History of the Crusades

 

Archaeologists in Israel Unearth Only Known Crusader Encampment

Frankish soldiers camped at the site before the 1187 Battle of Hattin, which ended in a decisive victory for Muslim sultan Saladin

David Kindy

Daily Correspondent

October 19, 2021 3:24 p.m.

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A Crusader coin found at the excavation site bears the name of Baldwin III, who served as king of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. Clara Amit / Israel Antiquities Authority

On the eve of combat, Frankish Crusader knights broke camp near a spring in what is now Israel before moving into position to meet the Muslim armies of Saladin. The next day, July 4, 1187, the legendary sultan’s soldiers crushed these men and their European allies at the Battle of Hattin, paving the way for the end of Christian occupation of the Holy Land—and the eventual outbreak of the Third Crusade in 1189.

Now, archaeologists say they’ve located remnants of that Crusader camp—the first of its kind ever unearthed in the Middle East. As the Jerusalem Post’s Rossella Tercatin reports, the researchers also found a trove of artifacts that shows how Christian armies lived while they were in the field.

Published in the book Settlement and Crusade in the Thirteenth Century, the new findings shed light on the medieval encampment, which was discovered at the Zippori springs in Galilee during expansion of a local highway. Archaeologists Nimrod Getzov and Ianir Milevski of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) conducted the excavation with assistance from Rafael Lewis, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa.

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I loved history in high school. One of my teachers said, Look at the word, 'history.'

His story.

And sure, men indeed have made much of our history.

FINALLY FINALLY I am reading a good book. Sat out on Scott's porch reading LITTLE AND OFTEN by Trent Preszler. We follow his troubled relationship with his father. I am 40 pages in. 

While getting ready to go home I heard voices. School kids arriving home, cutting thru Scott and my yard.

Trent, born in 1977.