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The Ribat of Arsuf and the Coastal Defence System in Early Islamic Palestine

2008; Oxford University Press; Volume: 19; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/jis/etn006

1471-6917

Hassan S. Khalilieh,

Global Maritime and Colonial Histories

Early Muslim governors and army commanders of Bilād al-Shām (Greater Syria) were aware of the strategic importance of the coastal frontiers of their territories along the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. With the ascent of the Umayyads and the transfer of the capital from Kufa (Iraq) to Damascus, the Syrian region was fortified with ribāṭs and miḥrāses. The purpose was both to protect the coast from outside attacks and to protect Umayyad rule in its first years from internal as well as external threats, and to guard trunk routes on land and maritime trade routes within the territorial waters of the Islamic provinces. There were three types of ribāṭs in the Muslim world. The first may be called ribāṭ towns, which included coastal and port towns. Their importance was not only economic and cultural but also military and strategic. These were fortified towns surrounded by watchtowers, often with inner forts, and garrisoned with cavalry troops to defend the coast from hostile raids. The second type was the military fortress, Sūsa and Monastir in Tunisia, for example, and Azdūd, Māḥūz Yubnā and Kafr Lām in Palestine. These fortresses, generally situated outside the town limits, in front of it and facing the enemy, are of the central courtyard type with round watchtowers at the corners and two semicircular towers protecting the main gate. The courtyards were surrounded by arms and food warehouses, stables for cattle and horses, larger and smaller rooms, as well as prayers niches. The third type was a military lookout tower manned by at least five horsemen, equipped with defensive and deterrent arms. Arsūf is thought to be one of the seven ribāṭs that protected the capital Ramla until the Crusader conquest. Like the others, Arsūf was a walled town (probably backed up by a fort) and linked to Ramla by a line of watchtowers. The overwhelming majority of its citizens were Muslims, some of them famous scholars and even qāḍīs who served in the defence of Jund Filasṭīn as also of Muslim frontiers beyond Bilād al-Shām. Those stationed in the ribāṭ of Arsūf earned their living from crafts, industry, farming, and trade. The proximity to Ramla made it necessary for regular soldiers and volunteers to relieve the jihād warriors several times a year. The memorial structure (maqām), widely known as Maqām Sayyidunā ʿAlī, appears to have been built in the eleventh century ce, and is said to be the work of Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿUlaym or ʿUlayl, a descendants of the second caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.