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1260 AD
1291 AD
1517 AD
Mamluk Madrassa King Faisal -Photo: Eman
MAMLUKS CONQUEST OF ISRAEL
1260/1292 AD - 1517 AD
The Mamluk Sultanate was medieval empire spanning Egypt, Syria, the Levant and Hejaz and established itself as a caliphate. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty around 1260 AD until the Ottoman Conquest of Egypt in 1517. While the population at large was Arab and spoke Arabic, the ruling Elite where either Turkic or Circassian families of slaves. The name Mamluk also derives from Arabic meaning the 'one being owned'. Most Mamluks soldiers were originally white young boys taken as slaves from the steppes near the Black and Caspian sea.
A famous episode of the Mamluk conquest of is the The Battle of Ain Jalut that was fought between the Mamluks and the Mighty Mongol Empire on 3 September 1260 in southeastern Galilee in the Jezreel Valley. The battle stopped a further conquest by the Mongol Empire in the middle East and was the first time a Mongol army was permanently and completely beaten back in direct combat. This epic battle fought in the Galilee perhaps saved and allowed Islam to become a true world religion.
Mamluk Minaret-Yavne. Photo:Dr. Avishai Teicher
CONQUEST OF AKKO/ACRE
The Mamluks regarded what is now Israel as part of Syria. One of the major events during this period happened when in 1250 AD the Mamluk Caliph dismantles the walls of Jerusalem. With this protection gone, the population of Jerusalem rapidly declines. Akko, the last stronghold of the crusaders was taken in 1291 by the Al-Ashraf Khalil, the eight "Bahri" Mamluk Sultan (Turkic origin). Many of the citizens (Christians and Jews) were killed during this Siege of Akko and the Jews that survived fled. The Jewish Kabbalist, Isaac ben Samuel was in town of Akko and was arrested and thrown into prison with many other Jews. Fortunately he escaped the massacre and he fled to Spain. The Mamluks made the 'strategic decision' to destroy the coastal area and as a consequence bring desolation to many of its coastal cities. Ports were destroyed and various materials were dumped to make them inoperable. The goal was to prevent attacks from the sea, given the fear of the return of the Crusaders. This had a long-term effect on those areas, which remained sparsely populated for centuries. The Jewish community in Akko shifted inlands and Safed, Jerusalem and the Galilee became the most important communities in the 13th and 14th century.
The Mamluks were often intolerant and harrassed the local Jewish and Christian populations. Often hatred and violence was aimed at the larger Christian population especially in Egypt. Amidst conflicts, pilgrims persisted in small numbers, and Pope Nicholas IV brokered an accord with the Mamluk sultan, allowing Latin clergy to officiate in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Pope Nicholas, a Franciscan himself, dispatched friars to sustain the Latin liturgy in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Robert of Sicily who was a central figure of Italian politics of his time was helpful for the Christians in the holy land. This Robert of Anjou was King of Naples and Sicily and also held the title King of Jerusalem. In 1300, King Robert of Sicily's gave a generous gift to the Sultan in Damascus and he secured the Sion Church, the Mary Chapel in the Holy Sepulchre, and the Nativity Cave in Bethlehem for the Franciscans. However it still remained prohibited to restore all the other Christian holy places.
The continual diplomatic efforts of the kings of Aragon and Naples eventually resulted in the founding of a Franciscan settlement in Jerusalem in 1335 that continues until today.
The Mamluk sultans revitalised Jerusalem by promoting Muslim settlement and the constructing or expanding of mosques. The Mamluks were often intolerant and harrassed the local Jewish population. Jews did not have full religious rights and were banned from Temple mount. In Hebron, the Mamluk ruler Baibars, had banned Jews from worshipping at the Cave of the Patriarchs (the second-holiest site in Judaism). Jews were only allowed to enter 7 steps inside the site. In contrast to this hatred the Sultan later renewed the Muslim alliance with the Jews and Baibers established two new sanctuaries, one to Moses near Jericho and one to Salih near Ramla. The Sultan wished to encourage many Muslim and Jewish pilgrims to be in the area at the same time as the Christians, who filled the city during Easter. Also in 1267 Nahmanides (also known as Ramban) made aliyah. In the Old City he was able to establish the Ramban Synagogue. This synagogue together with the Karaite synagogue are the oldest still active synagogues in Jerusalem. Jerusalem however had no great political power and the city itself was ruled by a low-ranking emir.
