrayal and Stephen was branded a coward. Losing numbers through desertion and starvation in the besieged city, the crusaders attempted to negotiate surrender but were rejected. Bohemond recognised that
9384-440: The auspices of the returned Jewish population. Major religious transformations took place in Yehud Medinata. it was during that period that the Israelite religion became exclusively monotheistic – the existence of other Gods was now denied. Previously, Yahweh , Israel's national god, had been seen as one god among many. Many customs and behavior that would come to characterize Judaism were adopted. The region of Samaria
9520-417: The caliph al-Muqtafi in Baghdad. In 1150, Nūr-ad-Din defeated Joscelin II of Edessa for a final time, resulting in Joscelin being publicly blinded, dying in prison in Aleppo in 1159. Later that year, at the Battle of Aintab , he tried but failed to prevent Baldwin III's evacuation of the residents of Turbessel . The unconquered portions of the County of Edessa would nevertheless fall to the Zengids within
9656-464: The citadel. After a brief counter-siege, Nūr-ad-Din took the city. The men were massacred, with the women and children enslaved, and the walls razed. The fall of Edessa caused great consternation in Jerusalem and Western Europe, tempering the enthusiastic success of the First Crusade. Calls for a new crusade – the Second Crusade – were immediate, and was the first to be led by European kings. Concurrent campaigns as part of
9792-616: The city, killing all those who were unable to flee. All the Frankish prisoners were executed, but the native Christians were allowed to live. The Crusaders were dealt their first major defeat. Zengi was assassinated by a slave on 14 September 1146 and was succeeded in the Zengid dynasty by his son Nūr-ad-Din . The Franks recaptured the city during the Second Siege of Edessa of 1146 by stealth but could not take or even properly besiege
9928-439: The claims of Raymond. Godfrey was left with a mere 300 knights and 2,000 infantry. Tancred also remained with the ambition to gain a princedom of his own. The Islamic world seems to have barely registered the crusade; certainly, there is limited written evidence before 1130. This may be in part due to a reluctance to relate Muslim failure, but it is more likely to be the result of cultural misunderstanding. Al-Afdal Shahanshah and
10064-670: The coast in the 6th century from which Greek ceramics, artworks, and other luxury items were imported. These items were popular and no well-to-do household in Palestine would have lacked Greek pottery. Local potters imitated the Greek merchandise, though the quality of their goods were inferior to the Greeks. The first coins in Palestine were minted by the Phoenicians followed by Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod. Yehud began minting coins in
10200-473: The crisis period were found in several sites, including Hazor , Beit She'an, Megiddo , Lachish , Ekron , Ashdod and Ashkelon . The layers of destruction in Lachish and Megiddo date back to about 1130 BCE, More than a hundred years after the destruction of Hazor circa 1250 BCE, and point to a prolonged period of decline in local civilization. Beginning in the late 13th century and continuing to
10336-453: The crusade without a spiritual leader. Raymond failed to capture Arqa and in May led the remaining army south along the coast. Bohemond retained Antioch and remained, despite his pledge to return it to the Byzantines. Local rulers offered little resistance, opting for peace in return for provisions. The Frankish envoys returned accompanied by Fatimid representatives. This brought the information that
10472-649: The crusaders proved to the Muslim world that the crusaders were not invincible, as they appeared to be during the First Crusade. Within months of the defeat, the Franks and Fatimid Egypt began fighting in three battles at Ramla, and one at Jaffa : Baldwin of Edessa , later king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II, and Patriarch Bernard of Valence ransomed Bohemond for 100,000 gold pieces. Baldwin and Bohemond then jointly campaigned to secure Edessa's southern front. On 7 May 1104,
10608-458: The death of King Ashurbanipal in 631 BCE weakened the Assyrian empire. This allowed Babylon to revolt and to eventually conquer most of Assyria's territory. Meanwhile, Egypt reasserted its power and created a system of vassal states in the region that were obliged to pay taxes in exchange for military protection. In 616 BCE, Egypt sent its armies north to intervene on behalf of
10744-671: The demise of the Ghassulian village-culture of the late Chalcolithic period. It begins in a period of around 600 years of a stable rural society, economically based on a Mediterranean agriculture and with a slow growth in population. This period has been termed the Early Bronze Age I (c. 3700 – 3100 BCE), parallel to the Late Uruk period of Mesopotamia and the pre-dynastic Naqada culture of Egypt . The construction of several temple-like structures in that period attests to
