1.
Kerak Castle
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Kerak Castle is a large Crusader castle located in al-Karak, Jordan. It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant, construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagan and Fulk, King of Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or Karak in Moab, Pagan was also Lord of Oultrejordain and Kerak Castle became the centre of his power, replacing the weaker castle of Montreal to the south. Because of its position east of the Dead Sea, Kerak Castle was able to control bedouin herders as well as the routes from Damascus to Egypt. His successors, his nephew Maurice and Philip of Milly, added towers, the most notable Crusader architectural feature surviving is the north wall, into which are built immense arched halls on two levels. These were used for living quarters and stables, but also served as a gallery overlooking the castle approach. In 1176 Raynald of Châtillon gained possession of Kerak Castle after marrying Stephanie of Milly, from Kerak Castle, Raynald harassed the trade camel trains and even attempted an attack on Mecca itself. In 1183 Saladin besieged the castle in response to Raynalds attacks, the siege was eventually relieved by Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. After the Battle of Hattin in 1187, Saladin besieged Kerak Castle again, in 1263, the Mamluk Sultan, Baibars, enlarged and built a tower on the northwest corner. Kerak Castle was besieged again in 1834 by a leader of the peasants revolt in Palestine. In 1840, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt captured the castle and destroyed much of its fortifications, in 1844, his troops, who did not have control over the surrounding countryside, came under siege. They were eventually starved out and many were killed, during the Ottoman Empire, it played an important role due to its strategic location on the crossroads between the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt and Greater Syria. In 1893, the Ottoman authorities reestablished control over the area by appointing a resident in Kerak Castle with a garrison of 1400. Parts of the castle were reused, some of the destruction that had occurred to the structure was due to locals removing stones containing potassium nitrate, which is used to make gunpowder. Medieval historian Paul Deschamps studied Crusader castles in the 1920s, amongst the important research done by Deschamps, in 1929 he and architect Francois Anus created the first accurate plans of Kerak Castle. On December 18,2016, the castle was the site of a terrorist attack, ten people were killed and 34 were injured, the majority being Jordanian security forces and local civilians. A Canadian tourist was also killed, the castle extends over a southern spur of the plateau. It is an example of Crusader architecture, a mixture of west European, Byzantine
2.
Talkalakh District
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Talkalakh District is a district of the Homs Governorate in central Syria. Administrative centre is the city of Talkalakh, at the 2004 census, the district had a population of 129,429. The district of Talkalakh is divided into four sub-districts or nawāḥī, Talkalakh Nahiyah, population 62,069
3.
Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
4.
Concentric castle
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A concentric castle is a castle with two or more concentric curtain walls, such that the inner wall is higher than the outer and can be defended from it. The word concentric does not imply that these castles were circular, the layout was square where the terrain permitted, or an irregular polygon where curtain walls of a spur castle followed the contours of a hill. Concentric castles resemble one castle nested inside the other, thus creating an inner and outer ward and they are typically built without a central free-standing keep. Where the castle includes a strong tower, such as at Krak or Margat. The ancient city of Lachish, a place in Israel was excavated, the Byzantines also famously constructed the Walls of Constantinople which featured double layers of walls through most of its perimeter and a moat. The city of ancient Babylon also featured multiple layers of fortifications, however, the relationship of the concentric castle to other forms of fortification is complex. Perhaps the earliest example of a castle is the crusader castle of Belvoir. Historians have argued that the concentric defence arose as a response to advances in technology in the crusader states from the 12th to the 13th century. The outer wall protected the inner one from siege engines, while the inner wall, in addition, the strong towers may have served as platforms for trebuchets for shooting back at the besiegers. The walls typically include towers, arrow slits, and wall-head defenses such as crenellation and, in advanced cases, machicolations. The Krak des Chevaliers in Syria is the best preserved of the concentric crusader castles, by contrast, Château Pèlerin was not a concentric castle, as the side facing the sea did not require defensive walls. However, the two facing the land are built on the same defensive principles as other crusader castles in the same period. While a concentric castle has double walls and towers on all sides, there can still be a concentration of defences at a vulnerable point. At Krak des Chevaliers, this is the case at the southern side, in addition, the gate and posterns are typically strengthened using a bent entrance or flanking towers. Concentric castles were expensive to build, so only the powerful military orders. It has also pointed out that the concentric layout suited the requirements of military orders such as the Hospitallers in resembling a monastery. Such castles were beyond the means of feudal barons, thus concentric castles coexisted with simpler enclosure castles and tower keeps even in the crusader states. Some influence from crusader fortification has been conjectured, but the amount of transfer from the East
5.
Kurds
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The Kurds are culturally and linguistically closely related to the Iranian peoples and, as a result, are often themselves classified as an Iranian people. A recent Kurdish diaspora has also developed in Western countries, primarily in Germany, the Kurdish language refers collectively to the related dialects spoken by the Kurds. It is mainly spoken in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria. Kurdish holds official status in Iraq as a national language alongside Arabic, is recognized in Iran as a regional language, the Kurdish languages belong to the northwestern sub‑group of the Iranian languages, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. According to Mackenzie, there are few features that all Kurdish dialects have in common. And the fact that this reflects the sense of ethnic identity and unity of the Kurds. The number of Kurds living in Southwest Asia is estimated at close to 30 million, Kurds comprise anywhere from 18% to 20% of the population in Turkey, possibly as high as 25%,15 to 20% in Iraq, 10% in Iran, and 9% in Syria. Kurds form regional majorities in all four of these countries, viz. in Turkish Kurdistan, the Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in West Asia after the Arabs, Persians, and Turks. The total number of Kurds in 1991 was placed at 22.5 million, with 48% of this number living in Turkey, 18% in Iraq, 24% in Iran, and 4% in Syria. Recent emigration accounts for a population of close to 1.5 million in Western countries and this groups population was estimated at close to 0.4 million in 1990. The land of Karda is mentioned on a Sumerian clay-tablet dated to the 3rd millennium B. C. This land was inhabited by the people of Su who dwelt in the regions of Lake Van. Other Sumerian clay-tables referred the people, who lived in the land of Karda, as the Qarduchi and the Qurti. Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, the claimed Median descent is reflected in the words of the Kurdish national anthem, We are the children of the Medes and Kai Khosrow. The Kurdish languages form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian languages like Median, some researchers consider the independent Kardouchoi as the ancestors of the Kurds. The term Kurd, however, is first encountered in Arabic sources of the seventh century, the Kurds have ethnically diverse origins. During the Sassanid era, in Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan, after initially sustaining a heavy defeat, Ardashir I was successful in subjugating the Kurds. In a letter Ardashir I received from his foe, Ardavan V, the usage of the term Kurd during this time period most likely was a social term, designating Northwestern Iranian nomads, rather than a concrete ethnic group
6.
Mirdasid dynasty
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The Mirdasid dynasty was an Arab dynasty that controlled the Emirate of Aleppo more or less continuously from 1024 until 1080. The Mirdasids were members of the Banu Kilab, an Arab tribe that had been present in northern Syria for several centuries, like the other Arab tribes of the region, the Mirdasids were Shia Muslims. Such Arab tribes were susceptible to the propaganda of the Qarmatians, as a result, they were given to Shia sympathies. However, as a result of the expansion of the Seljuk Turks into the area they were constrained to convert to Sunni Islam under Rashid al-Dawla Mahmud. Unlike other Arab tribes of Syria that managed to establish their autonomy or independence in the late 10th/early 11th centuries, as a result, Aleppo prospered during their reign. The Mirdasids demonstrated a degree of tolerance to Christians, favoring Christian merchants in their territories. This policy, no doubt influenced by good relations with the Christian Byzantine Empire. The early history of the Mirdasid dynasty is characterized by constant pressure from both the Byzantines and the Fatimids of Egypt, by mixing diplomacy and military force, the Mirdasids were able to survive against these two powers. Militarily, the Mirdasids had the advantage of light Arab cavalry, the Mirdasids had resorted to recruiting Turkish mercenaries into their armies, although this caused its own problems, as the Turks began to acquire an increased role in the government. After the overthrow of the Hamdanids in 1004, Aleppo had been ruled by several princes nominally subordinate to the Fatimids and it was from these individuals that Salih ibn Mirdas took the town in 1024. When he died fighting the Fatimids five years later, his two sons Shibl al-Daula Nasr and Muizz al-Daula Thimal succeeded him, although Nasr quickly became sole amir, despite a victory over the Byzantines in 1030, in the next year he became a Byzantine vassal. Later he transferred his allegiance to the Fatimids, however, the Fatimid governor of Damascus, Anushtakin al-Dizbari, killed Nasr in battle and took Aleppo 1038. Nasrs brother Thimal managed to recover Aleppo in 1042 and eventually made peace with the Fatimids and he was a vassal of both the Byzantine Emperor and Fatimid Caliph. Troubles with the Kilab, however, caused him to give up Aleppo to the Fatimids in exchange for several coastal towns, the Kilab threw their support behind Thimals nephew Rashid al-Daula Mahmud, who took Aleppo in 1060. Thimal returned and in 1061 regained Aleppo from Mahmud, but died a year later, after Thimals death a succession dispute emerged between Mahmud and Thimals brother Atiyya ibn Salih, leading to a split in the Mirdasid domains. Mahmud controlled the western half, while Atiyya controlled the east, in order to gain an edge over Mahmud, Atiyya recruited a band of Turks, but they later defected to Mahmud, forcing Atiyya to give up Aleppo in 1065. The Turks began moving into northern Syria in greater numbers, forcing Mahmud to convert to Sunni Islam, mahmuds death in 1075, followed by that of his son and successor Jalal al-Daula Nasr in 1076, resulted in Nasrs brother Sabiq ibn Mahmud becoming amir. The Mirdasids maintained a level of influence in the region after the loss of Aleppo, Banu Amir Jarrahids Jarwanid dynasty Kalbids List of Shia Muslims dynasties Uqailids Usfurids The Shia Rulers of Banu Ammar, Banu Mardas and the Mazidi Bianquis, Thierry
7.
