Arsuf

Arsuf, also known as Arsur or Apollonia,^[1] was an ancient city within the Kingdom, located on a cliff above the Mediterranean Sea. In 1191, the plains around Arsuf were the site of the Battle of Arsuf, fought between the Crusader army led by King Richard I of England and the Saracen forces of Saladin.

History[edit | edit source]

Early history[edit | edit source]

Founded by Phoenicians in the 6th or 5th century BCE, Arsuf was initially a part of the Persian Empire. However, during the Hellenistic period, it became an anchorage town that was ruled by Seleucids and was renamed Apollonia. Later, under Roman rule, the size of the town increased, becoming an important settlement along Via Maris, the coastal road. In 113 CE, the city was partially destroyed by an earthquake, but recovered quickly and developed trade with Italy and North Africa. Captured by Muslims in 640 CE, the Semitic name of Arsuf was restored and the town was surrounded by a fortified wall to resist the constant attacks of Byzantine fleets from the sea.^[1]

In 1101, Arsuf fell to an army of Crusaders led by Baldwin I of Jerusalem. The Crusaders, who called it Arsur, rebuilt the city's walls and created the Lordship of Arsur in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. However, in 1187, Arsuf was once again captured by the Muslim Saracens.^[1]^[2]

Third Crusade[edit | edit source]

In 1191, a major battle took place close to Arsuf between the forces of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. The Levantine Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad entered the area in search of Robert de Sablé, who was reuniting with Richard for a briefing in the upcoming battle. Crusader and Saracen scouting parties were scattered around the plains with the bulk of the army moving through the coastal road. Altaïr fought his way through the plains, slaying many soldiers, both Crusader and Saracen.^[3]

Upon reaching the encampment, the Assassin was surrounded by members of the Knights Templar, though Richard gave him a chance to speak. Altaïr accused de Sablé of secretly plotting to undermine the English king, though the Grand Master dismissed his comment as nonsense. To settle the affair, Richard directed the two into a final duel, so the man "whose side God favors" would win, with Altaïr ultimately winning the fight.^[3]

With his final breath, Robert informed Altaïr that the Levantine Assassins' own Mentor Al Mualim had secretly been a Templar ally. Following this, with Richard's consent, the Assassin left for Masyaf to confront his master.^[3] The Crusaders emerged victorious from the Battle of Arsuf, and subsequently took control of the city.^[1]

Middle Ages to modern times[edit | edit source]

By 1261, Arsuf was ruled by the Knights Hospitalier, though Sultan Baybars captured it in 1265 after only 40 days of siege. The Mamluks then completely destroyed the town; so thorough was its razing that nobody returned over the next centuries to rebuild it until the late 1590s, when a small village was established on the site and it passed into the Ottoman Empire's jurisdiction.^[1]

The fortress' remains and city still remained until modern times, and in 1924, they were absorbed into the moshava (מושבה, lit. "colony") of Herzliya,^[1] a Jewish farming settlement in British Palestine named for the Austro-Hungarian founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl.^[4] After Jewish Zionists violently expelled the region's resident 750,000 Palestinians in the 1948 Nakba (النَّكْبَة, lit. "the catastrophe"), their newly-founded state of Israel decreed that the area south of Arsuf was allocated to housing for new settler immigrants.^[1]