10880-409: The development of new pottery forms, the cultivation of grapes, and the extensive use of bronze. Burial customs from this time seemed to be influenced by a belief in the afterlife. The Middle Kingdom Egyptian Execration Texts attest to Canaanite trade with Egypt during this period. The Minoan influence is apparent at Tel Kabri . A DNA analysis published in May 2020 showed that migrants from
11016-731: The earliest to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization . In the Bronze Age , the Canaanites established city-states influenced by surrounding civilizations, among them Egypt, which ruled the area in the Late Bronze Age. During the Iron Age , two related Israelite kingdoms, Israel and Judah , controlled much of Palestine, while the Philistines occupied its southern coast. The Assyrians conquered
11152-442: The early 11th century, hundreds of smaller, unprotected village settlements were founded in Canaan, many in the mountainous regions. In some of them, the characteristics identified in a later period with the inhabitants of Israel and Judah, such as the four-room house , appear for the first time. The number of villages reduced in the 11th century, counterbalanced by other settlements reaching the status of fortified townships. After
11288-561: The early 12th century. This led to the French term croisade —the way of the cross. By the mid 13th century the cross became the major descriptor of the crusades with crux transmarina —"the cross overseas"—used for crusades in the eastern Mediterranean, and crux cismarina —"the cross this side of the sea"—for those in Europe. The use of croiserie , "crusade" in Middle English can be dated to c. 1300 , but
11424-590: The emperor's hand convinced the Germans to move quickly to Asia Minor. Without waiting for the French contingent, Conrad III engaged the Seljuks of Rûm under sultan Mesud I , son and successor of Kilij Arslan , the nemesis of the First Crusade. Mesud and his forces almost totally destroyed Conrad's contingent at the Second Battle of Dorylaeum on 25 October 1147. The French contingent departed in June 1147. In
11560-566: The emperor. Alexios persuaded many of the princes to pledge allegiance to him and that their first objective should be Nicaea, the capital of the Sultanate of Rum . Sultan Kilij Arslan left the city to resolve a territorial dispute, enabling its capture after the siege of Nicaea and a Byzantine naval assault in the high point of Latin and Greek co-operation. The first experience of Turkish tactics, using lightly armoured mounted archers, occurred when an advanced party led by Bohemond and Robert
11696-465: The fading Assyrian empire against the Babylonian threat. The intervention was unsuccessful; Babylon took Assyria's Nineveh in 612 BCE and two years later Harran . In 609 the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II again marched north with his army. For some reason, he executed the Judahite king Josiah at the Egyptian base Megiddo and a few months later he installed Jehoiakim as the king of Judah. At
11832-572: The feet of Bernard in order to take the cross. Conrad and his nephew Frederick Barbarossa also received the cross from the hand of Bernard. Conrad III and the German contingent planned to leave for the Holy Land at Easter, but did not depart until May 1147. When the German army began to cross Byzantine territory, emperor Manuel I had his troops posted to ensure against trouble. A brief Battle of Constantinople in September ensued, and their defeat at
11968-459: The field to oppose him, he captured several important Syrian towns. He defeated Fulk at the battle of Ba'rin of 1137, seizing Ba'rin Castle . In 1137, Zengi invaded Tripoli , killing the count Pons of Tripoli . Fulk intervened, but Zengi's troops captured Pons' successor Raymond II of Tripoli , and besieged Fulk in the border castle of Montferrand . Fulk surrendered the castle and paid Zengi
12104-512: The goodwill of the people in the empire's provinces. In 538 BCE, the Persians allowed the return of exiled Judeans to Jerusalem. The Judeans, who came to be known as Jews , settled in what became known as Yehud Medinata or Yehud, a self-governing Jewish province under Persian rule. The First Temple in Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians, was rebuilt under
12240-470: The hinterlands has been debated by archaeologists. Around 3100 BCE the country saw radical change, with the abandonment and destruction of many settlements, including the Egyptian colony. These were quickly replaced by new walled settlements in plains and coastal regions, surrounded by mud-brick fortifications and relied on nearby agricultural hamlets for their food. The Canaanite city-states held trade and diplomatic relations with Egypt and Syria. Parts of
12376-431: The inconclusive battle of Shaizar between the Franks and an Abbasid army led by the governor of Mosul, Mawdud . Tancred died in 1112 and power passed to his nephew Roger of Salerno . In May 1113, Mawdud invaded Galilee with Toghtekin , atabeg of Damascus . On 28 June this force surprised Baldwin, chasing the Franks from the field at the battle of al-Sannabra . Mawdud was killed by Assassins . Bursuq ibn Bursuq led