County of Tripoli
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The County of Tripoli was the last of the Crusader states. It was founded in the Levant in the region of Tripoli, northern Lebanon and parts of western Syria which supported an indigenous population of Christians, Druze. When the Crusaders, captured the region in 1109, Bertrand of Toulouse became the first Count of Tripoli as a vassal of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. From that time, rule of the county was decided not strictly by inheritance but by such as military force, favour. In 1289 the County of Tripoli fell to Sultan Qalawun of the Muslim Mamluks of Cairo, the county was absorbed into Mamluk Egypt. Raymond IV of Toulouse was one of the wealthiest and most powerful of the Prince Crusaders, even so, after the First Crusade, he had failed to secure any land holdings in the Near East. Meanwhile, the County of Edessa, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Tripoli was an important strategic goal as it linked the French in the south with the Normans in the north. It was a fertile and well populated area, in 1102, Raymond IV occupied Tortosa and in 1103, he prepared, together with veterans of the 1101 crusade, to take Tripoli. On a natural ridge, which he named Mons Peregrinus,3 kilometres from Tripoli, Raymond IV began the construction of a large castle, despite this new fortress and seasoned troops, Raymond IVs siege of Tripoli failed to secure the port. He died on 25 February 1105, Bertrand of Toulouse, who was supported by Baldwin I of Jerusalem, arrived in the Near East with a substantial army and a large Genoese fleet. In order to resolve the issue, Baldwin I created a partition treaty. It specified that William was to hold northern Tripoli and pay homage to Tancred while Bertrand was to hold south Tripoli as a vassal of Baldwin, under a united Christian onslaught, Tripoli fell on 12 July 1109, completing the Kingdom of Jerusalem. When William died of an arrow through the heart, Bertrand became the first Count of Tripoli, the extent of the County of Tripoli was determined in part by pre-existing Byzantine borders and in part by victory in battle, tempered by the demands of neighbouring crusader states. At its height, the county controlled the coastline from Maraclea in the north to Beirut in the south, inland, the countys control extended to the Krac des Chevaliers fortress. The rich inland agricultural land of the Homs Gap was known as La Bocquée, the county was divided into lordships, areas based roughly around its coastal ports. The Count of Tripoli himself held the port of Tripoli and its surrounds and he also controlled the hostile region of Montferrand, now modern-day Barin, Syria, lying to the east. Approximately one quarter of the land seized around Tripoli was given to the Genoese as payment for military aid, the Genoese admiral Guglielmo Embriaco was awarded the city of Jubail. Despite his contribution to its establishment, Baldwin I did not directly control the County of Tripoli, nevertheless, the County of Tripoli owed fealty and homage to him, and he, in return, provided support to the county in times of trouble
8.
Knights Hospitaller
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It was headquartered variously in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, until it became known by its current name. Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thoms order and it regained strength during the early 19th century as it redirected itself toward religious and humanitarian causes. In 1834, the order, by this time known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, acquired new headquarters in Rome, in 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1005, Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital, in 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno in Italy were given permission by the Caliph Ali az-Zahir of Egypt to rebuild the hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital, which was built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist and it was served by the Order of Saint Benedict. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem, under his successor, Raymond du Puy de Provence, the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Initially the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order extended to providing pilgrims with an armed escort. Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became military without losing its charitable character. Raymond du Puy, who succeeded Gerard as Master of the Hospital in 1118, organised a militia from the orders members, in 1130, Pope Innocent II gave the order its coat of arms, a silver cross in a field of red. The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land, frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185. The statutes of Roger de Moulins deal only with the service of the sick, the order numbered three distinct classes of membership, the military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service. In 1248 Pope Innocent IV approved a military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their armour, they wore a red surcoat with a cross emblazoned on it. Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars, at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers held seven great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The two largest of these, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch, were the Krak des Chevaliers, the property of the Order was divided into priories, subdivided into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanderies. As early as the late 12th century the order had begun to achieve recognition in the Kingdom of England, as a result, buildings such as St Johns Jerusalem and the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham, near Dublin, after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291, the Knights were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on 15 August 1310, after four years of campaigning
9.
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
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The Mamluk Sultanate was a medieval realm spanning Egypt, the Levant, and Hejaz. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, historians have traditionally broken the era of Mamlūk rule into two periods—one covering 1250–1382, the other, 1382–1517. Western historians call the former the Baḥrī period and the latter the Burjī due to the dominance of the regimes known by these names during the respective eras. Contemporary Muslim historians refer to the divisions as the Turkish. The Mamlūk state reached its height under Turkic rule with Arabic culture, the sultanates ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, soldiers of predominantly Cuman-Kipchaks, Circassian, Abkhazian, Oghuz Turks and Georgian slave origin. While Mamluks were purchased, their status was above ordinary slaves, Mamluks were considered to be true lords, with social status above citizens of Egypt. Though it declined towards the end of its existence, at its height the sultanate represented the zenith of medieval Egyptian and Levantine political, economic, the term Mamluk Sultanate is a modern historiographical term. The Arabic sources for the period of the Bahri Mamluks refer to the dynasty as the State/Realm of the Turks, other official names used were State of the Circassians. A variant thereof emphasized the fact that the Circassians were Turkish-speaking, the term Mongol State was used during Sultan al-Adil Kitbughas rule, who was of Mongol extraction. Dawlatāl Qalāwūn or Dawlat Banī Qalāwūn which means Qalāwūnī State/Dynasty which have ruled for hundred years between 1279 and 1382, al-dawla al-Ẓāhiriyya which meant Ẓāhirī state/dynasty which is the dynasty of Baibars and his two sons al-Said Barakah and Solamish. This dynasty have ruled consecutively for 19 years, Mamluk was a term defined as owned slave, distinguishing the mamluk from the garya and ghulam, which referred to household slaves. After thorough training in fields such as martial arts, court etiquette and Islamic sciences. However, they were expected to remain loyal to their master. Mamluks had formed a part of the state or military apparatus in Syria and Egypt since at least the 9th century, each Ayyubid sultan and high-ranking emir had a private mamluk corps. Most of the mamluks in the Ayyubids service were ethnic Kipchak Turks from Central Asia and they were highly committed to their masters, who they often referred to as father, and were in turn treated more as kinsmen than as slaves by their masters. These mamluks became known as the Salihiyyah, to provision his mamluks, as-Salih forcibly seized the iqtaʿat of his predecessors emirs. Despite his close relationship with his mamluks, tensions existed between as-Salih and the Salihiyyah, and a number of Salihi mamluks were imprisoned or exiled throughout as-Salihs reign. Tensions between as-Salih and his mamluks came to a later in 1249 when Louis IX of Frances forces captured Damietta in their bid to conquer Egypt during the Seventh Crusade
10.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
11.
Battle of Marj Dabiq
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The Battle of Marj Dābiq was a decisive military engagement in Middle Eastern history, fought on 24 August 1516, near the town of Dabiq,44 km north of Aleppo. The Ottoman victory in battle gave Selims armies control of the entire region of Syria. Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri spent the winter of 1515 and the spring of 1516 preparing an army he proposed leading to the confines of Asia Minor. On 18 May 1516 Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri set out from Cairo with a force, appointed well in all respects. Leaving Al-Ashraf Tuman bay II in control of Cairo, the sultan and his army marched north with great pomp, accompanied by music, singing, and festivity. The host included fifteen high ranking Emirs of a Thousand,5,000 of his own royal Mamluks, and militia conscripts, high officers of state, the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil III, sheikhs and courtiers, together with muezzins, physicians and musicians, followed in his train. Advancing slowly Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri entered Damascus on 9 June, with carpets spread in his pathway, after a few days stay, advancing at a leisurely pace, he was received at Homs and Hama with festivities, moving towards Aleppo. Meanwhile, another embassy arrived from the Ottoman camp which, under the pretense of peace, brought lavish presents to the Sultan, the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III and these gifts were accompanied by a request from Selim I for a supply of Egyptian sugar and confectionery. The envoy intimated that problems with the Shah of Persia Ismail I had forced him again to prepare for war, the chancellor Mughla Bey was sent back with counter-gifts, but by the time he reached the Ottoman camp, Selim I had thrown off his ruse of peace. The Ottomans scorned the embassy and sent the chancellor back with his head and beard shaved, at Aleppo, the Mamluk governor Khair Bey had secretly sided with the Porte. Though the governor of Damascus had disclosed this to the sultan, to veil his treachery, Khair Bey gave al-Ghawri a splendid reception, but the inhabitants were enraged against the Mamluks by their behavior in the city. It was at point that Mughla Bey made his miserable return, reporting that Selim. With this immediate threat thrust upon them, the emirs, qadis, al-Ghawri also distributed to gifts to his personal forces, which displeased the other Mamluks. The sultan, dissuaded by the emir Janberdi al-Ghazali, ignored a warning about Khair Beys disloyalty before taking to the field. The Mamluk army advanced and on 20 August 1516 made camp at the plain of Marj Dabiq, there, al-Ghawri and his men awaited the enemys approach on this plain, where the sultanates fate would soon be decided. According to the History of Egypt composed by Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Iyas, Sibay, the Governor of Damascus commanded the right flank, and Khair Bey, governor of Aleppo, took the left. The marshal Sûdûn Adjami was the first to enter combat, followed by Sibay and they rushed into battle and managed to kill several thousand Turkish soldiers in the first hours of fighting. This advantage forced the opposite Ottoman wing to begin a withdrawal, Selim considered retreat or requesting a truce
12.
