Settlement in Crusader Transjordan (1100-1189) : a historical and archaeological study
The subject of Crusader-period Transjordan has still not been analyzed in depth by scholars. Nevertheless, this region, the Lordship of Crac and Montreal of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, is usually assumed to have had more or less the sole function of serving as the southeastern frontier of the kingdom, consisting essentially of a series of fortified points defending a border. This image of a series of castles in a largely deserted border area arises from several factors: the relative scarcity of textual sources available for 12th-century Transjordan, those that survive being largely focused on its military aspects; the scarcity of archaeological excavations at 12th-century sites, including the important castles of Karak and Shawbak; the fact that these two castles, being relatively well preserved, have attracted more scholarly interest than any other sites; and the lack of archaeological comparanda for the region, due to the only very recent development of interest of archaeologists in excavating medieval sites. The goal of the research exposed here is therefore to combine all available sources, including updated results from archaeological projects, in order to present a picture of settlement in Crusader
Sinibaldi, Micaela
CC Archaeology
Settlement in Crusader Transjordan (1100-1189) : a historical and archaeological study. The subject of Crusader-period Transjordan has still not been analyzed in depth by scholars. Nevertheless, this region, the Lordship of Crac and Montreal of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, is usually assumed to have had more or less the sole function of serving as the southeastern frontier of the kingdom, consisting essentially of a series of fortified points defending a border. This image of a series of castles in a largely deserted border area arises from several factors: the relative scarcity of textual sources available for 12th-century Transjordan, those that survive being largely focused on its military aspects; the scarcity of archaeological excavations at 12th-century sites, including the important castles of Karak and Shawbak; the fact that these two castles, being relatively well preserved, have attracted more scholarly interest than any other sites; and the lack of archaeological comparanda for the region, due to the only very recent development of interest of archaeologists in excavating medieval sites. The goal of the research exposed here is therefore to combine all available sources, including updated results from archaeological projects, in order to present a picture of settlement in Crusader
settlement crusader historical_archaeological study subject crusader period still analyze depth scholar nevertheless region lordship latin kingdom jerusalem usually assume less sole function serve southeastern frontier kingdom consist essentially series fortify point defend border image series castle largely desert border_area arise several_factor relative scarcity textual_source available th_century survive largely focused military aspect scarcity archaeological_excavation th_century site_include important castle fact castle relatively_well preserve attract scholarly_interest site lack archaeological region due recent_development interest archaeologist excavate medieval site goal expose therefore combine available_source include archaeological project order present picture settlement crusader