12512-707: The kingdom and maintained relations with Rome and Egypt. However, internal strife and external pressures, particularly from the Seleucids and later the Romans, led to the decline of the Hasmonean dynasty. In 63 BCE, a war of succession in the Hasmonean court provided the Roman general Pompey with the opportunity to make the Jewish kingdom a client of Rome, starting a centuries-long period of Roman rule. After sacking Jerusalem , he installed Hyrcanus II , one of
12648-534: The kingdoms of Ammon , Edom and Moab , located in modern-day Jordan, and with the kingdom of Aram-Damascus , located in modern-day Syria. The northwestern region of the Transjordan, known then as Gilead , was also settled by the Israelites . Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the period from about 1200 to 586 BCE. The Omride dynasty greatly expanded
12784-553: The kingdoms' populations were deported. The Kingdom of Israel was eradicated in 720 BCE as its capital, Samaria , fell to the Assyrians. The records of Sargon II indicate that he deported 27,290 inhabitants of the kingdom to northern Mesopotamia. Many Israelites migrated to the southern kingdom of Judah. When Hezekiah rose to power in Judah in 715 BCE, he forged an alliance with Egypt and Ashkelon, and revolted against
12920-500: The local population. The Maccabean Revolt , led by Judas Maccabeus , highlighted the growing unrest and resistance against Seleucid authority, eventually leading to significant shifts in power dynamics within the region. The local Hasmonean dynasty emerged from the Maccabean Revolt, with Simon Thassi becoming high priest and ruler, establishing an independent Judea. His successors, notably John Hyrcanus , expanded
13056-479: The meantime, Roger II of Sicily , an enemy of Conrad's, had invaded Byzantine territory. Manuel I needed all his army to counter this force, and, unlike the armies of the First Crusade, the Germans and French entered Asia with no Byzantine assistance. The French met the remnants of Conrad's army in northern Turkey, and Conrad joined Louis's force. They fended off a Seljuk attack at the Battle of Ephesus on 24 December 1147. A few days later, they were again victorious at
13192-431: The modern English "crusade" dates to the early 1700s. The Crusader states of Syria and Palestine were known as the " Outremer " from the French outre-mer , or "the land beyond the sea". Period post-First Crusade Second Crusade Period post-Second Crusade Third Crusade Period post-Third Crusade Fourth Crusade Fifth Crusade Sixth Crusade and aftermath Seventh Crusade End of
13328-417: The northern kingdom of Israel. In the mid-9th century, it stretched from the vicinity of Damascus in the north to the territory of Moab in the south, ruling over a large number of non-Israelites. In 853 BCE, the Israelite king Ahab led a coalition of anti-Assyrian forces at the Battle of Qarqar that repelled an invasion by King Shalmaneser III of Assyria. Some years later, King Mesha of Moab,
13464-456: The only option was open combat and launched a counterattack. Despite superior numbers, Kerbogha's army—which was divided into factions and surprised by the Crusaders' commitment—retreated and abandoned the siege. Raymond besieged Arqa in February 1099 and sent an embassy to al-Afdal Shahanshah , the vizier of Fatimid Egypt , seeking a treaty. The Pope's representative Adhemar died, leaving
13600-559: The overarching administration of the Diocese of the East . The "three Palestines" continued to be administered together until the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the seventh century. History of Palestine Situated between three continents, the region of Palestine has a tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region was among
13736-502: The people of Tell Bashir ransomed Joscelin and he negotiated Baldwin's release from Jawali Saqawa , atabeg of Mosul, in return for money, hostages and military support. Tancred and Baldwin, supported by their respective Muslim allies, entered violent conflict over the return of Edessa leaving 2,000 Franks dead before Bernard of Valence, patriarch of both Antioch and Edessa, adjudicated in Baldwin's favour. On 13 May 1110, Baldwin II and
13872-834: The region from 200,000 to 45,000 years ago – lived alongside modern humans dating to 100,000 years ago. In the caves of Shuqba in Ramallah and Wadi Khareitun in Bethlehem , stone, wood and animal bone tools were found and attributed to the Natufian culture (c. 12,800–10,300 BCE). Other remains from this era have been found at Tel Abu Hureura, Ein Mallaha, Beidha and Jericho . Between 10,000 and 5000 BCE, agricultural communities were established. Evidence of such settlements were found at Tel es-Sultan in Jericho and consisted of