Armistice of Mudros
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The Armistice of Mudros, concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities, at noon the next day, in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by the Ottoman Minister of Marine Affairs Rauf Bey, the Ottoman army including the Ottoman air force was demobilized, and all ports, railways, and other strategic points were made available for use by the Allies. In the Caucasus, the Ottomans had to retreat to within the borders between the Ottoman and the Russian Empires. The armistice was followed by the occupation of Constantinople and the subsequent partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, the Treaty of Sèvres which was signed in the aftermath of World War I was never ratified by the Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul. The Caucasus Campaign put the Ottomans at odds with their ally, Germany, the Ottomans wanted to establish its eastern borders The Ottoman armies advanced far into Caucasus, gathering supporters as far away as Tashkent, on the eastern side of the Caspian Sea. Additionally, with the Bolsheviks in power in Moscow, chaos spread in Persia, in contrast, in Syria, the Ottomans were steadily pushed back by British forces, culminating in the fall of Damascus in October 1918. Hopes were initially high for the Ottomans that their losses in Syria might be compensated with successes in the Caucasus, developments in Southeast Europe quashed the Ottoman governments hopes. The Macedonian Front, also known as the Salonika campaign, had been stable since 1916. In September 1918, the Allied forces mounted an offensive which proved quite successful. The Bulgarian army was defeated, and Bulgaria was forced to sue for peace in the Armistice of Salonica, Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha visited Berlin, Germany, and Sofia, Bulgaria in September 1918. He came away with the understanding that the war was no longer winnable, with Germany likely seeking a separate peace, the Ottomans would be forced to do so as well. Talaat convinced the members of the ruling party that they must resign. On October 13, Talaat and the rest of his ministry resigned, ahmed Izzet Pasha replaced Talaat as Grand Vizier. Two days after taking office, he sent the captured British General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend to the Allies to seek terms on an armistice, the British Cabinet received word of the offer and were eager to negotiate a deal. The British cabinet empowered Admiral Calthorpe to conduct the negotiations with an exclusion of the French from them. They also suggested an Armistice rather than a peace treaty, in the belief that a peace treaty would require the approval of all of the Allied nations. The negotiations began on Sunday, October 27 on the HMS Agamemnon, both sides did not know that the other was actually quite eager to sign a deal and willing to give up their objectives to do so. B. before speaking to America. He also thought it would attract attention to our enormous gains during the war if we swallowed our share of Turkey now
13.
Alawite State
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The Alawite State and named after the locally-dominant Alawite Shia sect, was a French mandate territory on the coast of present-day Syria after World War I. The French Mandate from the League of Nations lasted from 1920 to 1946, the use of Alawite instead of Nusayri was advocated by the French early in the Mandate period, and referred to a member of the Alawi religious sect. In 1920, the French-named Alawite Territory was home to a population of Alawi Muslims. The region is coastal and mountainous, home to a predominantly-rural, during the French Mandate period, the society was divided by religion and geography, the landowning families and 80 percent of the population of the port city of Latakia were Sunni Muslim. More than 90 percent of the population was rural, and 82 percent were Alawites. The Alawite State bordered Lebanon on the south, the border was with the Sanjak of Alexandretta. To the west was the Mediterranean, the eastern border with Syria ran roughly along the An-Nusayriyah Mountains and the Orontes River from north to south. The modern Latakia and Tartus Governorates roughly encompass the Alawite State, both have majority Alawite populations, parts of modern-day Al-Suqaylabiyah, Masyaf, Talkalakh and Jisr ash-Shugur Districts also belonged to the state. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I brought on a scramble for control of the empires provinces. As of 1918 France occupied Lebanon and Syria, which was under the leadership of the Amir, by 1920, growing anti-French sentiment in the region led to the establishment of the Arab Kingdom of Syria under King Faisal I on 7 March 1920. The Arab Kingdom of Syria was initially supported by the British, the British withdrew support, and on 5 May 1920 the Allied Supreme Council published a Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon to the French Republic with French and Arabic the official languages. General Gouraud was appointed commissioner of the Syrian territories and commander-in-chief of French forces. The population of Lebanon was pro-French, that of Syria was anti-French, at the time, the French rejected native outcry for the unification of Syria. In early September 1920, the French divided the territories of their mandate based on population to grant local autonomy to demographic regions. Some argue that the French acted to intentionally divide the population, the division intended to protect the Alawi people from more-powerful majorities. After the relative independence of Faisal Is rule, French colonialism was unwelcome, the divisions were thought to serve the interests of a Christian minority over a Muslim majority, favouring colonial rule and stifling dissent. Salih al-Ali led the Syrian Revolt of 1919 in the Alawi region east of the city of Latakia. Al-Ali was primarily interested in protecting Alawite regions from external meddling and his rebellions were not motivated by nationalist movement, however, they identified with it to further Alawite autonomy
14.
United Arab Republic
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The United Arab Republic, alternatively referred to, mostly in Israel in the 1960s-70s, as the United Arab Commonwealth was a short-lived political union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union after the 1961 Syrian coup détat, Egypt continued to be known officially as the United Arab Republic until 1971. The president was Gamal Abdel Nasser and it was a member of the United Arab States, a loose confederation with North Yemen which in 1961 dissolved along with the Republic. Pan-Arab sentiment traditionally was very strong in Syria, and Nasser was a popular hero-figure throughout the Arab world following the Suez War of 1956, there was thus considerable popular support in Syria for union with Nassers Egypt. The Arab Socialist Baath Party was the advocate of such a union. This caused the Syrian Crisis of 1957 after which Syrians intensified their efforts to unite with Egypt, according to Abdel Latif Boghdadi, Nasser initially resisted a total union with Syria, favoring instead a federal union. However, Nasser was more afraid of a Communist takeover and agreed on a total merger, Syria had had a democratic government since the overthrow of Adib al-Shishaklis military regime in 1954, and popular pressure for Arab unity was reflected in the composition of parliament. When on 11 January 1958 al-Bizri led a Syrian delegation composed of officers to Cairo. Nassers final terms for the union were decisive and non-negotiable, a plebiscite, the dissolution of parties, while the plebiscite seemed reasonable to most Syrian elites, the latter two conditions were extremely worrisome. They believed it would destroy life in Syria. Despite these concerns, the Syrian officials knew it was too late to turn back. The members of the elite in Syria viewed the merger with Egypt as the lesser of two evils. They believed that Nassers terms were unfair, but given the pressure that their government was undergoing. Egyptian and Syrian leaders signed the protocols, although Azem did so reluctantly, Nasser became the republics president and very soon carried out a crackdown against the Syrian Communists and opponents of the union which included dismissing Bizri and Azem from their posts. Advocates of the believed that Nasser would use the Baath Party for ruling Syria. Unfortunately for the Baathists, it was never Nassers intention to share a measure of power. Nasser gave each of the provinces two vice-presidents, assigning Boghdadi and Abdel Hakim Amer to Egypt and Sabri al-Assali and Akram El-Hourani—a leader of the Baath—to Syria, the new constitution of 1958 was adopted. Though Nasser allowed former Baath Party members to hold prominent political positions, during the winter and the spring of 1959–60, Nasser slowly squeezed prominent Syrians out of positions of influence. In the Syrian Ministry of Industry, for example, seven of the top thirteen positions were filled by Egyptians, in the General Petroleum Authority, four of the top six officials were Egyptian
15.
