Editing Caesarea Maritima (section)

===Middle Ages===

====Byzantine period====
During the Byzantine period, Caesarea became the capital of the province of [[Palaestina Prima]] in 390. Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after its destruction in 70. In 451, however, the [[Council of Chalcedon]] established Jerusalem as a [[patriarchate]], with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees. Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell to [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid]] Persia in the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], [[Siege of Caesarea Maritima (614)|in 614]], and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625.

====Early Muslim period====
[[File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Caesarea 2788.jpg|thumb|right|Depiction of Caesarea in the [[Umm ar-Rasas mosaics]], circa 8th century]]
[[File:11th Century (Fatimid Period) jewelry from Caesarea in the Muslims and Crusaders Exhibit.jpg|200px|thumb|right|11th century ([[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] period) jewelry from Caesarea]]
[[File:Sacro_Catino_Graal.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The ''Sacro Catino'', a hexagonal bowl made from green Egyptian glass, c. 9&nbsp;cm high and 33&nbsp;cm across, possibly brought from Caesarea to Genoa by [[Guglielmo Embriaco]] in 1101. Described as an object with miraculous properties in 12th-century literature, including the ''Historia'' of [[William of Tyre]], it was only identified as the [[Holy Grail#Relics|Holy Grail]] in the 13th century by [[Jacobus de Voragine]]. Seized and taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1805, it was damaged when it was returned to Genoa in 1816, which served to prove that it was made of glass, not emerald.<ref name=Barber>{{cite book |last= Barber |first= Richard |author-link= Richard Barber |title= The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief |page= 168 |publisher= Harvard University Press |year= 2004 |isbn= 978-0-674-01390-2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_lLbiZCNhlAC&pg=PA168 |access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref><ref name=Mariti>{{cite book |author=Abbé Mariti |author-link=:it:Giovanni Mariti |title= Travels through Cyprus, Syria, and Palestine: with a General History of the Levant |pages= 399–400 |location= Dublin |volume= I |year= 1792 |publisher=Printed for P. Byrne |url= https://archive.org/stream/travelsthroughc00marigoog#page/n429/mode/1up |access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref><ref name=Marica>{{cite book |last= Marica |first= Patrizia |title= Museo del Tesoro, San Lorenzo |pages= 7–12 |publisher= sagep |location= Genoa, Italy |year= 2000 |isbn= 9788870589795 }}</ref><ref name=Wood>{{cite book |last= Wood |first= Juliette |title= The Holy Grail: History and Legend |page= 85 |edition= 2 |publisher= University of Wales Press |year= 2012 |isbn= 9780708326268 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vVquBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT85 |access-date=18 September 2016}}</ref>]]

Caesarea was lost for good by the Byzantines to the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Muslim conquest]] in 640. Archaeological excavations discovered a [[destruction layer]] connected to the Muslim conquest of the city.<ref name=Hansen/> Some newer research posits that there was no destruction caused by the Persians in 614 and Muslim Arabs in 640, but rather a gradual economic decline accompanied by the Christian aristocracy fleeing from the city.<ref name=Holum1992>{{cite journal |last= Holum |first= Kenneth G. |title=  Archaeological Evidence for the Fall of Byzantine Caesarea |journal=[[BASOR]] |publisher= The University of Chicago Press |volume= 286 |date= May 1992 |issue= 286 |pages= 73–85 |doi= 10.2307/1357119 |jstor= 1357119 |s2cid= 163306127 |url= https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.2307/1357119?journalCode=basor |access-date=22 November 2020}}</ref>

According to 9th-century Muslim historian [[al-Baladhuri]], the fall of the city was the result of the betrayal of a certain Yusef, who conducted a party of troops of [[Muawiyah I|Muawiyah]] into the city.<ref name=Meyers380>{{cite book |last= Meyers |first= Eric M. |author-link=Eric M. Meyers |title= Galilee Through the Centuries |chapter= "The Fall of Caesarea Maritima" |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=znYoChYVIrcC |year= 1999 |publisher= Eisenbrauns |isbn= 9781575060408}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=znYoChYVIrcC&pg=PA380 380ff.]</ref> The city appears to have been partially destroyed upon its conquest. The 7th-century Coptic bishop [[John of Nikiû]], claims there were "horrors committed in the city of Caesarea in Palestine", while al-Baladhuri merely states that Kaisariyyah/Cæsarea was "reduced",<ref>Meyers, 1999, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=znYoChYVIrcC&pg=PA381 381]. ([https://archive.org/details/originsofislamic00balarich The origins of the Islamic state] trans. [[Philip Khuri Hitti]], 1916). The archaeological stratum representing the destruction is analyzed in Cherie Joyce Lentzen, ''The Byzantine/Islamic Occupation of Caesarea Maritima as Evidenced Through the Pottery'' (Drew University 1983), noted by Meyer 1999:381 note 23. See also: Al-Baladhuri, 1916, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/originsofislamic00balarich#page/216/mode/1up 216]-219.</ref> mentioning it as one of ten towns in [[Jund Filastin]] (military district of Palestine) conquered by the Muslim [[Rashidun army]] under [['Amr ibn al-'As]]'s leadership during the 630s.<ref>The conquered towns included "[[Gaza City|Ghazzah]] (Gaza), [[Sebastia, Nablus|Sabastiyah]] (Samaria), [[Nabulus]] (Shechem), Cæsarea, [[Lod|Ludd]] (Lydda), [[Yibna|Yubna]], [[Imwas|Amwas]] (Emmaus), [[Jaffa|Yafa]] (Joppa), [[Rafah]], and [[Bayt Jibrin]]. (Bil. 138), quoted in Le Strange, 1890, [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/28/mode/1up p.28]</ref><ref>Al-Baladhuri, 1916, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/originsofislamic00balarich#page/216/mode/1up 216]-219</ref><ref>Meyers, 1999, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=znYoChYVIrcC&pg=PA380 380]</ref> After the fall of Caesarea, 4,000 "heads" (captives), men, women and children, were sent to Caliph [[Umar]] in Medina, where they were gathered and inspected on the Jurd Plain, a plain commonly used to assemble the troops of Medina before battle, with room for thousands of people, before they were distributed as war booty to [[slavery in the Rashidun Caliphate]].<ref>Dynamics in the History of Religions Between Asia and Europe: Encounters, Notions, and Comparative Perspectives. (2012). Nederländerna: Brill. p. 180-181</ref>

