Situated east of the north gate at the south bank of the Akrabani-Banias Canal, this massive tower has only two stories left.
As is the case with the rest of the exposed north and west fortifications of the Citadel, this tower has endured substantial damage. mostly in 1771 when the Egyptian troops led by Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab besieged Damascus and pointed their artillery at the north wall of the Citadel, including this tower.
Muhammad Bey withdrew next year and the Ottoman authorities were thus able to reoccupy the positions vacated by the Egyptians and restore the violated edifice.
The vulnerability of the north and west walls, exposed as they were to enemies' catapults and canons, was to a considerable extent compensated by the peripheral moat, filled with water during the siege. While the attackers could certainly attempt to divert the flow of Barada and Banias from the west, the defenders disposed of an ingenious countermeasure consisting of a mill straddling Banias canal in the northeast. This mill, thought to be a late Mameluke construction, controlled the water flow in the ditches of the Citadel and Banias, adding yet another fail-safe to the fortress' already formidable defenses.
Photo early-mid 20th century.
As is the case with the rest of the exposed north and west fortifications of the Citadel, this tower has endured substantial damage. mostly in 1771 when the Egyptian troops led by Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab besieged Damascus and pointed their artillery at the north wall of the Citadel, including this tower.
Muhammad Bey withdrew next year and the Ottoman authorities were thus able to reoccupy the positions vacated by the Egyptians and restore the violated edifice.
The vulnerability of the north and west walls, exposed as they were to enemies' catapults and canons, was to a considerable extent compensated by the peripheral moat, filled with water during the siege. While the attackers could certainly attempt to divert the flow of Barada and Banias from the west, the defenders disposed of an ingenious countermeasure consisting of a mill straddling Banias canal in the northeast. This mill, thought to be a late Mameluke construction, controlled the water flow in the ditches of the Citadel and Banias, adding yet another fail-safe to the fortress' already formidable defenses.
Photo early-mid 20th century.
The Defences of the Citadel of Damascus; a Great Mohammedan Fortress of the Time of the Crusades
D. J. Cathcart King
Archaeologica, Volume XCIV, 1951
قلعة دمشق في النصف الأوّل من القرن العشرين
ReplyDeleteالصورة مأخوذة من الشمال أي من خارج الحصن للبرج التاسع الواقع جنوب قناة بانياس-العقرباني وشرق باب القلعة الشمالي أو باب الحديد. هذا البرج أحد أضخم أبراج القلعة وإن لم يبق منه حاليّاً إلّا طابقين. أصيب البرج بأضرار جسيمة عندما طوّقت العسكر المصريّة بقيادة محمّد بك أبو الذهب مدينة دمشق وقصفت القلعة والبرج المذكور عام ١٧٧١. قام العثمانيّون بترميم البرج بعد انسحاب أبي الذهب في العام التالي. حالة أسوار القلعة الشرقيّة والجنوبيّة حاليّاً أفضل بكثير من أسوارها الشماليّة والغربيّة كون الأخيرة تطلّ على خارج المدينة وبالتالي فهي أكثر عرضة لقصف الأعداء سواء كان ذلك بالمجانق قديماً أو المدفعيّة لاحقاً رغم حماية الخندق المحيط الذي كان يملأ بالمياه وقت الحصار. استطاع المدافعون السيطرة على مستوى المياه في هذا الخندق عن طريق طاحون محصّنة تقع شمال شرق القلعة على نهر بانياس تعود على الأغلب لأواخر العهد المملوكي