Syrian opposition
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The Syrian opposition evolved since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, from groups calling for regime change in Syria and who have opposed its Baathist government. The first opposition structures to form in the Syrian uprising were local protest-organizing committees and these formed in April 2011, as protesters graduated from spontaneous protests to protests organized by meetings beforehand. The core of the civil opposition is the youth, mainly from the working and middle-classes, in which women and diverse religious. Many of these activists remain non-affiliated to traditional political ideologies but are motivated by concerns for freedom, dignity, social justice, the Syrian uprising phase, from March 2011 until the start of August 2011, was characterized by a consensus for nonviolent struggle among the uprisings participants. Thus the conflict could not have been yet characterized as a civil war and this occurred beginning from 29 July 2011, allowing the conflict to meet the international political definition of civil war. The Syrian National Council was recognized or supported in some capacity by at least 17 member states of the United Nations, the Syrian National Council is considered to be influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood and include many affiliated members. The Islamic Front, a major anti-regime Islamist Sunni militia during the Syrian Civil War, is affiliated with the Syrian National Council, the Syrian National Coalition was subsequently given the seat of Syria in the Arab League, with Baathist Syria representative suspended. The Syrian National Council, initially a part of the Syrian National Coalition, despite tensions, the Syrian National Council retains a degree of ties with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. Syrian opposition groups held reconciliation talks in Astana, Kazakhstan in October 2015, the Baath Party seized power in Syria in 1963 after a coup détat. The head of state since 1971 has been a member of the al-Assad family, as the revolutionary wave commonly referred to as the Arab Spring began to take shape in early 2011, Syrian protesters began consolidating opposition councils. The Istanbul Meeting for Syria took place on 26 April 2011, the Antalya conference was succeeded by a Muslim Brotherhood-organized followup meeting two days later in Brussels, and another one in Paris that was addressed by Bernard Henri Levy. In December 2015, the Syrian opposition convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and it formed on 11 November 2012 at a conference of opposition groups and individuals held in Doha, Qatar. Riad Seif and Suheir Atassi, both of whom had also protested on the street in Syria early in the uprising, were elected as vice presidents, mustafa Sabbagh is the coalitions secretary-general. Abdul-Ahad Astepho is a member of the SNC, initially, the council denied seeking to play the role of a government in exile, but this changed a few months later when violence in Syria intensified. The Syrian National Council seeks the end of Bashar al-Assads rule, the SNC National Charter lists human rights, judicial independence, press freedom, democracy and political pluralism as its guiding principles. The Council withdrew from the Coalition on 20 January 2014 in protest at the decision of the coalition to attend the Geneva talks, however the Council still sends representatives to the Coalition. Notable members of the Council, Syrian Democratic Peoples Party, A socialist party which played a key role in the creation of the SNC, the partys leader George Sabra is the official spokesman of the SNC, and also ran for chairman. Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution, Syrian opposition group supporting the overthrow of Bashar al-Assads government and it grants local opposition groups representation in its national organization
16.
Syrian Civil War
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The Syrian Civil War is an armed conflict taking place in Syria. Syrian opposition groups formed the Free Syrian Army and seized control of the area surrounding Aleppo, over time, some factions of the Syrian opposition split from their original moderate position to pursue an Islamist vision for Syria, joining groups such as al-Nusra Front and ISIL. In 2015, the Yekîneyên Parastina Gel joined forces with Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Russia and Hezbollah militarily engaged in support of the Syrian government, while beginning in 2014, a coalition of NATO countries began launching airstrikes against ISIL. International organizations have accused the Syrian government, ISIL, and some groups of severe human rights violations. The conflict has caused a major refugee crisis, over the course of the war a number of peace initiatives have been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations, but fighting continues. Syria became an independent republic in 1946, although democratic rule ended with a coup in March 1949, a popular uprising against military rule in 1954 saw the army transfer power to civilians. From 1958 to 1961, a union with Egypt replaced Syrias parliamentary system with a highly centralized presidential government. The secular Baath Syrian Regional Branch government came to power through a successful coup détat in 1963, for the next several years Syria went through additional coups and changes in leadership. In March 1971, Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, declared himself President, on 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, which led to a national crisis. They labeled Assad the enemy of Allah and called for a jihad against his rule, the government survived a series of armed revolts by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. Upon Hafez al-Assads death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad was elected as President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma, a Sunni Muslim born and educated in Britain, initially inspired hopes for democratic reforms. The Damascus Spring, a period of social and political debate, the Damascus Spring largely ended in August 2001 with the arrest and imprisonment of ten leading activists who had called for democratic elections and a campaign of civil disobedience. In the opinion of his critics, Bashar al-Assad had failed to deliver on promised reforms, Syrian Arabs, together with some 600,000 Palestinian Arabs, make up roughly 74 percent of the population. Syria Muslims are 74 percent Sunnis, and 13 percent Shias,3 percent were Druze, not all of the Sunnis are Arabs. Bashar is married to a Sunni, with whom he has several children and he is affiliated with the sect that his parents belong to, the minority Alawite sect which comprises an estimated 8-12 percent of the total population. Assyrians, an indigenous Eastern Aramaic-speaking Christian Semitic people, numbering approximately 500,000, are mainly in northeast Syria. A larger population lives over the border in northern Iraq, other ethnic groups include Armenians, Circassians, Turkmens, Greeks, Mhallami, Kawliya, Yezidi, Shabaks, and Mandeans. Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly after free market policies were initiated by Hafez al-Assad in his later years, the country also faced particularly high youth unemployment rates
17.
Shibl al-Dawla Nasr
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Abu Kamil Nasr ibn Salih ibn Mirdas, also known by his laqab of Shibl al-Dawla, was the second Mirdasid emir of Aleppo, ruling between 1029/30 until his death. He was the eldest son of Salih ibn Mirdas, founder of the Mirdasid dynasty, Nasr fought alongside his father in the battle of al-Uqhuwanah, where Salih was killed by a Fatimid army. Afterward, Nasr ruled the emirate jointly with his brother Thimal, the young emirs soon faced a large scale Byzantine offensive led by Emperor Romanos III. Commanding a much smaller force of Bedouin horsemen, Nasr routed the Byzantines at the Battle of Azaz, following his victory, he ousted Thimal from Aleppo and entered into Byzantine vassalage, while attempting to maintain ties with the Fatimids. He nominally recognized Fatimid suzerainty in 1037 and was given control of Hims. Thimal succeeded Nasr, but Aleppo fell to al-Dizbari weeks later, Mirdasid rule was restored and continued with some interruption until 1080. Nasr renovated the Aleppo Citadel and made it his seat of power, under the direction of his local Christian vizier, Aleppo was expanded and urbanized to accommodate an influx of Muslims from the countryside. Nasrs rule was limited to the northern Syrian portion of the emirate, though relations with his Banu Kilab tribe were strained at times, Nasr secured strong ties with the Banu Numayr by marrying the Numayri princess al-Sayyida Alawiyya. With her, he had his only son, Mahmud. Nasr was the eldest son of Salih ibn Mirdas, the emir of the Banu Kilab tribe. By 1025, Salihs Aleppo-based Mirdasid emirate covered much of northern Syria, western Upper Mesopotamia, though he ruled independently, Salih nominally recognized Fatimid suzerainty over his emirate. However, in 1029, he supported his ally, Hassan ibn Mufarrij, Nasr fought alongside his father, but escaped al-Uqhuwanah and returned to Aleppo, where his younger brother, Thimal, had been left to administer affairs in his fathers absence. It is evidenced by the two surviving coins minted during Salihs reign that Thimal had been designated as Salihs walī al-ʿahd as late as 1028/29, the year before Salihs death. However, in the aftermath of al-Uqhuwanah, Nasr and Thimal apparently ruled Aleppo jointly, with Nasr based in the city and Thimal in the citadel. In the aftermath of their defeat at al-Uqhuwanah, the Mirdasids lost Sidon, Baalbek, Hims, Hisn Ibn Akkar and Rafaniyya, and concentrated their forces in Jund Qinnasrin and western Diyar Mudar. Spondyles sent an expedition against Aleppo, however, Nasr and Thimal, leading their Kilabi tribesmen, ambushed and routed the Byzantine force at Qaybar in July 1029. Romanos III arrived at Antioch with a 20, 000-strong army, composed mostly of mercenaries, on 20 July 1030, and sent a messenger to Nasr and Thimal demanding they cede Aleppo to him. Nasr rejected the demand, detained the envoy and sent his own mission, led by his cousin Muqallid ibn Kamil
18.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
19.
Crusades
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The First Crusade arose after a call to arms in a 1095 sermon by Pope Urban II. Urban urged military support for the Byzantine Empire and its Emperor, Alexios I, the response to Urbans preaching by people of many different classes across Western Europe established the precedent for later Crusades. Volunteers became Crusaders by taking a vow and receiving plenary indulgences from the church. Some were hoping for apotheosis at Jerusalem, or forgiveness from God for all their sins, others participated to satisfy feudal obligations, gain glory and honour, or find opportunities for economic and political gain. Many modern Historians have polarised opinions of the Crusaders behaviour under Papal sanction, to some it was incongruous with the stated aims and implied moral authority of the papacy and the Crusades, to the extent that on occasions that the Pope excommunicated Crusaders. Crusaders often pillaged as they travelled, while their leaders retained control of captured territory rather than returning it to the Byzantines. During the Peoples Crusade thousands of Jews were murdered in what is now called the Rhineland massacres, Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade rendering the reunification of Christendom impossible. These tales consequently galvanised medieval romance, philosophy and literature, but the Crusades also reinforced the connection between Western Christendom, feudalism, and militarism. Crusade is not a term, instead the terms iter for journey or peregrinatio for pilgrimage were used. Not until the word crucesignatus for one who was signed with the cross was adopted at the close of the century was specific terminology developed. The Middle English equivalents were derived from old French, croiserie in the 13th–15th centuries, croisade appeared in English c1575, and continued to be the leading form till c1760. By convention historians adopt the term for the Christian holy wars from 1095, the Crusades in the Holy Land are traditionally counted as nine distinct campaigns, numbered from the First Crusade of 1095–99 to the Ninth Crusade of 1271/2. Usage of the term Crusade may differ depending on the author, pluralists use the term Crusade of any campaign explicitly sanctioned by the reigning Pope. This reflects the view of the Roman Catholic Church that every military campaign given Papal sanction is equally valid as a Crusade, regardless of its cause, justification, generalists see Crusades as any and all holy wars connected with the Latin Church and fought in defence of their faith. Popularists limit the Crusades to only those that were characterised by popular groundswells of religious fervour – that is, only the First Crusade, Medieval Muslim historiographers such as Ali ibn al-Athir refer to the Crusades as the Frankish Wars. The term used in modern Arabic, ḥamalāt ṣalībiyya حملات صليبية, campaigns of the cross, is a loan translation of the term Crusade as used in Western historiography. The Islamic prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, the resulting unified polity in the seventh and eighth centuries led to a rapid expansion of Arab power. This influence stretched from the northwest Indian subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, tolerance, trade, and political relationships between the Arabs and the Christian states of Europe waxed and waned
20.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
21.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
22.
