Alexander the Great And The Siege of Gaza

The cities on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea put up some of the staunchest defenses that Alexander the Great would face during his conquests. After Alexander defeated the Persian forces in the 334 BCE battle at the Granicus River and the 333 BCE battle at Issus, the king set his sight on subduing the Middle Eastern coastline and Egypt before marching deeper into the Persian Empire. Amazingly, only two major cities offered resistance to Alexander during his march to Egypt. First, was the island city of Tyre, which Alexander besieged from January to August in 332 BCE. After a grueling standoff, Tyre fell to an assault by land (via an earthen causeway) and by sea. With the Tyrians slaughtered or enslaved by the thousands, Alexander continued his march in peace, not experiencing any resistance, until he reached the fortified city of Gaza. There, a bold eunuch named Batis was inspirited by his personal supply of provisions and mercenaries to resist the invaders.

Alexander arrived at Gaza around September 332 BCE, and laid siege to the fortress. For this battle, Alexander and his engineers did not pull any punches. The besiegers encircled the city with a tall earthwork platform that extended as high as Gaza’s walls. With the platform complete, Alexander deployed his siege engines (likely towers and catapults), facing Gaza’s southern walls, where the defenses looked the weakest.

Batis and his mercenaries rightly saw the looming threat of the siege weapons and decided to launch a sudden attack against the earthwork. Their goal was to burn Alexander’s siege engines and they nearly achieved their mission—Batis had his own artillery and he deployed them to the south, utilizing them alongside archers and slingers to drive the besiegers off the earthwork. The Greek forces were about to falter from the onslaught of projectiles when Alexander arrived in the nick of time to rally his troops. Although the besiegers were victorious against the sortie from Gaza, it came at a cost. Alexander was struck in the shoulder by a projectile fired from the city’s artillery. Unfortunately for the people of Gaza, Alexander’s shield and armor absorbed most of the blow’s impact, and he recovered with remarkable speed. Instead of being crippled or dead, Alexander was still on the frontlines and more inspired than ever to capture the city.

Not long after Alexander was wounded, his navy arrived with a cargo of even more siege weapons, which were left over from the capture of Tyre. With such a stockpile of artillery at his disposal, Alexander expanded his earthwork around Gaza to accommodate the new machines. With his earthwork upgraded, the new siege engines were set up to encircle the town. As if this were not enough, Alexander also deployed sappers to tunnel under the fortifications of Gaza and undermine its walls.

By October of 332 BCE, the defenses of Gaza were in a very poor state due to Alexander’s artillery and sapping. Large swaths of the wall had crumbled or completely collapsed. With breaches appearing all over the fortress, Alexander launched three assaults on Gaza, with debatable commitment to the attack—theses assaults were mainly mounted by archers and the heavy infantry was held in reserve. Yet, on the fourth assault, Alexander threw the full might of his infantry into the fray and overwhelmed the defenders. A predicted 10,000 men of fighting age were slaughtered by Alexander’s forces in the capture of Gaza. The lives of the women and children were spared, but they were ultimately sold into slavery.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Alexander Instructing his soliders, from The Deeds of Alexander the Great (Antonio Tempesta 1555–1630 Rome), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Sources:

• The Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.
• Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011.  
• Alexander the Great: The Story of an Ancient Life by Thomas R. Martin and Christopher W. Blackwell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.  

Abul Abaz, The War Elephant Of Charlemagne

Around the turn of the 9th century, after Charlemagne (r. 768-814) had spread his influence over much of Europe, the great king of the Franks realized there was a certain thing that he wanted but had not yet obtained—an elephant. Fortunately for Charlemagne, he had become pen pals with just the person who had the means and knowledge of how to acquire such a beast. The king of the Franks had begun corresponding with Harun-al-Rashid (r.786-809), the Caliph of Baghdad, as early as the year 797. So, after the two rulers had become acquainted, Harun-al-Rashid received an interesting message: Charlemagne wanted an elephant.

