Abstract
Not much is known about the Crusader town of Lod, despite its religious and strategic importance. It is, however, very likely that the Crusader town, and the Byzantine-period settlement before it, developed around the church. In the Roman period, the church was most likely located in a cemetery outside the town. The construction of the nearby city of Ramla in the Early Islamic period extinguished the star of Lydda as the administrative and political center had moved to Ramla. In 1177, a military division of Saladin’s forces attacked the city of Lydda, which prompted some of its residents to retreat to the church and fortify its roof. Saladin conquered the city of Lydda in July 1187 after the Battle of Hattin, and ordered the cathedral to be demolished on September 24, 1191, during the Third Crusade. Some researchers suggested that the demolition of the cathedral was not complete and that its eastern section remained untouched. It is, however, clear that some of the cathedral stone walls were rebuilt in 1273 at the time of the construction of the bridge over the Masrara River at Jindas. No traces of the city’s lifestyle and daily life during the Crusader period were preserved in the archaeological records.
Recommended Citation
Khamissa, Rabei
(1905)
"اللد في الفترة الصليبية / Lod in the Crusader Period,"
Cornerstone: Journal of Archaeological Sites (حجر الزاوية): Vol. 9, Article 11.
Available at:
https://publications.iaa.org.il/cornerstone/vol9/iss1/11