Raymond II, Count of Tripoli
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Raymond II of Tripoli was Count of Tripoli from 1137 to 1152. He was the son of Pons of Tripoli and Cecile of France, in 1137, he married Hodierna of Rethel, daughter of Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem. Later that year, he succeeded his father, after Pons was killed in a battle with the army of Damascus, Raymond was present at the battle, and considered the Syrian Christians of Tripoli responsible for the treachery which led to his fathers defeat and death. Later that year, Zengi, the atabeg of Aleppo and Mosul, Raymond called for help from King Fulk of Jerusalem, but Zengi defeated them in a pitched battle outside the castle, and Raymond was taken prisoner. Those besieged in Barin did not know of these movements but readily agreed to hand over the castle to Zengi in exchange for the release of Raymond and an end to the siege. The Hospitallers were virtually independent in the county and were responsible for the protection of Tripolis borders, which were often raided by Damascus. Raymond was a great-grandson of Raymond IV of Toulouse, one of the leaders of the First Crusade who had claimed the County of Tripoli before Tripoli had even been captured, however, Raymond II was descended from him through Bertrand of Toulouse, an illegitimate son. When Raymond IVs legitimate son Alfonso-Jordan arrived during the Second Crusade in 1147, Alfonso-Jordan died suddenly on the way to Jerusalem, and it was immediately suspected that he was poisoned, possibly by Queen Melisende of Jerusalem on behalf of her sister, Raymonds wife Hodierna. This charge was never proven, but Raymond refused to offer any assistance to the crusade, which ended in failure. Afterwards, Alfonso-Jordans son captured the castle of Araima in Tripoli, and Raymond sought help from Zengis son and heir Nur ad-Din, as well as Muin ad-Din Unur and they captured Araima, returned it to Raymond, and took Betrand and his family prisoner. Raymond often quarrelled with his wife, Hodierna was very independent, but Raymond was a jealous husband and kept her in seclusion. There were also rumours that their daughter Melisende was fathered by a different man, Hodiernas sister Melisende of Jerusalem, namesake of her daughter, was invited to mediate in 1152. Raymond and Hodierna were reconciled, but Melisende thought it would be best if Hodierna return to Jerusalem with her for a short time. Raymond rode out with them for a distance, and on his way back to Tripoli, he was killed by the Hashshashin at the gates to the city. He was the first non-Muslim to be killed by the Hashshashin, Hodierna immediately returned to assume the regency of the county for her son Raymond III, who was still a child. Raymond and Hodiernas daughter Melisende was later a candidate to marry Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, Melisende was even referred to as the future empress, but the emperor, perhaps hearing of her supposed illegitimacy, instead chose Maria of Antioch. Raymonds son and Melisendes brother Raymond III felt personally slighted by this, steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans
23.
Castle
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A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Usage of the term has varied over time and has applied to structures as diverse as hill forts. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with different features, although some, such as curtain walls. A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures served as centres of administration. Many castles were built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire, many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape, while castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic architecture. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning fortified place. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, the word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a fortified residence. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for service and the expectation of loyalty. Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, as well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory
24.
Earthquake
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An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earths lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in size from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt to those violent enough to people around. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type, Earthquakes are measured using measurements from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe and these two scales are numerically similar over their range of validity. Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause damage over larger areas. The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly over 9, intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an earthquake, the damage to structures it causes. At the Earths surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground, when the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity, in its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event — whether natural or caused by humans — that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts. An earthquakes point of rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter, tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the surface that increase the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to a form of stick-slip behavior, once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the portion of the fault. This energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves, frictional heating of the fault surface and this process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as the elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of a total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat generated by friction
25.
Crusader states
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The name also refers to other territorial gains made by medieval Christendom against Muslim and pagan adversaries. The Crusader States in the Levant were the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli, the Eastern Romans, or Byzantines, partially recovered lost territory on numerous occasions but over time gradually lost all but Anatolia and parts of Thrace and the Balkans. In the West, the Roman Catholic kingdoms of northern Iberia launched a series of known as the Reconquista to reconquer the peninsula from the Arabized Berbers known as Moors. The conquered Iberian principalities are not customarily called Crusader states, except for the Kingdom of Valencia, professor Barber indicates that, in the Crusader State of the Kingdom of Jerusalem the Holy Sepulchre was added to in the 7th century and rebuilt in 1022, after a previous collapse. The situation represented an existential threat for the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire. The Emperor sent a plea to the Pope in Rome to send military aid with the goal of restoring the formerly Christian territories to Christian rule, the result was a series of western European military campaigns into the eastern Mediterranean, known as the Crusades. The first four Crusader states were created in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade, The first Crusader state, the Principality of Antioch, founded in 1098, lasted until 1268. The Kingdom of Jerusalem, founded in 1099, lasted until 1291, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia had its origins before the Crusades, but was granted the status of a kingdom by Pope Innocent III, and later became fully westernized by the Lusignan dynasty. During the Third Crusade, the Crusaders founded the Kingdom of Cyprus, Richard I of England conquered Cyprus on his way to Holy Land. The Templars promptly returned the island to Richard who resold it to the displaced King of Jerusalem Guy of Lusignan in 1192. For much of its history under the Lusignan Kings, Cyprus was a prosperous Medieval Kingdom, the Kingdoms decline began when it became embroiled in the dispute between the Italian Merchant Republics of Genoa and Venice. Indeed, the Kingdoms decline can be traced to a war with Genoa in 1373–74 which ended with the Genoese occupying the principal port City of Famagusta. Eventually with the help of Venice, the Kingdom recovered Famagusta but by then it was too late and in any event, venetian rule over Cyprus lasted for just over 80 years until 1571, when the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Selim II Sarkhosh invaded and captured the entire island. These states faced the attacks of the Byzantine Greek successor states of Nicaea and Epirus, thessalonica and the Latin Empire were reconquered by the Byzantine Greeks by 1261. Descendants of the Crusaders continued to rule in Athens and the Peloponnesus until the 15th century when the area was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The military order of the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John established itself on Rhodes in 1310, with influx of new blood. The island of Kastellorizo was taken by the Knights of St, other neighbouring territories temporarily under the order were, the cities of Smyrna, Attaleia, the city of Salona and the islands of Ikaria and Kos, all now in Greece. The coins minted in Jerusalem during the 12th century show patriarchal crosses with various modifications, coins minted under Henry I show a cross with four dots in the four quarters, but the Jerusalem cross proper appears only on a coin minted under John II
26.
First Crusade
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The First Crusade was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to capture the Holy Land, called by Pope Urban II in 1095. An additional goal became the principal objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. During the crusades, nobility, knights, peasants and serfs from many regions of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea, first to Constantinople and then on towards Jerusalem. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, launched an assault on the city and they also established the crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. The First Crusade was followed by the Second to the Ninth Crusades and it was also the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The majority view is that it had elements of both in its nature, the origin of the Crusades in general, and particularly that of the First Crusade, is widely debated among historians. The confusion is due to the numerous armies in the first crusade. The similar ideologies held the armies to similar goals, but the connections were rarely strong, the Umayyad Caliphate had conquered Syria, Egypt, and North Africa from the predominantly Christian Byzantine Empire, and Hispania from the Visigothic Kingdom. In North Africa, the Umayyad empire eventually collapsed and a number of smaller Muslim kingdoms emerged, such as the Aghlabids, who attacked Italy in the 9th century. Pisa, Genoa, and the Principality of Catalonia began to battle various Muslim kingdoms for control of the Mediterranean Basin, exemplified by the Mahdia campaign and battles at Majorca and Sardinia. Essentially, between the years 1096 and 1101 the Byzantine Greeks experienced the crusade as it arrived at Constantinople in three separate waves, in the early summer of 1096, the first large unruly group arrived on the outskirts of Constantinople. This wave was reported to be undisciplined and ill-equipped as an army and this first group is often called the Peasants’ or People’s Crusade. It was led by Peter the Hermit and Walter Sans Avoir and had no knowledge of or respect for the wishes of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The second wave was not under the command of the Emperor and was made up of a number of armies with their own commanders. Together, this group and the first wave numbered an estimated 60,000, the second wave was led by Hugh I, Count of Vermandois, the brother of King Philip I of France. Also among the wave were Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse. It was this wave of crusaders which later passed through Asia Minor, captured Antioch in 1098 and finally took Jerusalem 15 July 1099. ”The third wave, composed of contingents from Lombardy, France. At the western edge of Europe and of Islamic expansion, the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula was well underway by the 11th century and it was intermittently ideological, as evidenced by the Codex Vigilanus compiled in 881
27.
