Masyaf

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Masyaf Castle
Masyaf Castle - general view from the south

Masyaf Castle - general view from the south

Creation time : before 700
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Masyaf
Geographical location 35 ° 3 '58 "  N , 36 ° 20' 36"  E Coordinates: 35 ° 3 '58 "  N , 36 ° 20' 36"  E
Height: 500  m
Masyaf (Syria)
Masyaf

Masyaf ( Arabic مصياف, DMG Maṣyāf ) is a city in the Hama Governorate in western Syria . The town center is overlooked by an Arab castle from the crusader era. In the 12th century the castle was the main seat of the " old man from the mountain ", who was the leader of the Ismailis .

location

Masyaf is located on the southeast edge of the Jebel Ansariye about 40 kilometers west of Hama in the Orontes plain and 47 kilometers east of the coastal town of Baniyas on the road that connects both places. The city has 38,161 inhabitants (2010 calculation). The settlement center of the Syrian Ismailis is Salamiyya on the edge of the Syrian desert; the largest Ismaili groups in the mountains live in Qadmus and Masyaf.

history

The first castle existed in Byzantine times . But the Seleucids and the Romans had already used the castle hill for defense purposes. For example, the headquarters of the IV Scyth Legion was in Masyaf.

When the Crusaders crossed the area in 1099, the castle was owned by the Mirdasids . In 1103 it was briefly captured by the crusaders, but could not be held. 1109–1110 the owner, the Atabeg of Damascus, paid tribute to the Count of Tripoli so that he could exempt the rule of Masyaf from raids. In 1127 the rule was sold to the Banu Munqidh . From their hands it came to the assassins .

The Assassins, an Islamic sect, began missionary work in Syria in 1102. They helped the Emir of Aleppo, Ridwan , to eliminate his rivals and in return were given the opportunity to win supporters in Syria. They began to settle in the rocky mountains of Jebel Ansariye. In 1132 they were able to buy the first Qadmus castle. In 1141 they occupied Masyaf Castle. In the course of time they were able to form an autonomous area in the inaccessible mountains in the immediate vicinity of the Crusader states Antioch and Tripoli . The castle was expanded in the 12th and 13th centuries and served as the sect's headquarters in Syria. The "old man from the mountains", Sinan Raschid ad-Din, resided here since 1164 . In response to two attacks by the assassins, Saladin besieged the castle in 1176 without success. According to legend, he ended the siege one morning when he found a knife next to his pillow.

In 1270 Sultan Baibars was able to take possession of the castle during a long campaign (from about 1260 to 1273) against the assassins. With this success, the power of the assassins in Syria was broken.

In the further course of history, the castle served to protect the trade route from the Mediterranean to Hama . During the Middle Ages to the 20th century, there were frequent armed clashes between hostile Ismaili families and attacks by Alawites , which led to further impoverishment of the population in the backward area. In 1808 Alawis conquered and sacked the village. Many residents were killed, the rest had to flee. They could only return two years later with the help of Kunj Yusuf Pasha, the then regent (wali) of Damascus , who drove out the Alawis.

The castle was restored by the Aga Khan Foundation .

The village of Masyaf gained strategic importance in the Syrian civil war after 2011. Nearby is a state research facility, the CERS, which is believed to be linked to the Assad government's chemical weapons production . The Israeli military had also carried out repeated air strikes on a suspected rocket production facility and Iranian militia facilities in the area. In the summer of 2019, modern anti-aircraft missiles of Russian design were finally assembled on site, including S-300 starters.

reception

Masyaf is a multiple location in the video game series Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft . The protagonist of the first game in the series is the assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (translated "bird, not a man's son") from Masyaf and parts of the plot play here again in Assassin's Creed: Revelations .

literature

  • Michael Braune: Investigations into the medieval fortification in northwest Syria: The Assassin castle Masyaf. Damaszener Mitteilungen Volume 7, German Archaeological Institute Damascus, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1993
  • Jean Mesqui: Forteresses Médiévales au proche-orient. Quatre châteaux des Hospitaliers au nord du comté de Tripoli . 2003. ( PDF ; 262 kB).
  • Ross Burns: Monuments of Syria . IB Tauris Publishers, London / New York 1999. ISBN 1-86064-244-6
  • Baedeker Syria . Verlag Karl Baedeker, 2000.
  • Walter Zöllner : History of the Crusades . VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1983.

Web links

Commons : Masyaf  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bevoelkerungsstatistik.de
  2. ^ Norman N. Lewis: Nomads and settlers in Syria and Jordan, 1800–1980. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1987, p. 59
  3. "Syria says 'hostile target' shot down near Iran-linked base" TOI of August 16, 2019