Hirbet er-Ram – A Newly Discovered Frankish Village North of Jerusalem (original) (raw)
Related papers
Minorities in Contact in the Medieval Mediterranean , 2020
In recent years, archaeological research has uncovered a vast network of sites identified as Frankish- or crusader-built, some of which were located far from the main fortified and urban centres associated with the Latin East. In terms of rural settlement, the current consensus suggests that the Franks inhabited regions with a predominantly Eastern Christian population. However, evidence attesting to the distribution of local Jewish or Muslim communities can be found in charters, chronicles, travel accounts, and other textual sources. This essay begins with an overview of evidence for Muslims living under Frankish rule in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, contextualized using a set of chronological markers that reflect changes in the political situation. An analysis of the collected archaeological and textual evidence follows, which demonstrates that pre‐crusade pilgrimage sites, agricultural land use, and strategic considerations all factored into decisions made by Franks on selecting settlement sites throughout the sixth century AH/twelfth century AD. These three factors arguably precluded segregation from the local non‐Christian population. Finally, this essay explores the possibility of mapping recorded encounters between Franks and local Muslims onto the demographic landscape. The conclusions reached in this synthesis provide new material for the debate on “Frankish society”. Book Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod\_id=IS-9782503587936-1 Map Link: https://brepols.figshare.com/articles/figure/Reassessment\_of\_Frankish\_Settlement\_Patterns\_-\_Maps/13227689 *I would like to add a note of gratitude to the late Professor Ronnie Ellenblum for his inspiring work and generosity in sharing his knowledge early on in my thought process.
Among the various settlements and buildings ascribed to the Crusader rule in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem a rather outstanding settlement type, mainly located in the hinterland of Jerusalem, can be found: the Frankish street settlement. Through comparison of those Frankish Street settlements to contemporary local (i.e. southern Levantine) and European dwellings this paper tries to reach beyond mere patterns of architectural adoption and rejection and to explore issues of social motivations, self-perceptions and social ranking of the rural Franks.
Although many excavations and extensive surveys were carried out in the vicinity of Jerusalem, very few systematic attempts were made to analyse the Iron Age city's hinterland in its entirety. The present article summarises some of the general results of a detailed study of the area around Jerusalem, identifies the territories of the city's 'daugh-ters' (satellite towns), and then focuses on two such units, in which settlement distribution was markedly different from other units: Moza and Ramat Raḥel. The article concludes that most of the territory around Jerusalem belonged to organically developed towns, the territories of which were densely dotted with villages and (mainly) farmsteads. Moza and Ramat Raḥel, however, functioned in the late Iron Age II (7th century BCE) as royal estates (perhaps even as a palatial estate in the latter case), responsible for both the production and storage of surplus.
In the Valley of the King: Jerusalem's Rural Hinterland in the 8th-4th Centuries BCE.
Tel-Aviv , 2015
The author proposes that an unprecedented growth in the number of rural settlements around Jerusalem took place during the 7th century BCE and not, as has been broadly maintained, in the 8th century BCE. It also shows that the decrease in the number of sites in the transition to the Persian period is less dramatic than has previously been claimed. The author asserts that the large number of 7th century BCE sites around Jerusalem is the result of the devastation of the Shephelah wrought by Sennacherib and that a relatively large number of Iron Age sites survived into the Persian period due to the role played by Ramat Rahel, which replaced Jerusalem as the economic and political hub of the southern highlands.
Cet article s'attache à définir les limites de la châtellenie du château de Safed durant la période des croisades. A l'intérieur de cette nouvelle entité, qui se pérennisera au delà de la période franque, il pose la question de la répartition confessionnelle des populations. Les particularités du spectre ethnique s'imposent comme l’élément fédérateur du territoire. Ainsi, au delà des objectifs stratégique qui ont prévalues à son implantation, ce château franc de terre sainte apparaît bien, à la lumière de cette étude, comme un outils structurant, gérant un territoire et ses populations.
Palestine exploration quarterly, 2004
A revival of an ultra-conservative thesis, supporting the reality of the 'empty land' biblical descriptions and the historicity of the 'Babylonian gap' in Judah, may be detected in recent research. The present paper claims that the major and most conspicuous archaeological phenomenon in Judah after the destruction of Jerusalem is the sharp decline in urban life, which is in contrast to the continuity of the rural settlements in the region of Benjamin and in the area between Bethlehem and Beth-Zur. These archaeological investigations demonstrate that a new pattern of settlement was created in Judah, in which the core settlements were destroyed or abandoned while, at the same time, the surrounding region continued to exist almost unchanged. The differences between the various regions of this small kingdom should be understood as the outcome of a planned Babylonian policy of using some of the rural highland areas as a source for agricultural products. The settlement in those areas became a place of specialized wine and oil production, and was used both for paying the taxes and supplying the basic products for the Babylonian administration and forces stationed in the area. A similar situation is detectable in the area south of Rabbath-Ammon, around Tell el 'Umeiri and Tell Hesbân, and perhaps also in the Baq'ah region, north of Rabbath-Ammon.