The Caliph of Baghdad reportedly decided to fulfill Charlemagne’s wish and shipped an Indian or African war elephant across the Mediterranean to the Carolingian Empire, which would later be renamed as the Holy Roman Empire. The elephant, allegedly named Abul Abaz, landed in Italy and was led through the Alps before meeting Charlemagne at Aachen in July, 802. The king apparently decided to let the animal keep its foreign name and integrated the elephant into the military. There is no knowing how much combat Abul Abaz saw, but the elephant would have been present in Europe to witness the end of Charlemagne’s long war with the Saxons (c. 772-804) and participated in the Frankish defense against raids from Denmark. In fact, Abul Abaz died in 810, near the Rhine settlement of Lippeham, where Charlemagne had stationed troops to defend against invasions from the Danes.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Depiction of a military elephant, by Sebastian Münster (1488–1552), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Two Lives of Charlemagne, by Einhard and Notker the Stammer, translated by David Ganz. New York: Penguin Classics, 2008.
• https://books.google.com/books?id=WGgYDAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA189&ots=W31caJ489R&dq=Abu%20Abaz&pg=PA60#v=onepage&q=Abul%20Abaz&f=false

The Interesting Arab “Trojan Horse” Strategy Allegedly Used Against The City Of Edessa

In 1038, the Byzantine Empire controlled the city of Edessa. The city, however, was coveted by the nearby Muslim caliphates. Two years prior, in 1036, a coalition led by Nasr ad-Daula the Marwanid and Sabib ibn Wahhab the Numairite attempted to take the city, but their attack was repelled. This failure, if the sources of the 11th-century historian, John Skylitzes, are correct, eventually prompted a dozen unnamed Arab chieftains to attempt their own version of the classic “Trojan Horse” in a bid to take the prized city.

At the time of the alleged incident, the commander of the Byzantine forces in Edessa was a certain Barasbatzes the Iberian. According to Skylitzes, this Barasbatzes witnessed twelve curious Arabian chieftains arrive at the gates of Edessa. They proclaimed that they had come in peace, and better yet, they had also brought with them a baggage train of a thousand large treasure chests, which they planned to hand over to the Byzantine emperor. The chiefs and their guards set up camp outside the city, but they requested that the large treasure chests be carried into the city.

For the night, Barasbatzes the Iberian decided to keep the chests located outside of the walls with the Arab camp, but he did invite the chieftains into Edessa for a large banquet. While the men of influence enjoyed their feast, an Armenian beggar was said to have gone to the wealthy Arabian camp to ask for coins—after all, they had brought with them a fortune that could only be contained by one thousand chests. As he was passing by the endless trunks, the Armenian began to hear Arabic voices coming from inside the many boxes. Unnerved by the situation, the beggar fled back to the city and reported what he had heard to the city’s garrison.

Messengers soon interrupted the banquet where the city’s commander was feasting with the chieftains. After the message was delivered, Barasbatzes arrested the chiefs and surrounded the Arab camp with his own troops. He had his soldiers methodically pry open the one thousand treasure chests. In each container, the soldiers supposedly found a fully geared Arab warrior waiting to be smuggled into the city. If the Byzantine commander had let the treasure chests into his city, these hidden Arabian warriors were supposedly going to break out of their boxes at night and slaughter the garrison. Instead, according to the tale, an Armenian beggar foiled the plot and the Arabian soldiers were the ones who were massacred.

After each container was emptied of its heavily-armed inhabitant, Barasbatzes confronted the detained chieftains. He then executed eleven of the twelve chieftains. The last chieftain was said to have been released, but only after he was mutilated by having his hands, nose and ears amputated.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (A caravan outside of the city of Morocco, by Edwin Lord Weeks  (1849–1903), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• John Skylitzes. A Synopsis of Byzantine History: 811-1057, translated by John Wortley. Original text c. 11^th or early 12^th century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

The Uncommon Life Of St. Anastasius The Persian

If you have a preconceived notion that religious saints from the ages of old were people who live honorable, but unbearably bland and dull lives, you need only take a close look at some of the bizarre people that have been recognized by religious institutions as saints. The lives of saints (especially old war-time saints) can be incredibly odd, strange and extremely fascinating.

Take, for example, the life of a Persian man by the name of Magundat. He thrived during the reign of the great Sasanian king, Khosrow II (also spelled Kosrow II, r. 590-628). Although Khosrow II had a shaky beginning to his rule, he eventually spread the Sasanian Empire to its farthest reaches, ruling most of the Middle East from Armenia in eastern Anatolia, to Egypt in North Africa.

According to legend, Magundat was originally a magi of the Zoroastrian religion, or possibly just a common magician, who lived in Persia during the reign of Khosrow II. Magundat joined Khosrow’s army and was present in the siege of Jerusalem that was carried out by the Sasanians in the year 614. In the aftermath of the successful siege, the victorious troops allegedly found the actual cross that had been used for the crucifixion of Jesus. According to the tale, this relic sparked in Magundat an insatiable curiosity about Christianity. Eventually, Magundat converted to the Christian faith and, upon his baptism, he took on a new name—Anastasius.