Tribute
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A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conquered or otherwise threatened to conquer, in case of alliances, lesser parties may pay tribute to more powerful parties as a sign of allegiance and often in order to finance projects that benefited both parties. Payments by a political entity to an inferior one, made for various purposes, are described by terms including subsidy. However failure to keep up the payments had dire consequences, the reliefs at Persepolis show processions of figures bearing varied types of tribute. The medieval Mongol rulers of Russia likewise only expected tribute from the Russian states, athens received tribute from the other cities of the Delian League. The empires of Assyria, Babylon, Carthage and Rome exacted tribute from their provinces, ancient China received tribute from various states such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Central Asia. The Aztec Empire is another example, the Roman republic exacted tribute in the form of payments equivalent to proportional property taxes, for the purpose of waging war. Tribute empires contrast with those like the Roman Empire, which more closely controlled and garrisoned subject territories, a tributary state is one that preserves its political position and such independence as it has only by paying tribute. In ancient China, the system provided an administrative means to control their interests. It was a part of the Confucian philosophy, seen by the Chinese as equivalent to younger sons looking after older parents by devoting part of their wealth. Political marriages have existed between the Chinese empire and tribute states, such as Songtsen Gampo and Wencheng, China often received tribute from the states under the influence of Confucian civilization and gave them Chinese products and recognition of their authority and sovereignty in return. This tributary system and relationship are well known as Jimi or Cefeng, in Japanese, the tributary system and relationship is referred to as Shinkou, Sakuhou and Choukou. According to the Chinese Book of Han, the tribes of Japan had already entered into tributary relationships with China by the first century. However, Japan ceased to present tribute to China and left the system during the Heian period without damaging economic ties. Although Japan eventually returned to the system during the Muromachi period in the reign of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. According to the Korean historical document Samguk Sagi, Goguryeo sent a representative to the Han Dynasty in 32 AD. The tributary relationship between China and Korea was established during the Three Kingdoms of Korea and this continued until Chinas defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. This Chinese tributary system produced Tributary state/ of Korea and neighboring countries, China is considered as a suzerain
28.
Mamluk
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Mamluk is an Arabic designation for slaves. The term is most commonly used to refer to Muslim slave soldiers and these were mostly enslaved Turkic peoples, Egyptian Copts, Circassians, Abkhazians, and Georgians. Many Mamluks were also of Balkan origin, over time, the mamluks became a powerful military knightly caste in various societies that were controlled by Muslim rulers. Particularly in Egypt, but also in the Levant, Mesopotamia, in some cases, they attained the rank of sultan, while in others they held regional power as emirs or beys. Most notably, mamluk factions seized the sultanate centered on Egypt and Syria, the Mamluk Sultanate famously defeated the Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ain Jalut. They had earlier fought the western European Christian Crusaders in 1154-1169 and 1213-1221, effectively driving them out of Egypt, in 1302 the mamluks formally expelled the last Crusaders from the Levant, ending the era of the Crusades. While mamluks were purchased as property, their status was above ordinary slaves, in a sense they were like enslaved mercenaries. In the Middle Ages, the Mamlukes took up the practice of furusiyya chivalry although Mamluk knights were slaves until their service ended, the Arabic term for a knight was fāris, The faris and the notion of furusiyya originated in pre-Muslim Persian brotherhoods. Within the Muslim world, the fursān became prized as ideal warriors and they were also trained in wrestling, and their martial skills were honed first on foot as piéton and then perfected when as mounted warriors. They were popularly used as heavy knightly cavalry by a number of different Islamic kingdoms and empires, including the Ayyubid dynasty, the origins of the mamluk system are disputed. Historians agree that a military caste such as the mamluks appeared to develop in Islamic societies beginning with the ninth-century Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad. When in the century has not been determined. Up until the 1990s, it was believed that the earliest mamluks were known as ghilman and were bought by the Abbasid caliphs. By the end of the 9th century, such warrior slaves had become the dominant element in the military, conflict between these ghilman and the population of Baghdad prompted the caliph al-Mutasim to move his capital to the city of Samarra, but this did not succeed in calming tensions. The caliph al-Mutawakkil was assassinated by some of these slave-soldiers in 861, adult slaves and freemen both served as warriros. The mamluk system developed later, after the return of the caliphate to Baghdad in the 870s and it included the systematic training of young slaves in military and martial skills. The Mamluk system is considered to have been an experiment of al-Muwaffaq. This recent interpretation seems to have been accepted, after the fragmentation of the Abbasid Empire, military slaves, known as either mamluks or ghilman, were used throughout the Islamic world as the basis of military power
29.
Baibars
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Baibars or Baybars, of Turkic Kipchak origin — nicknamed Abu al-Futuh and Abu l-Futuhat — was the fourth Sultan of Egypt in the Mamluk Bahri dynasty. He was one of the commanders of the Egyptian forces that inflicted a defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France. He also led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, the reign of Baibars marked the start of an age of Mamluk dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean and solidified the durability of their military system. As Sultan, Baibars also engaged in a combination of diplomacy and military action and his name was derived from Kipchak Turkic bay + bars. Baibars was born in the Dasht-i Kipchak/Cumania, between the Edil and Yaiyk rivers, to the Cumans-Kipchaks and it was said that he was captured by the Bulgars in the Kipchak steppe/Cumania and sold as a slave, ending up in Syria. Baibars was quickly sold to a Mamluk officer called Aydekin al bondouqdar and sent to Egypt, Baibars was a commander of the Mamluks under the Ayyubids. In around 1250 he defeated the Seventh Crusade of Louis IX of France and they were besieged from all directions by the Egyptian forces and the town population, and suffered heavy losses. Robert of Artois, who took refuge in a house, only five Templar Knights escaped alive. Baibars was still a commander under Sultan Qutuz at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, after the battle, Sultan Qutuz was assassinated while on a hunting expedition. Baibars succeeded Qutuz as Sultan of Egypt, also, the threat from the Mongols was still serious enough to be considered as a threat to Baibars authority. However, Baibars first chose to deal with Sinjar, and marched on Damascus, at the same time the princes of Hama and Homs proved able to defeat the Mongols in the First Battle of Homs, which lifted the Mongol threat for a while. After suppressing the revolt of Sinjar, Baibars then managed to deal with the Ayyubids, unfortunately, al-Mustansir II was killed by the Mongols during an ill-advised expedition to recapture Baghdad from the Mongols later in the same year. Like his unfortunate predecessor, al-Hakim I also received the oath of alliegance of Baibars. As sultan, Baibars engaged in a struggle against the Crusader kingdoms in Syria. He started with the Principality of Antioch, which had become a state of the Mongols and had participated in attacks against Islamic targets in Damascus. In 1263, Baibars laid siege to Acre, the capital of the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and he used siege engines to defeat the Crusaders in battles such as the Fall of Arsuf from March 21 to April 30. After breaking into the town he offered free passage to the defending Knights Hospitallers if they surrendered their formidable citadel, the Knights accepted Baibars offer but were enslaved anyway. Baibars razed the castle to the ground and he next attacked Athlith and Haifa, where he captured both towns after destroying the crusaders resistance, and razed the citadels
30.
Al-Husn, Syria
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Al-Husn is a large village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located west of Homs and north of the border with Lebanon. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Husn had a population of 8,980 in the 2004 census and it is largest village in the al-Huwash nahiyah, which consisted of 19 localities with a collective population of 24,684 in 2004. The building itself used to be inhabited until its residents were evacuated by the French authorities who wanted to excavate the site, however, those who were dispersed built their homes outside the fortress and later benefited financially from the tourism it generated. The village has developed with little civic planning, which has resulted in urban sprawl surrounding the fortress. A restaurant called Al-Kalaa Restaurant that is popular with tourists is located on a hill in the village, in 2014 it was the site of a battle of the Syrian Civil War
31.
Homs
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Homs, previously known as Emesa, is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is 501 metres above sea level and is located 162 kilometres north of Damascus, located on the Orontes River, Homs is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast. Its population reflects Syrias general religious diversity, composed of Sunni and Alawite, there are a number of historic mosques and churches in the city, and it is close to the Krak des Chevaliers castle, a world heritage site. Homs did not emerge into the record until the 1st century BCE at the time of the Seleucids. It later became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Emesani dynasty who gave the city its name, originally a center of worship for the sun god El-Gabal, it later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines. Homs was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century and made capital of a district that bore its current name, throughout the Islamic era, Muslim dynasties contending for control of Syria sought after Homs due to the citys strategic position in the area. Homs began to decline under the Ottomans and only in the 19th century did the city regain its importance when its cotton industry boomed. During French Mandate rule, the city became a center of insurrection and, after independence in 1946, in the ongoing Syrian civil war, Homs became an opposition stronghold and the Syrian government launched a military assault against the city in May 2011. The following Siege of Homs left much of the city completely destroyed, the war in the city ended in 2015 when rebels evacuated the city, resulting in a government victory. The origin of the modern name is that it is an Arabic form of the citys Latin name Emesus. The name Emesa seems to derive from the nomadic Arab tribe, called Emesenoi by the Greeks and the Romans, Emesa was shortened to Homs or Hims by its Arab inhabitants, many of whom settled there prior to the Muslim conquest of Syria. This name has been preserved throughout the period of Islamic rule continuing to the present day and it was known as la Chamelle by the Crusaders, although they never ruled the city. For approximately 2,000 years, Homs has served as a key market, production site. It has also provided security services to the hinterland of Syria, excavations at the Citadel of Homs indicate that the earliest settlement at the site dates back to around 2300 BCE. Biblical scholars have identified the city with Zobah mentioned in the Bible, in 1274 BCE, a battle took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River near Homs. It was possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5, at this time, Greek philosopher Strabo spoke of a tent-dwelling tribe called the Emesani living in the area around the Orontes and south of the Apamea region. They were an Arab tribe in the area and settled in Emesa—which derived its name from them. Their chief at the time, Sampsiceramus I, gained the status as King of Emesa, but their capital was at Arethusa, a city north of Emesa, also along the Orontes River
32.
