The Muslim period

 

Ummayad and Fatimad periods — what are we talking about?

​

Arab Muslim armies streamed out of Arabia in the 630s CE after the death of the prophet Muhammad, and took control of the Byzantine Empire, which was weakened by wars. A key figure was Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, often called Umar. In 638 CE, Jerusalem surrendered peacefully to him. According to tradition, Umar personally visited the city and allowed Christians to continue worshipping there, and Jews, who had often faced restrictions under Byzantine rule, were again allowed to live in Jerusalem.

​

Following struggles over succession, the next major rulers were the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. Their center was Damascus. An important caliph was Abd al-Malik. He built the Dome of the Rock around 691 CE on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and it became one of Islam’s most famous shrines. His son Al-Walid I expanded the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Under the Umayyads, Arabic became the main language of the empire, and Islam gradually spread. The Umayyad founded the town of Ramla and this became the administrative capital of the area instead of Lod.  

​

The Abbasid Caliphate replaced the Umayyads from 750 to 1099 and ruled from Baghdad rather than Damascus. During these centuries, trade connected the region to the wider Islamic world. Jerusalem remained important, but was no longer its political center.

​

The Fatimids were a Shiʿite Muslim dynasty based mainly in Cairo that ruled from 969–1171. They conquered the area from the Abbasids and made it part of an Egypt-centered empire. Jerusalem, Ramla, and the coastal cities became connected politically and economically to Cairo. They claimed descent from Fatimah, a daughter of Muhammad. An important and eccentric caliph was Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah who obliterated the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009. This event shocked Christians in Europe and became one of the factors leading to the Crusades.

​

In 1099, European Crusaders captured Jerusalem during the First Crusade and established Christian kingdoms in the region.

​

A well-known Muslim leader was Saladin, and in 1187, he defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin near the Sea of Galilee. He then recaptured Jerusalem. Saladin allowed many Christians to leave the city safely and again permitted Jewish settlement. He founded the Ayyubid dynasty, and Muslim control was restored over much of the region.

 

The Mamluks were originally slave soldiers who became rulers based in Cairo. They defeated the Crusader kingdom along the coast and the Mongols, and helped preserve Muslim control of the area. An important Mamluk ruler was Baybars who strengthened Muslim rule and rebuilt fortifications and roads. During the Mamluk period (1250–1517), Jerusalem became an important religious city again, and many schools, markets, fountains, and hostels were built. Much of the historic architecture seen today in Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter dates from this era. The Mamluks also developed roads for pilgrims, caravan trade, and religious institutions.

 

In 1517, the Ottoman Empire conquered the region from the Mamluks. This began some 400 years of Ottoman rule.