14008-795: The region in the 8th century BCE, then the Babylonians in c. 601 BCE, followed by the Persians who conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539 BCE. Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in the late 330s BCE, beginning Hellenization . In the late 2nd century BCE, the Hasmonean Kingdom conquered most of Palestine, but the kingdom became a vassal of Rome , which annexed it in 63 BCE. Roman Judea
14144-697: The region's control fluctuated due to the military campaigns and political maneuvers. Seleucid rule began in 198 BCE under Antiochus III the Great , who, like the Ptolemies, allowed the Jews to retain their customs and religion. However, financial strains due to obligations to Rome led to unpopular measures, such as temple robberies, which ultimately resulted in Antiochus III's death in 187 BCE. His successors faced similar challenges, with internal conflicts and external pressures leading to dissatisfaction among
14280-530: The region. Ptolemy I and his successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus , maintained control over Yehud Medinata, with the latter bringing the Ptolemaic dynasty to its zenith by winning the first and second Syrian Wars . Despite these successes, ongoing conflicts with the Seleucids, particularly over the strategic region of Coele-Syria, led to more Syrian Wars. The peace and stability enjoyed by the local population under Ptolemaic rule were disrupted by these wars, and
14416-610: The region: Yehud Medinata , Samaria, Gaza, Ashdod, and Ascalon. The Phoenician city-states continued to prosper in present-day Lebanon, while the Arabian tribes inhabited the southern deserts. In contrast to his predecessors, who controlled conquered populations using mass-deportations, Cyrus issued a proclamation granting subjugated nations religious freedom. The Persians resettled exiles in their homelands and let them rebuilt their temples. According to scholars, this policy helped them to present themselves as liberators, gaining them
14552-476: The resources to fully invest the city; the residents lacked the means to repel the invaders. Then Bohemond persuaded a guard in the city to open a gate. The crusaders entered, massacring the Muslim inhabitants and many Christians amongst the Greek Orthodox, Syrian and Armenian communities. A force to recapture the city was raised by Kerbogha , the effective ruler of Mosul . The Byzantines did not march to
14688-470: The same time, the advent of Imad ad-Din Zengi saw the Crusaders threatened by a Muslim ruler who would introduce jihad to the conflict, joining the powerful Syrian emirates in a combined effort against the Franks. He became atabeg of Mosul in September 1127 and used this to expand his control to Aleppo in June 1128. In 1135, Zengi moved against Antioch and, when the Crusaders failed to put an army into
14824-456: The second quarter of the 4th century. In 404 BCE, Egypt threw off the Persian yoke and began extending its domain of influence and military might in Palestine and Phoenicia, leading to confrontations with Persia. The political pendulum swung back and forth as territory was conquered and reconquered. For a brief period of time, Egypt controlled both coastal Palestine and Phoenicia. Egypt
14960-610: The secular and ecclesiastical leaders of the Outremer gathered at the Council of Nablus . The council laid a foundation of a law code for the kingdom of Jerusalem that replaced common law. The council also heard the first direct appeals for support made to the Papacy and Republic of Venice . They responded with the Venetian Crusade , sending a large fleet that supported the capture of Tyre in 1124. In April 1123, Baldwin II
15096-667: The semi-independent Tulunids and Ikhshidids ; Fatimids ; and the Seljuks . In 1099, the Crusaders established the Kingdom of Jerusalem , which the Ayyubid Sultanate reconquered in 1187. Following the invasion of the Mongol Empire in the late 1250s, the Egyptian Mamluks reunified Palestine under its control, before the Ottoman Empire conquered the region in 1516 and ruled it as Ottoman Syria to
15232-575: The south. Unlike the people in the provinces, the tribes were considered "friends" with the empire rather than subjects and they enjoyed some independence from Persia. Until the middle of the 4th century, the Qedarites were the dominant tribe whose territory ran from the Hejaz in the south to the Negev in the north. Around 380 BCE, the Qedarites joined a failed revolt against the Persians and as
15368-542: The strongest kings of Europe and a route that would be pre-planned. The pope called on Bernard of Clairvaux to preach the Second Crusade, granting the same indulgences which had accorded to the First Crusaders. Among those answering the call were two European kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany . Louis, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine , and many princes and lords prostrated themselves at