Anastasius the Persian quit the army after his conversion and became a monk in Jerusalem. For years, the former magi or magician stayed in Jerusalem—a period usually said to have been 7 years. Anastasius eventually decided to relocate to Caesarea in order to spread his adopted faith. He made this choice despite the knowledge that the Sasanian authorities were persecuting Christians in the region. In fact, Anastasius supposedly had a dream that made him want, or at least not fear, martyrdom. After preaching in Caesarea for an unknown amount of time, Anastasius was said to have been arrested, tortured, strangled and beheaded in 628 by the local leadership. Interestingly, King Khosrow II also died in 628, after having been deposed and executed during a coup d’état.

Anastasius the Persian is still considered a saint by Christian denominations that honor such figures.

Top picture attribution: (Depiction of St. Anastasius of Persia, Andachtsbild, c. 1780, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khosrow-ii 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Khosrow-II 
• http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/saints/Anastasios.php 
• https://oca.org/saints/lives/2011/01/22/100263-monkmartyr-anastasius-the-persian 
• http://www.bartleby.com/210/1/222.html 
• https://catholicsaints.info/saint-anastasius-the-persian/ 
• http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01455c.htm  

The Failed Expedition Into Arabia By The Roman Governor, Aelius Gallus

A man known as Aelius Gallus was appointed as Prefect of Egypt around 26 BCE during the reign of Augustus. Shortly after his appointment, the prefect, with the blessing of Augustus, launched an invasion into southwestern Arabia (near modern Yemen), known at the time as Arabia Felix. The Romans coveted the region for its rich supply of spice and incense. In a spirit similar to future explorers who sailed in search of El Dorado, an army of Romans led by Aelius Gallus marched into Arabia, driven by visions of wealth and glory. The exact date of this expedition is still debated, but it is believed to have taken about two years, likely either from 26-25 BCE or 25-24 BCE.

Aelius Gallus and his army did not wander blindly into Arabia—they were sensible enough to find a guide named Syllaeus, a Nabataean Arab from the region of Petra. Thousands of Roman soldiers followed Syllaeus for months through the most inhospitable and dry lands of the Arabian Peninsula. In these hot and parched conditions, the army quickly began to run out of supplies, especially water, and they failed to scavenge enough from the landscape to replenish their stocks. By the time the unfortunate Romans discovered that Syllaeus was deliberately leading the army on long routes through waterless-regions, it was too late—the army was thoroughly dehydrated and infected with disease.

Despite Syllaeus’ effective sabotage, Aelius Gallus supposedly dragged his troops a fair distance into southern Arabia. According to ancient sources such as Strabo, Cassius Dio and Pliny, the army of Aelius Gallus harassed several towns and cities within Arabia, and possibly even reached as far as Marib, or even Aden (in modern Yemen). Nevertheless, the poor condition of the speedily deteriorating army forced the Romans to retreat back to their safety and supplies in Egypt. In the end, the costly expedition was little more than a deadly scouting mission.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae- A Roman Legion (from Trajan's Column), c. 16th century, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Roman History (Book 53, chapter 29) by Cassius Dio, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Classics, 1987.  
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabia-Felix#ref231404 
• http://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/aelius-gallus-attempts-conquest-arabia-and-reaches-limits-roman-power  
• https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-studies/article/chronology-of-the-campaigns-of-aelius-gallus-and-c-petronius/2D7C9EC8E96C8337EB910C25117EAF79 
• http://classics.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-100?product=orecla#acrefore-9780199381135-e-100  
• https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/g/gaius_aelius_gallus.html

The History of Paper Is Anything But Blank

It is amazing just how much we know about the history of stationery. Papyrus was the first popular light medium for writing. It was used in the Middle East and Europe after tablets and clay fell out of fashion. Papyrus production is believed to have begun around 3500 BCE in Egypt, and eventually became a sought-after item in the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman sources such as Pliny the Elder (c. 23-79 CE) suggested that a shortage in papyrus shipments from Egypt led to the eventual rise of another form of stationery—parchment.

Although parchment grew in popularity after papyrus, it had already been around for a very long time. As far as we know, parchment was first produced sometime during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt (approximately 2613-2465 BCE). This material was created from animal skin that had been stretched out, scraped clean and dried free of unwanted moisture. Parchment had a few advantages over papyrus. For one, parchment did not mold and rot as papyrus did in the more humid regions of Greece and Italy. Even more importantly, parchment could be folded for more complex codices and books, while papyrus would snap and crack under the same stress. It is uncertain exactly when parchment overtook papyrus, but the Greek city of Pergamon is believed to have begun producing parchment in either the 3rd or the 2nd century BCE, during the reign of Eumenes I or Eumenes II.

