Lecture Summaries: 12 October, 2006

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The Citadel of Jerusalem:  Reinterpretation of its Structural History

by
Mahmoud Hawari

  The Citadel of Jerusalem is one of the most significant landmarks in the topography of the city. It has played an extremely important role in the political and social life of the city. Although its structure spans nearly 2000 years, it is considered as an important monument to Islamic military architecture.

Most research devoted to the Citadel is concerned principally with its ancient biblical history. There has been some confusion among scholars over the precise dating of the various phases of the building work. As it stands today, the entire imposing structure of the Citadel and its perimeter, is essentially the restoration work of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in 1310. However, it incorporates substantial Ottoman additions, as well as earlier components, dating to the Hellenistic, Roman, early Islamic, Crusader, and Crusader/ Ayyubid periods.

The objective of my lecture is to introduce a re-interpretation of the structural history of the Citadel. The historical and archival research, as well as fieldwork has been vital to investigate the Citadel's structural development. The aim of my research was to produce a dated model for the development of the Citadel. This has been based on utilising the principle of archaeological strategraphy of the standing walls, methods of construction, types of masonry, and relating it to the historical evidence, in order to identify the various construction phases and alterations to the surviving monument.

At this stage of research some significant findings have been made:
The first early Islamic Citadel at the site should not be dated to the late seventh – early eighth century as thought by the excavators, based on the archaeological evidence. Rather, it was probably built in the second half of the 11th century by the Turcomans/ Saljuqs, who introduced the notion of citadels into the Near East.
The Crusader period marked an extensive expansion of the Citadel, of which the layout can be identified and some segments can be recognised in various parts of the building.
The outer curtain walls and towers of the Citadel, including various military architectural features, which though to belong to a "Mamluk uniform construction" should be re-evaluated. A close look at the architectural fabric reveals numerous phases, possibly Ayyubid or Crusader which should be examined and dated, an objective still to be achieved.