JEWISH LIVE DURING MAMLUK PERIOD
Jerusalem 1450 AD
Despite the difficulties and heavy taxes that existed for Dhimmi's immigration to Eretz Yisrael continued and during the 14th century Jerusalem became once again a central meeting place for both the Sephardic, Ashkenazi and Oriental Jewish communities. Spanish Jews, Jewish intellectuals from Muslim countries and Ashkenazi scholars from the Rhineland community arrived in Jerusalem. This migration was driven by anti Jewish violence in Spain in 1392, expulsions in German cities and the Fall of the the Byzantine Empire after the Ottomans conquered Constantinople. These events made many Jews think the end of Christianity was near. Isaac HaLevi Asir HaTikvah also known as Isaac of Beilstein, was an important 14th-century Ashkenazi Rabbinic leader. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1350 AD with a group of students and founded a yeshiva in Jerusalem with financial help from Jewish communities in Europe. Many other devoted Jews followed their religious obligation travelling and 'ascending' to the Holy land. Many where part of the religious elite in their communities in Europe or the Middle East but when they arrived the often were encountered hostility from local leaders (parnasim) that where afraid to lose their authority. Officially the leader of the Jews in the Mamluk state was the Nagid, or 'Prince' from Cairo. He was both the leader Egypt, Syria and the region of Palestine and had a deputy leader in Damascus and in Jerusalem in the 14th century. During the 14th century cultural live in Jerusalem was growing and many important Jewish manuscripts were written in Jerusalem on Halakhah (Jewish law), mysticism and philosophy.
Beautiful Mamluk architecture in Jerusalem. Photo: Yoav Dothan
JEWISH PILGRIMAGE
In the 15th century Italian Rabbi, Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro, commonly known as "The Bartenura", travelled from 1485 through the Mediterranean and Egypt. He reached Jerusalem in 1488 were he counted 70 Jewish families. He was best known for his popular commentary on the Mishnah, which he probably finished writing in Jerusalem (see his "Pathways to Jerusalem").
As a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many of the exiles settled in Jerusalem and Rabbi Bertinoro became their intellectual leader who rejuvenated the Jewish community of Jerusalem. These Spanish Jews presented Bertinoro with a site for a yeshivah in Jerusalem, which he founded. In a letter written to his brother from Jerusalem on 24 August 1489, Obadiah mentions that Jews flock to Jerusalem from Egypt, Damascus, Aleppo, Aden and other places in order to worship God. According to Obadiah he was living in the home of the Nagid in Jerusalem and that he gave twice a month a Hebrew sermon in a synagogue in Jerusalem. A clear sign of the active use of Hebrew language during the Mamluk period. He died and was buried in 1515 on the Jewish cemetery on Mount Olives in Jerusalem.
Bartenura Mishna commentary
Despite the Mamluk repression, pilgrimage to Israel continued and the 14th century account of Isaac ben Joseph ibn Chelo (see 'Pilgrims to the holy land' by Moshe Pearlman) is valuable. Isaac ben Joseph states in 1334 that although the holy places like tombs of the Patriarchs and Temple Mount were forbidden for Jews to visit, Jews were numerous in both Hebron and Jerusalem. They worked in shops, commerce activities, different crafts and science (like medicine, astronomy and mathematics). And he mentioned many Jews studying Torah, Talmud and kabbalist mysticism and even praying at the Western Wall of Temple Mount. Ibn Chelo wrote about his visit to Hebron, Judea: 'The Jews, who are very numerous here, do a considerable trade in cotton, which they spin and dye themselves, as well as in all sorts of glass-ware made by them in Hebron.’ ‘They have an ancient synagogue and pray there day and night, for they are very devout.' ‘During the ten days of penitence [between the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement] they visit the tombs of Jesse, father of King David, and of Abner, son of Ner. There, with faces turned toward the Cave of Machpelah they implore that God will have mercy and restore this sacred place where the patriarchs are buried into their hands, as in former days they used to be.”