15504-497: The town of Banias during the Crusade of 1129 . Defeat at Damascus and Marj al-Saffar ended the campaign and Frankish influence on Damascus for years. The Levantine Franks sought alliances with the Latin West through the marriage of heiresses to wealthy martial aristocrats. Constance of Antioch was married to Raymond of Poitiers , son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine . Baldwin II's eldest daughter Melisende of Jerusalem
15640-425: The use of copper and stone tools, brought new migrant groups to the region contributing to an increasingly urban fabric. In the Early Bronze Age (c. 3700–2500 BCE) period, the earliest formation of urban societies and cultures emerged in the region. The period is defined through archaeology, as it is absent from any historical record either from Palestine or contemporary Egyptian and Mesopotamian sources. It follows
15776-640: The withdrawal of the Egyptians, Canaan became home to the Israelites and the Philistines . The Israelites settled the central highlands, a loosely defined highland region stretching from the Judean hills in the south to the Samarian hills in the north. Based on the archaeological evidence, they did not overtake the region by force, but instead branched out of the indigenous Canaanite peoples. Sometime in
15912-413: The year left Joscelin II of Edessa with no powerful allies to help defend Edessa. Zengi came north to begin the first siege of Edessa , arriving on 28 November 1144. The city had been warned of his arrival and was prepared for a siege, but there was little they could do. Zengi realised there was no defending force and surrounded the city. The walls collapsed on 24 December 1144. Zengi's troops rushed into
16048-466: Was also granted to Tyre. In the middle of the 4th century the Phoenicians occupied the entire coast as far as Ascalon in the southern coastal plain. Nomadic Arabian tribes roamed the Negev desert. They were of paramount strategic and economic importance to the Persians due to their control of desert trade routes stretching from Gaza in the north, an important trading center, to the Arabian peninsula in
16184-532: Was ambushed and captured by Belek Ghazi while campaigning north of Edessa, along with Joscelin I, Count of Edessa . He was released in August 1024 in return for 80,000 gold pieces and the city of Azaz . In 1129, the Council of Troyes approved the rule of the Knights Templar for Hugues de Payens . He returned to the East with a major force including Fulk V of Anjou . This allowed the Franks to capture
16320-547: Was ambushed at the battle of Dorylaeum . The Normans resisted for hours before the arrival of the main army caused a Turkish withdrawal. The army marched for three months to the former Byzantine city Antioch , that had been in Muslim control since 1084. Starvation, thirst and disease reduced numbers, combined with Baldwin's decision to leave with 100 knights and their followers to carve out his own territory in Edessa . The siege of Antioch lasted eight months. The crusaders lacked
16456-418: Was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a variety of motivations. These included religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, and economic or political advantage. Later expeditions were conducted by generally more organised armies, sometimes led by a king. All were granted papal indulgences . Initial successes established four Crusader states :
16592-517: Was an unexpected event for contemporary chroniclers, but historical analysis demonstrates it had its roots in earlier developments with both clerics and laity recognising Jerusalem's role in Christianity as worthy of penitential pilgrimage . In 1071, Jerusalem was captured by the Turkish warlord Atsiz , who seized most of Syria and Palestine as part of the expansion of the Seljuks throughout
16728-537: Was captured by the Danishmends . The Lorrainers foiled the attempt to seize power and enabled Godfrey's brother, Baldwin I , to take the crown. Paschal II promoted the large-scale Crusade of 1101 in support of the remaining Franks. This new crusade was a similar size to the First Crusade and joined in Byzantium by Raymond of Saint-Gilles . Command was fragmented and the force split in three: The defeat of
16864-614: Was changed by later waves of Turkic migration , in particular the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 10th century. Previously a minor ruling clan from Transoxania , they had recently converted to Islam and migrated into Iran. In two decades following their arrival they conquered Iran, Iraq and the Near East. The Seljuks and their followers were from the Sunni tradition. This brought them into conflict in Palestine and Syria with
17000-604: Was defined recently out of the tail of the Early Bronze Age and the head of the preceding Middle Bronze Age. Others date the destruction to the end of Early Bronze Age III (c. 2350/2300 BCE) and attribute it to Syrian Amorites , Kurgans , southern nomads or internal conflicts within Canaan. In the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1500 BCE), Canaan was influenced by the surrounding civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia , Phoenicia , Minoan Crete, and Syria. Diverse commercial ties and an agriculturally based economy led to