The former Palaestina Prima became ''Jund Filastin'', with the capital first at [[Lod|Ludd]] and then at [[Ramla]]. The city likely remained inhabited for some time under Arab rule, during the 7th and 8th centuries, albeit with much reduced population. Archaeological evidence shows a clear destruction layer identified with the conquest of 640, followed by some evidence of renewed settlement in the early [[Umayyad Caliphate]].<ref name="Hansen">Archaeological literature in the 1970s seemed to favour complete abandonment in the 7th century, but this view has been corrected with further excavations in the 1980s. See {{cite book | editor1 = Inge Lyse Hansen | editor2 = Chris Wickham | date = 2000 | title = The Long Eighth Century | publisher = BRILL | pages = 292– | isbn = 978-90-04-11723-5 | oclc = 1013307862 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=F6FbuKU3ZAYC&pg=PA292}}, footnote 49.</ref> The area was farmed from the Rashidun Caliphate through to the [[First Crusade]].<ref name="ZSERP">Safrai, 1994, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8dmKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA374 374]</ref>

By the 11th century, it appears that the town had once again been developed into a fortified city. Writing in 1047, [[Nasir Khusraw]] describes it as "a fine city, with running waters, and palm-gardens, and orange and citron trees. Its walls are strong, and it has an iron gate. There are fountains that gush out within the city".<ref name="leStrange474">Le Strange, Guy, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/474/mode/1up 474]</ref><ref name="Pringle93" /> This is in agreement with [[William of Tyre]]'s description of the Crusaders' siege in 1101, mentioning catapults and siege engines used against the city fortifications.<ref>William of Tyre, ''Historia'' 10.15.</ref> Nasir Khusraw notes a "beautiful [[Friday mosque]]" in Caesarea, "so situated that in its court you may sit and enjoy the view of all that is passing on the sea."<ref name="leStrange474" /> This was converted into the church of St. Peter in Crusader times. A wall which may belong to this building has been identified in modern times.<ref name="Pringle93">{{cite book | author1 = Denys Pringle | author2 = Professor Denys Pringle | date = 1993 | title = The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus: Volume 1, A-K (excluding Acre and Jerusalem) | publisher = Cambridge University Press | pages = 170– | isbn = 978-0-521-39036-1 | oclc = 1008255454 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BgQ6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA170}}</ref><ref name="Petersen129ff" />

====Crusader and Ayyubid period====
[[File:Crusader Walls and Moat in Caesarea.jpg|thumb|250px|Remnants of the walls and moat built by [[Louis IX of France]] in 1251]]
[[File:Crusader_Church_of_Caesarea_Maritima_P1080520.JPG|thumb|The ruins of a side apse and the main apse of St. Peter's Cathedral in Caesarea]]

Caesarea was taken by [[Baldwin I of Jerusalem|Baldwin I]] in the wake of the [[First Crusade]], in 1101. Baldwin sent a message to [[emir]] of Caesarea, demanding him to surrender the city or face a siege, but the Muslims refused. On May 2, 1101, Baldwin began sieging the city with [[trebuchet]]s. After 15 days of resistance, the Crusader army broke through the defenses. Like in [[Siege of Jerusalem (1099)|Jerusalem in 1099]], the Crusaders proceeded to slaughter a portion of the male populace, enslave the women and children, and loot the city. [[William of Tyre]] describes the use of catapults and siege towers, and states that the city was taken in an assault after 15 days of siege and given over to looting and pillaging. [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox]] [[List of Syriac Patriarchs of Antioch from 512 to 1783|patriarch]] [[Michael the Syrian]] (born ca. 1126) records that the city was "devastated upon its capture".<ref>Meyers (1999:381).</ref>