Pilgrims arriving in Jaffa in 1483. Bernhard von Breidenbach
Franciscan Symbol on via Dolorosa, Jerusalem, Photo: Deror Avi
CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS
During the Mamluk period Christian pilgrimage was common and happened on a large scale too. Annually many thousands of pilgrims visited Israel and the Franciscans as custodians of the holy sites had a crucial role in this fascinating phenomenon. The Franciscans not only looked after the churches and holy places but also offered food and places to stay during the pilgrims travels. Josephie Brefeld analysed many descriptions of the travels of pilgrims in 5 languages (Latin, French, English, German and Dutch) and found strong support for the old suggestion in 1880 that the pilgrims used a guidebook during their travels. In her book 'A Guidebook for the Jerusalem pilgrimage in the Middle Ages' (1994) she shows that irrespective of languages most accounts show a striking parallel: the holy places are listed in a set order and in largely the same words. Possibly this guidebook was used or written by the same Franciscans.
WOMEN PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND
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St. Brigitta in a painting from 1476. (wikimedi acommons).
According to a growing group of scholars, women were active as pilgrims in the Middle Ages. Associate professor at Ohio University, Leigh Ann Craig, states there is enough evidence for the presence of female pilgrims during pilgrimages to the Holy Land but there is lack of research on this important topic: ‘many scholars of pilgrimage have simply noted women’s presence on such journeys without fully examining their experiences.’
The experiences of women pilgrims can be examined by looking at accounts of pilgrims that mentions female pilgrims. The story of Margery Kempe who made pilgrimages in Europe and to Israel is a very interesting example. She was married woman and became famous for her pilgrimages and her meeting with some of the greatest medieval religious figures on her long journeys. She became a devoted christian and a female mystic. She wrote about her experiences in "The Book" that was not written by Margery herself, since she was illiterate, but dictated by her. Her book is the oldest example of an autobiography in the English language. Margery left England when her father had died in 1415 and she travelled to the holy land, visited many sacred sites before she returned home in 1417. (see link)
Margery of Kempe and her pilgrimage were not unique but she was one of several notable female mystics. Another well known example in the late medieval period is Saint Birgitta of Sweden, a noblewoman who dedicated her life to becoming a visionary and pilgrim following the death of her husband. She made pilgrimages to Rome, Jerusalem and Bethlehem and was later canonised as a saint.
The Beautiful Jethro'sTomb, a holy site for the Druze community in Israel. Photo: Saleh Aqel Khatib
DRUZE RELIGION IN ISRAEL
The Druze religion that started in Egypt became a small minority religion in Israel. The Druze who call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidīn (meaning "the Monotheists") are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community that can still be found in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the north of Israel. Even though the faith originally developed im Egypt out of Ismaili Islam, most Druze do not identify as Muslims and they do not accept the 'five pillars of Islam'. The Druze have frequently experienced persecution by different Muslim regimes and also by the Ottoman Empire. This persecution of the Druze included massacres, destruction of holy places and forced conversions to Islam and according to the Druze community this prosecution was aimed to eradicate the whole community and religion.
One of the most important Druze writings the Epistles of Wisdom contains antisemitic texts. One epistle describes that the founders of Druzism, Baha al-Din al-Muqtana, accuses Jews of killing the sacred prophets and such text might have created the ongoing tensions between the Jews and the Druze communities. Benjamin of Tudela, however describes that the Druze maintained good commercial relations with the Jews nearby, and according to him this was because the Druze liked the Jewish people. Most Jews and Druze lived isolated in their own villages, except in few mixed towns such as Deir al-Qamar (Lebanon) and Peki'in (Israel). Clearly there were times in Israel of peaceful coexistence between Jews and Druze communities. But also the Druze attack on the Jews in Safed in 1834 is to be remembered in the long history of the Jewish-Druze relationship.