Medieval Rural Settlements in the Syrian Coastal Region (12th and 13th Centuries)

This book is the result of more than a dozen years of research in the field of the hitherto unstudied medieval settlement pattern of the Syrian coastal region in the 12th and 13th centuries. The conclusions presented in this work were reached with the combined use of several source types including medieval documents, travellers’ accounts, former research, map evidence, toponymy, archive and satellite photographs, oral sources and extensive archaeological field surveys accompanied by documentation between the years 2000 and 2015. After enumerating the historical events that influenced the settlement pattern of the coast, its centres, including the towns and castles (with special regard to the smaller fortifications of the countryside that seem to have been a Frankish introduction to the area) are analysed. Following the detailed examination of the written sources and the architectural material preserved at these lesser sites, a closer look at the villages and their environment aims to draw a general picture on the density of settlements and their basic characteristics. The book also discusses communication lines and provides an assessment of the medieval population that inhabited the region in the 12th and 13th centuries. The text is accompanied by a collection of maps, plan drawings, tables and illustrations on a selected number of sites visited during the field surveys.

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION

2. THE GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING

3. METHODOLOGY

4. HISTORICAL FRAME

5. SETTLEMENT

6. INHABITANTS

7. CONCLUSION

Appendix I. Fortified sites mentioned in the Latin sources

Appendix II. Fortified sites mentioned only in the Eastern sources

Appendix III. Fortified sites not mentioned in the written sources

Appendix IV. Ownership of fortified sites mentioned in the Latin sources

Appendix V. Fortified sites in possession of the Military Orders mentioned in the Latin sources

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Balázs Major is an archaeologist, Arabist and historian by training and holds a PhD from Cardiff University. He is the director of the Institute of Archaeology at Pázmány Péter Catholic University and a lecturer in the Department of Arabic Studies.