Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (77 page)

There are seldom more elaborate introductions to a fortress. There seems to have been a structured frame that few chroniclers strayed from; once the geographical location of the fortress was established the chronicler usually worked his way through the various parts of the fortifications. The
bāshūra
is a key word in many descriptions. There is no real equivalent in English, and there appear to have been several meanings. The word refers to a whole section of the outer fortifications, which may include any or all of the following structures: barbican, bastion, a gate or a fortified tower. In some cases the outer suburb that often grew up beside the fortress walls is also referred to as the
bāshūra
.
²⁵
The
bāshūra
features in most siege accounts, as it was the area that suffered most and received the full blow of the Mamluk attack. As a result it was often the first section of the fortress to be rebuilt and the works involved were generally quite substantial.

Moats, whether wet or dry, appear as
al-khandaq
. The depth and width are sometimes given if the moat was truly impressive or forbidding.
²⁶

In Ayyubid inscriptions the word most frequently used for describing curtain walls is
al-badanah
, literally to encircle.
²⁷
The term
sūr
, which has the exact same meaning, seems to have been more common both in Mamluk inscriptions and among chroniclers.
²⁸
Main gates are often included as part of the
bāshūra
; every so often they are given a full description and are then referred to simply as
bāb
. Ibn Shaddad uses the Persian word
darkāt
or
dargāh
to describe the gate at
, but this term is hardly ever used.
²⁹
While curtain walls seldom receive a detailed description, towers play a major role in many accounts and are mentioned by almost every chronicler. Occasionally the number of towers built and reconstructed by the Mamluks is given and if they are of exceptional features such as height or outstanding construction (e.g. the size of the stones) precise details are cited. The word for tower is
burj
; so far I have not encountered a specific word that denotes “keep” or “donjon”. Keeps are referred to simply as larger towers. Strangely enough, arrow slits are never described or even mentioned, possibly because they were such an obvious part of the fortress that they did not seem of any importance to
contemporary historians. As opposed to arrow slits machicolations,
, are noted, though not very frequently.
³⁰
Secret passages,
abwāb sirr
, are rarely taken into account, probably due to the fact that this is the kind of detail that would only be known to those who lived in the fortress or paid a lengthy visit to it.
³¹
Glacis,
, are also seldom mentioned; the word
literally means the foot or base of a mountain.
³²
The general descriptions and plain accounts may indicate that many chroniclers received their information from secondhand sources and never actually walked the ground of the fortresses they describe.