Lebanon
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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent, the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, in the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion, however, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918, following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L, the name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
33.
Homs Governorate
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Homs Governorate is one of the fourteen muhafazat of Syria. It is situated in central Syria and its area differs in various sources, from 40,940 km2 to 42,223 km2. It is thus geographically the largest governorate of Syria, Homs Governorate has a population of 1,763,000. The Homs governorate is divided into 6 administrative districts, Homs is the capital city of the district of Homs. A Homs Governorate also formed part of Ottoman Syria, when it was known as the Sanjak of Homs. The governorate is divided into 7 districts, Homs Al-Mukharram Al-Rastan Al-Qusayr Tadmur Taldou Talkalakh The districts are divided into 25 sub-districts. In the Al-Mukharram District lives predomently Alawites, the Taldou District, Talkalakh District, Homs District and Al-Qusayr District have a mixed Alawites, Sunni Muslims and Christians population. In the Al-Qusayr District lives also many Shia Muslims, Homs offensive ehoms The First Complete website for Homs news and services
34.
Citadel of Salah Ed-Din
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The Citadel of Salah Ed-Din, also known as Sahyun or Saladin Castle, is a medieval castle in northwestern Syria. In 975 the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes captured the site, early in the 12th century the Franks assumed control of the site and it was part of the newly formed Crusader state of the Principality of Antioch. The Crusaders undertook a building programme, giving the castle much of its current appearance. In 1188 it fell to the forces of Saladin after a three-day siege, the castle was again besieged in 1287, this time both defender and belligerent were Mamluks. In 2006, the castles of Qalat Salah El-Din and Krak des Chevaliers was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the site is owned by the Syrian government. The castle is situated in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, located roughly 25 kilometers northeast of Latakia, the castle is close to the town of al-Haffah. The traditional name of the site is Ṣahyūn, the Arabic equivalent of Zion and this, according to historian Hugh N. Kennedy, is why it has now been given the more politically correct title of Qalʿat Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, meaning Saladins Castle. The Byzantines referred to it as Sigon and their Frankish successors called it Saône, the site has been fortified since at least the mid-10th century, and its first known occupant was a dependent of the Aleppo-based Hamdanid emir, Sayf al-Dawla. It was part of the Principality of Antioch, one of the four Crusader states established after the First Crusade, the lords of Sahyun were among the most powerful in Antioch. The first lord of Sahyun was probably Robert the Leper, who is recorded in control of it since at least 1119, Sahyun remained in his family until 1188. It was most likely Robert or his son, William, who built the Crusader castle around the previous Byzantine fortifications, most of what is evident today was built at this time. The fortress was notable as being one of the few which were not entrusted to the military orders of the Hospitaller. On 27 July 1188 the Ayyubid sultan Saladin and his son, az-Zahir Ghazi, arrived at Sahyun with an army, stones weighing between 50 and 300 kilograms hurled at the castle for two days, causing significant damage. On 29 July, the order to attack was given, Az-Zahir assaulted the castle town adjoining the castles west, and the inhabitants sought refuge in the castle. The castle and town were supposed to be separated by a ditch, exploiting this, Az-Zahir successfully stormed the castle walls. The inner courtyard was overrun and the garrison retreated to the donjon or keep, before the day ended they agreed terms with their attackers and were allowed to ransom themselves. Though Sahyun was a castle, it fell in just three days. Kennedy speculates that, despite being well-provisioned, the fortress may have surrendered been because its garrison was not large enough or possessed siege engines, Saladin granted Sahyun and Bourzey to one of his emirs, Mankawar
35.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
36.
Artillery
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Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
37.
Franks
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Some Franks raided Roman territory, while other Frankish tribes joined the Roman troops of Gaul. In later times, Franks became the rulers of the northern part of Roman Gaul. The Salian Franks lived on Roman-held soil between the Rhine, Scheldt, Meuse, and Somme rivers in what is now Northern France, Belgium, the kingdom was acknowledged by the Romans after 357 CE. Following the collapse of Rome in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians, who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century, which greatly increased their power. The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies that would absorb large parts of the Western Roman Empire, the Frankish state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, the term Frank was used in the east as a synonym for western European, as the Franks were then rulers of most of Western Europe. The Franks in the east kept their Germanic language and became part of the Germans, Dutch, Flemings, the Franconian languages, which are called Frankisch in Dutch or Fränkisch in German, originated at least partly in the Old Frankish language of the Franks. Nowadays, the German and Dutch names for France are Frankreich and Frankrijk, respectively, the name Franci was originally socio-political. To the Romans, Celts, and Suebi, the Franks must have seemed alike, they looked the same and spoke the same language, so that Franci became the name by which the people were known. Within a few centuries it had eclipsed the names of the tribes, though the older names have survived in some place-names, such as Hesse. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English and it has been suggested that the meaning of free was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation. It is traditionally assumed that Frank comes from the Germanic word for javelin, there is also another theory that suggests that Frank comes from the Latin word francisca meaning. Words in other Germanic languages meaning fierce, bold or insolent, eumenius addressed the Franks in the matter of the execution of Frankish prisoners in the circus at Trier by Constantine I in 306 and certain other measures, Ubi nunc est illa ferocia. Feroces was used often to describe the Franks, contemporary definitions of Frankish ethnicity vary both by period and point of view. According to their law and their custom, writing in 2009, Professor Christopher Wickham pointed out that the word Frankish quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of the River Loire everyone seems to have considered a Frank by the mid-7th century at the latest. Two early sources describe the origin of the Franks are a 7th-century work known as the Chronicle of Fredegar. Neither of these works are accepted by historians as trustworthy, compared with Gregory of Tourss Historia Francorum, the chronicle describes Priam as a Frankish king whose people migrated to Macedonia after the fall of Troy
38.
Tartus
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Tartus is a city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria, and the largest city in Tartus Governorate, in the summer it is a vacation spot for many Syrians. Many vacation compounds and resorts are located in the region, the port holds a small Russian naval facility. The city lies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea bordered by the Alawite Mountains to the east, Arwad, the only inhabited island on the Syrian coast, is located a few kilometers off the shore of Tartus. Tartus occupies most of the plain, surrounded to the east by mountains composed mainly of limestone and, in certain places around the town of Souda. Tartus has a Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters, hot and dry summers, the hills to the east of the city create a cooler climate with even higher rainfall. Tartus is known for its mild weather and high precipitation compared to inland Syria. Humidity in the summer can reach 0%, the History of Tartus goes back to the 2nd millennium BC when it was founded as a Phoenician colony of Aradus. The colony was known as Antaradus, not much remains of the Phoenician Antaradus, the mainland settlement that was linked to the more important and larger settlements of Aradus, off the shore of Tartus, and the nearby site of Amrit. The city was called Antaradus in Latin, athanasius reports that, under Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, Cymatius, the Orthodox bishop of Antaradus and also of Aradus was driven out by the Arians. At the First Council of Constantinople in 381, Mocimus appears as bishop of Aradus, at the time of the Council of Ephesus, some sources speak of a Musaeus as bishop of Aradus and Antaradus, while others mention only Aradus or only Antaradus. The acts of the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 were signed by Asyncretius as bishop of Aradus, at the time of the Crusades, Antaradus, by then called Tartus or Tortosa, was a Latin Church diocese, whose bishop also held the titles of Aradus and Maraclea. It was united to the see of Famagosta in Cyprus in 1295, no longer a residential bishopric, Antaradus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. The city was favored by Constantine for its devotion to the cult of the Virgin Mary, the first chapel to be dedicated to the Virgin is said to have been built here in the 3rd century. Muslim armies conquered Tartus under the leadership of Ayyan bin al-Samet al-Ansary in 636, the Crusaders called the city Antartus, and also Tortosa. First captured by Raymond of Saint-Gilles, it was left in 1105 to his son Alfonso Jordan and was known as Tortosa, in 1123 the Crusaders built the semi-fortified Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa over a Byzantine church that was popular with pilgrims. The Cathedral itself was used as a mosque after the Muslim reconquest of the city and it was renovated under the French and is now the city museum, containing antiquities recovered from Amrit and many other sites in the region. Nur ad-Din Zangi retrieved Tartus from the Crusaders for a time before he lost it again
39.
Homs Gap
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The Homs Gap is a relatively flat passage in the Orontes River Valley of southern Syria. Nicknamed the gateway to Syria, the gap separates the An-Nusayriyah Mountains, the small Nahr al-Kabir river runs down the Gap to the Syrian coast to the Mediterranean Sea. The gap is also the large crossing open year-round across the mountain ranges. Today, the highway and railroad in Homs to the Lebanese port of Tripoli run through the gap, a pipeline carrying oil also runs through the gap. In addition, the Krak des Chevaliers castle is in the Homs Gap, the castle was built in 1031 AD to guard the strategic passageway during the First Crusade, and changed hands several times during the rest of the Crusades
40.
