Page 69 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective 55

Christians in Caesarea and Ascalon, including the destruction of churches. The
Christians complained to the caliph al-Muqtadir, who ordered the rebuilding of all
the structures destroyed. Among the Orthodox patriarchs of Palestine was also a
person from Caesarea: Christodoulos II (966–968). One of the Geniza documents
mentions Anastas of Caesarea, who in time became the Jacobite bishop of Jerusalem.
Thus, it seems that in Caesarea there was also a Christian Monophysite community,
in addition to the Orthodox one. In 1064/65, a large German pilgrimage with
7,000 pilgrims arrived in Palestine. It is reasonable to assume they passed through
Caesarea, even though this is not mentioned specifically.

The Woes of a Jewish Merchant at Sea opposite Caesarea – a Cairo Geniza Letter, shortly
after 1065

“I trust in God. Praised be the Lord who resurrects the dead … I am writing from Ramle on the 8th of Teveth
(approximately: January), feeling well in body but being worried in my mind.

I set sail for Jaffa, the port of Ramle. But a wind arose against us from the land. It became a storm, chasing
and driving us out to the high sea, where we remained for four days, giving up all hope for life. We were without
sails and oars, the steering rudders and the sailyard were broken, and the waves burst into the barge (qarib). We
cried: “Allah, Allah,” for our ship was a mere riverboat (cushari), small as a ferry (macdiya). We threw part of the
cargo overboard, and I gave up all hope for my life and my goods. I vowed one dinar from the proceeds of the silk.
Finally, God in his glory and majesty granted us to reach Caesarea, but my clothes and goods were completely
soaked. I did not find a place to stay and to spread out my things. So I took domicile in the synagogue, where I
remained for five days.

When I arrived in Ramle. I had to pay customs to a degree I am unable to describe. … About 3 dinars worth
of goods of mine were jettisoned from the barge; may God, the exalted, restore the loss” (S.D. Goitein, Letters of
Medieval Jewish Traders, pp. 46–47).

Caesarea under the Crusaders

The Crusader army passed near Caesarea on its way to Jerusalem without tarrying
to conquer the city. Its aim was the liberation of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher.
Jerusalem was conquered on 12 August 1099, Caesarea only on 17 May 1101,
almost two years later.

The Franks destroyed the gardens that surrounded the city and intended to
move catapults and siege towers up to its walls. A delegation of city inhabitants,
desirous of avoiding bloodshed, was rebuffed with the claim that the Muslims had
no right to rule over a formerly Christian city. The qadi was ready to surrender but
not so the amir. The siege began on 2 May and lasted for about two weeks. On 17
May the attack began on land and sea. Italians bearing ladders and Franks under
the command of the Genoese captain Guglielmo (William) Embriaco caused the