17136-554: Was divided among his generals, the Diadochi , marking the beginning of Macedonian rule over various territories, including Coele-Syria . The region came under Ptolemaic rule beginning when Ptolemy I Soter took control of Egypt in 322 BCE and Yehud Medinata in 320 BCE due to its strategic significance. This period saw conflicts as former generals vied for control, leading to ongoing power struggles and territorial exchanges. Ptolemaic rule brought stability and economic prosperity to
17272-475: Was elected " King of the Jews " by the Roman Senate and was given the task of retaking Judea. In 37 BCE, with Roman support, Herod reclaimed Judea, and the short-lived reemergence of the Hasmonean dynasty came to an end. Herod I, or as became known, Herod the Great , ruled from 37 to 4 BCE. He became known for his many building projects, for increasing the region's prosperity, but also for being
17408-466: Was eventually reconquered by Persia in 343. By the 6th century, Aramaic became the common language in the north, in Galilee and Samaria , replacing Hebrew as the spoken language in Palestine, and it became the region's lingua franca . Hebrew remained in use in Judah; however the returning exiles brought back Aramaic influence, and Aramaic was used for communicating with other ethnic groups during
17544-445: Was forced to pay tribute. King Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria was discontent with the empire's system of vassal states and set to control them more directly or even turn then into Assyrian provinces. Tiglath Pileser and his successors conquered Palestine beginning in 734 BCE to about 645 BCE. This policy had lasting consequences for Palestine as its strongest kingdoms were crushed, inflicting heavy damage, and parts of
17680-598: Was foremost, rivaled by the relatively poor but martial Italo-Norman Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred . Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin also joined with forces from Lorraine , Lotharingia , and Germany . These five princes were pivotal to the campaign, which was augmented by a northern French army led by Robert Curthose , Count Stephen II of Blois , and Count Robert II of Flanders . The total number may have reached as many as 100,000 people including non-combatants. They traveled eastward by land to Constantinople where they were cautiously welcomed by
17816-556: Was held on 24 June 1148, changing the objective of the Second Crusade to Damascus, a former ally of the kingdom that had shifted its allegiance to that of the Zengids. The Crusaders fought the Battle of Bosra with the Damascenes in the summer of 1147, with no clear winner. Bad luck and poor tactics of the Crusaders led to the disastrous five-day siege of Damascus from 24 to 28 July 1148. The barons of Jerusalem withdrew support and
17952-419: Was inhabited by the Samaritans , an ethno-religious group who worship Yahweh, like the Jews, and who claim descent from the original Israelites. The Samaritan temple cult, centered around Mount Gerizim , competed with the Jews' temple cult centered around Mount Moriah in Jerusalem and led to long-lasting animosity between the two groups. Remnants of their temple at Mount Gerizim near Shechem dates to
18088-436: Was married to Fulk of Anjou in 1129. When Baldwin II died on 21 August 1131, Fulk and Melisende were consecrated joint rulers of Jerusalem. Despite conflict caused by the new king appointing his own supporters and the Jerusalemite nobles attempting to curb his rule, the couple were reconciled and Melisende exercised significant influence. When Fulk died in 1143, she became joint ruler with their son, Baldwin III of Jerusalem . At
18224-414: Was troubled by Jewish revolts in 66 CE, so Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Jewish Temple in 70 CE. In the 4th century, as the Roman Empire transitioned to Christianity , Palestine became a center for the religion, attracting pilgrims, monks and scholars. Following Muslim conquest of the Levant in 636–641, ruling dynasties succeeded each other: the Rashiduns ; Umayyads , Abbasids ;
18360-451: Was unanimously elected his successor. In June 1119, Ilghazi, now emir of Aleppo , attacked Antioch with more than 10,000 men. Roger of Salerno 's army of 700 knights, 3,000 foot soldiers and a corps of Turcopoles was defeated at the battle of Ager Sanguinis , or "field of blood". Roger was among the many killed. Baldwin II's counter-attack forced the offensive's end, after an inconclusive second battle of Tell Danith . In January 1120
18496-404: Was weakened the pace accelerated. Their territory became known as Idumea. Around the turn of the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, the Persians gave the Phoenician kings of Tyre and Sidon , based in modern-day Lebanon , control over the coastal plain all the way to Ashdod. Perhaps to facilitate maritime trade or as a repayment for their naval services. At about the same time, the Upper Galilee
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