Tripoli, Lebanon
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Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated 85 kilometers north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Governorate, Tripoli overlooks the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and it is the northernmost seaport in Lebanon. It holds a string of four small islands offshore, and they are also the islands in Lebanon. The Palm Islands were declared an area because of their status of haven for endangered loggerhead turtles, rare monk seals. Tripoli borders the city of El Mina, the port of the Tripoli District, Tripoli had a number of different names as far back as the Phoenician age. In the Amarna letters the name Derbly, possibly a Semitic cognate of the citys modern Arabic name Ṭarābulus, was mentioned, in an engraving concerning the invasion of Tripoli by the Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II, it is called Mahallata or Mahlata, Mayza, and Kayza. Under the Phoenicians, the name Athar was used to refer to Tripoli, when the Ancient Greeks settled in the city they called it Τρίπολις, meaning three cities, influenced by the earlier phonetically similar but etymologically unrelated name Derbly. The Arabs called it Ṭarābulus and Ṭarābulus al-Šām, today, Tripoli is also known as al-fayḥā′, which is a term derived from the Arabic verb faha which is used to indicate the diffusion of a scent or smell. Tripoli was once known for its vast orange orchards, during the season of blooming, the pollen of orange flowers was said to be carried on the air, creating a splendid perfume which filled the city and suburbs. Tripoli has a Mediterranean Climate with mild winters and moderately hot summers, temperatures are moderated throughout the year due to the warm Mediterranean Current coming from Western Europe. Therefore, temperatures are warmer in the winter by around 10 °C, although snow is an extremely rare event that only occurs around once every 5 years, hail and sleet are very common and occur fairly regularly in the winter. Rainfall is concentrated in the months, with the summer typically being very dry. There is evidence of settlement in Tripoli that dates back as early as 1400 BCE, under Hellenistic rule, Tripoli was used as a naval shipyard and the city enjoyed a period of autonomy. It came under Roman rule around 64 BCE, the 551 Beirut earthquake and tsunami destroyed the Byzantine city of Tripoli along with other Mediterranean coastal cities. During Umayyad rule, Tripoli became a commercial and shipbuilding center and it achieved semi-independence under Fatimid rule, when it developed into a center of learning. The Crusaders laid siege to the city at the beginning of the 12th century and were finally to enter it in 1109. This caused extensive destruction, including the burning of Tripolis famous library, Dar al-Ilm, during the Crusaders rule the city became the capital of the County of Tripoli. In 1289, it fell to the Mamluks and the old part of the city was destroyed
41.
Syrian Coastal Mountain Range
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The Coastal Mountain Range is a mountain range in northwestern Syria running north-south, parallel to the coastal plain. The mountains have a width of 32 kilometres, and their average peak elevation is just over 1,200 meters with the highest peak, Nabi Yunis, reaching 1,562 metres. In the north the average height declines to 900 metres, classically, this range was known as the Bargylus, a name mentioned by Pliny the elder. Under the Hashashins were known as the Jabal Bahra, the western slopes catch moisture-laden winds from the Mediterranean Sea and are thus more fertile and more heavily populated than the eastern slopes. Between 1920 and 1936, the formed parts of the eastern border of the Alawite State within the French Mandate for Syria
42.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
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The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was a crusader state established in the Southern Levant by Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, the sometimes so-called First Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted from 1099 to 1187, when it was almost entirely overrun by Saladin. This second kingdom is called the Second Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Kingdom of Acre. Three other crusader states founded during and after the First Crusade were located north, the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch. While all three were independent, they were tied to Jerusalem. Beyond these to the north and west lay the states of Armenian Cilicia, further east, various Muslim emirates were located which were ultimately allied with the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. Jerusalem itself fell to Saladin in 1187, and in the 13th century the kingdom was reduced to a few cities along the Mediterranean coast. In this period, the kingdom was ruled by the Lusignan dynasty of the Kingdom of Cyprus, dynastic ties also strengthened with Tripoli, Antioch, and Armenia. The kingdom was soon dominated by the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa. Emperor Frederick II claimed the kingdom by marriage, but his presence sparked a war among the kingdoms nobility. The kingdom became more than a pawn in the politics and warfare of the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties in Egypt, as well as the Khwarezmian. The Mamluk sultans Baibars and al-Ashraf Khalil eventually reconquered all the remaining crusader strongholds, the kingdom was ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse, although the crusaders themselves and their descendants were an elite Catholic minority. They imported many customs and institutions from their homelands in Western Europe, the kingdom also inherited oriental qualities, influenced by the pre-existing customs and populations. The majority of the inhabitants were native Christians, especially Greek and Syrian Orthodox, as well as Sunni. The native Christians and Muslims, who were a lower class, tended to speak Greek and Arabic, while the crusaders spoke French. There were also a number of Jews and Samaritans. According to the Jewish writer Benjamin of Tudela, who travelled through the kingdom around 1170, since sets a lower bound for the Samaritan population at 1,500, since the contemporary Tolidah, a Samaritan chronicle, also mentions communities in Gaza and Acre. The First Crusade was preached at the Council of Clermont in 1095 by Pope Urban II, however, the main objective quickly became the control of the Holy Land
43.
Beqaa Valley
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The Beqaa Valley, also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ and Becaa and known in Classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanons most important farming region, industry also flourishes in Beqaa, especially that related to agriculture. The Beqaa is located about 30 km east of Beirut, the valley is situated between Mount Lebanon to the west and Anti-Lebanon mountains to the east. It forms the northeasternmost extension of the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from Syria to the Red Sea, Beqaa Valley is 120 kilometres long and an average 16 kilometres wide on average. It has a Mediterranean climate of wet, often snowy winters and dry, the region receives limited rainfall, particularly in the north, because Mount Lebanon creates a rain shadow that blocks precipitation coming from the sea. The northern section has an annual rainfall of 230 millimetres ). Two rivers originate in the valley, the Orontes, which flows north into Syria and Turkey, and the Litani, which flows south and then west to the Mediterranean Sea. From the 1st century BC, when the region was part of the Roman Empire, today the valley makes up 40 percent of Lebanons arable land. The northern end of the valley, with its scarce rainfall and less fertile soils, is used primarily as grazing land by pastoral nomads, farther south, more fertile soils support crops of wheat, corn, cotton, and vegetables, with vineyards and orchards centered on Zahlé. The valley also produces hashish and cultivates opium poppies, which are exported as part of the drug trade. Since 1957 the Litani hydroelectricity project—a series of canals and a dam located at Lake Qaraoun in the end of the valley—has improved irrigation to farms in Beqaa Valley. Zahlé is the largest city and the capital of the Beqaa Governorate. It lies just north of the main Beirut–Damascus highway, which bisects the valley, the majority of Zahlés residents are Lebanese Christian, including those who are Melkite Greek Catholic, Maronite Catholic, and Greek Orthodox Christians. The town of Anjar, situated in the part of the valley, has a predominately Armenian Lebanese population and is also famous for its 8th-century Arab ruins. The majority of the inhabitants of the districts of Beqaa, Baalbek and Hermel, are Lebanese Shia, with the exception of the town of Deir el Ahmar. The Baalbeck and Hermel districts have a Christian and Sunni minority, the western and southern districts of the valley also have a mixed population of Muslims, Christians and also Druze. The town of Jib Janine with a population of about 9,000, is situated midway in the valley, Jib Janine is the governmental center of the region known as Western Beqaa, with municipal services like the emergency medical services, a fire department, and a courthouse. Other towns in the Western Beqaa district are Machghara, Sabghine, Kamed al Lawz, Qab Elias and these towns are all a mix of different Lebanese religious confessions
44.
Aleppo
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Aleppo is a city in Syria, serving as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100, Aleppo was the largest Syrian city before the Syrian Civil War, however, now Aleppo is likely the second-largest city in Syria after the capital Damascus. Aleppo is an ancient city, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and it was also one of the largest cities in the Levant before the advent of the Syrian Civil War. The citys significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, when the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo ceded its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, in the 1940s, it lost its main access to the sea, Antakya and İskenderun, also to Turkey. Finally, the isolation of Syria in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation and this decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the Islamic Capital of Culture 2006, during the Battle of Aleppo the city suffered massive destruction, and has been the worst-hit city in the Syrian Civil War. In December 2016, the Syrian government achieved full control of Aleppo following a successful offensive, modern-day English-speakers commonly refer to the city as Aleppo. It was known in antiquity as Khalpe, Khalibon, and to the Greeks, during the Crusades, and again during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon of 1923–1946, the name Alep was used. Aleppo represents the Italianised version of this, the original ancient name, Halab, has survived as the current Arabic name of the city. Some have proposed that halab means iron or copper in Amorite languages, the modern-day Arabic nickname of the city, ash-Shahbaa, which means the white-colored, also allegedly derives from the famous white marble of Aleppo. From the 11th century it was common usage to apply the term Aram-Zobah to the area of Aleppo. Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists, since the city occupies its ancient site. The site has been occupied from around 5000 BC, as shown by excavations in Tallet Alsauda, Aleppo appears in historical records as an important city much earlier than Damascus. The first record of Aleppo comes from the third millennium BC, some historians, such as Wayne Horowitz, identify Aleppo with the capital of an independent kingdom closely related to Ebla, known as Armi, although this identification is contested. The main temple of the storm god Hadad was located on the hill in the center of the city. In the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Empire period, Aleppos name appears in its form as Ḥalab for the first time
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