In East Asia, another type of stationery was produced that would eventually displace parchment. The distant ancestor of modern paper is believed to trace well back before the production of Egyptian papyrus.  Based on the discovery of ancient stone tools, archaeologists and anthropologists have proposed that people in Southeast China may have begun producing barkcloth fabric from the beaten fibers of paper mulberry trees (Broussonetia papyrifera) as early as the 6th and 5th millennia BCE. Yet, this was far from our conception of paper. At first, the barkcloth was used for clothing and other aesthetic purposes, but, after thousands of years, it was utilized for writing. In the traditional folklorish account of the birth of paper, a man named Cau Lun (or Ts’ai Lun) is often given credit with the invention of paper in 105 CE. He is said to have created paper by mixing paper mulberry tree fibers with other substances, such as bast (a fiber from the phloem, or vascular tissue, of a plant) and discarded scraps of netting and hemp. Despite this story, many historians and archaeologists believe that this type of paper production in China began as early as the 1st century BCE. In corroboration of this, archaeologists digging near Dunhuang in Gansu Province found Buddhist writings on paper that was dated to around 8 BCE. Whatever the case may be, historians do not believe that paper stationary became a truly popularized item in China until the 3rd century CE. From China, papermaking traveled to Korea, and from there, it journeyed to Japan.

The expanding Islamic empires of the 8th century CE were responsible for spreading the use of paper westward. The first papermaking facility near the civilizations built around the Mediterranean Sea was constructed in Baghdad in either 793 or 794. There, the paper was made from more readily available fibers other than those from the paper mulberry tree. As a result, the paper from Baghdad was thicker, but less costly. Eventually, new paper mills were created in the Middle East and Europe. The cities of Damascus and Cairo were quick to pick up on papermaking. Similarly the Muslim-controlled city of Xàtiva, Spain, opened up a paper mill around 1120. Fabriano, Italy, also constructed its own paper mill in 1264, signaling that the use and production of paper was becoming more popular in non-Islamic Europe. England was probably one of the stragglers in local paper production, with a mill that opened up as late as 1588, in the town of Dartford.

Despite its rise in Europe and the Middle East, paper long remained an expensive and luxurious commodity that was not easily accessibly for all people. It would take industrialization and the invention of new machinery in the 19th century for paper to be mass-produced economically for the use of mankind.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Collage of The Edwin Smith papyrus (left), Barkcloth clothing from Yunnan Province, China (Center), a vellum page from the Codex runicus (right), all [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies: The Role of Cross-Border Trade and Travel by Michael C. Howard. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2012.  
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/papermaking 
• https://www.britannica.com/technology/paper  
• http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/people/faculty/bae/pdfs/2014-li-et-al-qI-in-press.pdf

The Odd Beings That Herodotus Suggested Lived In Libya

The father of history, Herodotus, had a very loose filter that often failed to keep out folklore and unfounded rumor from what he considered to be historical fact. Usually, Herodotus’ bits of folklore and myth were fairly tame, like recording a creation myth for a country or telling a questionable story about the historical figures in his book. Herodotus was a religious man, so talk of deities, omens and prophecies was also included in his work. Yet, he rarely spoke about monsters or other supernatural beings, except for the gods. One major exception, however, occurred in Herodotus’ description of ancient Libya.

In book four of The Histories, Herodotus gave a brief description of various Libyan tribes that he had learned of in his travels and studies. He then went on to talk about an undefined group of nomads who lived in what he called eastern Libya. Herodotus wrote that in the east of this region, where the nomads roamed, the land was sandy and relatively flat. To the west, where the nomads refused to wander, the geography was dominated by lush hills that supported an abundance of life. Apparently, there were some strange beings living in the hills of eastern Libya.

This is what Herodotus wrote about the creatures living in this hilly region:

“It is here that the huge snakes are found—and lions, elephants, bears, asps, and horned asses, not to mention dog-headed men, headless men with eyes in their breasts (I merely repeat what the Libyans say), wild men and wild women, and a great many other creatures by no means of a fabulous kind.” (Herodotus, The Histories (Book IV), Penguin Classics, 2002).

Scholars still debate what Herodotus was trying to describe. Some suggest he may have interpreted “dog-headed men” from descriptions of religious figures found in Egypt. Others simply claim that the “wild” people may have been gorillas and that the dog-headed men could have been baboons.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Statue of Anubis in the Vatican Museum, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons and Pixabay.com)

Sources:

• The Histories by Herodotus, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt and revised by John Marincola. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002. 

Is There A Linguistic Legacy From Falconry?