Baldwin spared the emir and [[Judge (Islamic law)|qadi]] for a hefty ransom. Baldwin appointed a cleric veteran of the First Crusade, also named Baldwin, as the Latin archbishop of Caesarea.<ref>''The Crusades'' by [[Thomas Asbridge]], pg. 123-124.</ref> The city was under [[Crusader states|Crusader control]] between 1101 and 1187 and again between 1191 and 1265.<ref>Pringle, 1997, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC&pg=PA43 43]-45</ref> William of Tyre mentions the discovery of a "vessel of the most green colour, in the shape of a serving dish" (''vas coloris viridissimi, in modum parapsidis formatum'') which the [[Republic of Genoa|Genuese]] thought to be made of [[emerald]], and accepted as their share of the spoils. This refers to the hexagonal bowl known as the ''[[Sacro Catino]]'' in Italian, which was brought to Genoa by [[Guglielmo Embriaco]] and was later identified as the [[Holy Chalice]].<ref>Marica, Patrizia, ''Museo del Tesoro'' Genoa, Italy (2007), 7&ndash;12.

The ''Sacro Catino'' is a hexagonal bowl made from Roma-era green glass, some 9&nbsp;cm high and 33&nbsp;cm across. It was seized and taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1805, and it was damaged when it was returned to Genoa in 1816. The object was not immediately identified as the Holy Grail. William of Tyre states that was still claimed to be made of emerald by the Genoese in his day, some 70 years later, the implication being that emerald was thought to have miraculous properties of their own in [[Lapidary (text)|medieval lore]] (''Unde et usque hodie transeuntibus per eos magnatibus, vas idem quasi pro miraculo solent ostendere, persuadentes quod vere sit, id quod color esse indicat, smaragdus.'') The first explicit claim identifying the bowl with the Holy Grail (the vessel used in the Last Supper) is found in the ''Chronicon'' by [[Jacobus de Voragine]], written in the 1290s. Juliette Wood, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vVquBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT85 The Holy Grail: History and Legend] (2012).</ref> Caesarea was incorporated as a [[Lordship of Caesarea|lordship (dominion)]] within the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], and the Latin [[Caesarea in Palaestina (diocese)|See of Caesarea]] was established, with ten archbishops listed for the period 1101&ndash;1266 (treated as [[titular see]] from 1432&ndash;1967). Archbishop [[Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem|Heraclius]] attended the [[Third Council of the Lateran|Third Lateran Council]] in 1179.

[[Saladin]] recaptured the city in 1187, but it was once again captured by the Crusaders during the [[Third Crusade]] in 1191. In 1251 during the [[Seventh Crusade]], [[Louis IX of France]] fortified the city, ordering the construction of high walls (parts of which are still standing) and a deep moat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Caesarea Maritima - Madain Project (en) |url=https://madainproject.com/caesarea_maritima |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=madainproject.com}}</ref>

In 1265 the city was reconquered by the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] armies of Sultan [[Baibars]], who ordered his troops to scale the walls in several places simultaneously, enabling them to penetrate the city.<ref name="Holum2014">Kenneth G. Holum, "The Archaeology of Caesarea Maritima", in Bart Wagemakers, ed., ''Archaeology in the 'Land of Tells and Ruins': A History of Excavations in the Holy Land Inspired by the Photographs and Accounts of Leo Boer'' (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2014), 182-201.

{{ISBN|9781782972457}}</ref> Baibars destroyed the fortified city completely to prevent its re-emergence as a Crusader stronghold, in line with the Mamluk practice in other former Crusader coastal cities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=D. Sivan|display-authors=etal|date=11 February 2004|title=Ancient coastal wells of Caesarea Maritima, Israel, an indicator for relative sea level changes during the last 2000 years|url=http://mapi.gov.il/research/presentations/documents/sealevel/sivan_et_al_2004_epsl.pdf|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=222|issue=1|publisher=Elsevier|page=318|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2004.02.007|bibcode=2004E&PSL.222..315S}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/israelexperience/history/pages/caesarea-%20from%20roman%20city%20to%20crusader%20fortress.aspx|title=Caesarea- from Roman City to Crusader Fortress|website=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=2019-12-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Möhring |first=Hannes |date=2009 |title=Die muslimische Strategie der Schleifung fränkischer Festungen und Städte in der Levante |url= |journal=Burgen und Schlösser - Zeitschrift für Burgenforschung und Denkmalpflege |language=de |volume=50 |issue=4 |page=216 |doi=10.11588/BUS.2009.4.48565 |doi-access=free}}</ref> During the Mamluk period, the ruins of ancient Caesarea and of the Crusader fortified town lay uninhabited.<ref name="Holum2014" /> [[Al-Dimashqi (geographer)|Al-Dimashqi]], writing around 1300, notes that Kaisariyyah belonged to the Kingdom of Ghazza (Gaza).