Sack of Jerusalem 1099

Following a six week siege Crusader knights entered Jerusalem on the 15th of July 1099. Having received a promise from Raymond of Saint-Gilles that the defenders could leave the Egyptian General Iftikhar al-Dawla lead his men away.1 Witnesses reported that following Iftikhar's departure the knights slsughtered everyone and the dead bodies were piled up in mounds outside the city gates, "None were left alive, Neither women nor children were spared",2 The slaughter continued for a week, with Arab sources claiming 70 thousand killed in the al-Aqsa mosque3, whilst modern historians place the number as nearer to 10 thousand,4 the Jews were burnt alive in the synagogue, and many monuments destroyed including the tomb of Abraham.5 The priests of the Holy Sepulchre were expelled, and refused to tell the Crusaders were they had hidden the True Cross and were tortured until they revealled its location.3

• 1. Maalouf, A. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. (Saqi, 1983). p50.
• 2. Frankopan, P. The Silk Roads. (Bloomsbury, 2015). p136.
• 3. a. b. Maalouf, A. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. (Saqi, 1983). p51.
• 4. Asbridge, T. The Crusades. (Simon & Schuster, 2012). p102.
• 5. Maalouf, A. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. (Saqi, 1983). pp50-51.