(Illustration from the Falconry Book of Frederick II, c. 1240s, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons and the Vatican Library)

Falconry, a complex form of sport and hunting, is thought to have existed long before the earliest eras of recorded history. The art of falconry, sometimes called hawking, is estimated to have been developed around the third millennium BCE. Some of the earliest depictions of falconers can be found on Hittite stelae dating back to the 13th century BCE, though some people believe falconry may even be depicted in cave paintings from far older times. While falconry seemed to have always been popular among cultures in the Middle East and the central Asian steppes, Europeans were introduced to the sport at a much later time. Centuries of crusades, beginning in 1096 CE, exposed the method of hunting to armies of crusaders and Christian nobles, who brought the sport back home with them to Europe. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (thankfully shortened to UNESCO) formally included falconry in their list of Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity on November 16, 2010.

Falconry has declined in popularity since ancient and medieval times, but falconry clubs and organizations still exist, and many countries provide access to falconry licenses. Another interesting legacy left behind by falconry is a list of everyday English sayings that are thought to have been derived from the sport. The phrase, “fed up,” supposedly originated from the behavior of falcons that had eaten and were content on a full stomach—therefore; the lethargic birds disobeyed orders and ignored their falconers. Having somebody “wrapped around your finger” allegedly referenced the act of a falconer wrapping the string or cord attached to a falcon around his finger, thereby giving the hunter more control over the bird. Similarly, having somebody “under your thumb” is thought to reference a falconer keeping the cord of a bird under his thumb, preventing it from flying away. So, even if you have never witnessed or even heard of falconry, the sport has likely had more of an impact on your life than you may know.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• https://www.britannica.com/sports/falconry

• http://www.n-a-f-a.com/?page=History

• http://www.n-a-f-a.com/?page=What_is_Falconry

• http://www.pbs.org/falconer/falconry/

• https://www.americanfalconry.com/beginners.html

The 10th-Century Warrior Emir Of Aleppo Who Plagued The Byzantine Empire

(Illustration of Sayf al-Dawla from a 13th century copy of the History of John Skylitzes (Skyllitzes Matritensis (Biblioteca Nacional de España), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Sayf al-Dawla (also known as Sa’if ad-Dualah, r. 944/945-967 CE) descended from the Hamdanid dynasty, which had a base of power in Al-Jazira and Syria. He managed to set himself up as Emir of Aleppo around 944 or 945 CE and quickly began making a name for himself through military skill and intellectual patronage. During his reign, Sayf spread his influence into Homs, Syria and Turkey.

Almost all of Sayf al-Dawla’s rule was marked by warfare. He sometimes fought against fellow Muslims, must notably with the Ikhshidid (or Ikhshidite) Mamluks of Egypt over lands in Syria, but his most persistent foe was the Byzantine Empire. Sayf al-Dawla and the forces of the Byzantine Empire traded continuous raids and skirmishes across each other’s borders for more than a decade.

In his many years of war, the Emir of Aleppo proved himself as a more-than-competent general. Of Sayf al-Dawla’s many successful conflicts against the Byzantine Empire, two in particular stand out. Around 953 CE, Sayf defeated a Byzantine army that was considerably larger than his own, and even severely injured the opposing general, Bardas Phokas the Elder, who would remain scarred for the rest of his life. Sayf al-Dawla’s three-week raid into the Byzantine Empire in 956 CE was another of his notable accomplishments and is still studied by military historians. In that raid, Sayf was able to embarrassingly outmaneuver and outfight opposing forces as he pillaged and plundered deep into imperial territory. Yet, Sayf al-Dawla’s luck ran out around 958 CE, when he was successfully ambushed by Byzantine troops—he survived the battle, but never regained his momentum. Four years later, the siege and sacking of his capital in Aleppo by a Byzantine army in 962 CE was an unmistakable sign that his fortune had taken a downturn.

Even though Sayf is best remembered as a military leader, he was also a patron of learning. All sorts of scholars and artists were invited to his court, among which were lofty intellectuals such as the philosopher, al-Fārābiī and the great poet, al-Mutanabbī. The Emir of Aleppo, however, did not only provide patronage to others, he also produced his own works—Sayf al-Dawla, himself, was known to be a competent poet. Yet, most of Sayf al-Dawla’s fame and admiration came from the hand of al-Mutanabbī, who presented Sayf as the pristine model of an Islamic nobleman in his poetic panegyrics.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• John Haldon. The Byzantine Wars. Gloucestershire: The History Press. 2008.  
• John Skylitzes. A Synopsis of Byzantine History: 811-1057, translated by John Wortley. Original text c. 11^th or early 12^th century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sayf-al-Dawlah  
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hamdanid-dynasty 
• http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/ArabicAleppo.htm  
• http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100443950 
• https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/islamiccivilizations/8304.html