The Mamluks: The Conquest That Led to Ruin

In the 13th century, the Crusader Kingdom collapsed, succeeded by the Mamluks. The Mamluks were a Muslim dynasty of non-Muslim origin. Initially, they were slave soldiers purchased by ancient Arab kings, who later gathered into large groups and conquered parts of the Middle East. Their origins included Turkish, Caucasian, and even Mongolian backgrounds.

The Crusader Kingdom was, as mentioned, faltering, and they managed to hold onto the land merely because no formidable enemy arose against them. In 1260, the Mongolian army stormed in. The great Khan Mongke, grandson of the ruthless ruler Genghis Khan, tasked his brother Hulagu with conquering the entire Middle East. Hulagu set out with his fearless soldiers to the Land of Israel, believing he would crush the Crusaders easily as he did other nations from Persia to the Mediterranean.

However, a surprise awaited him here. The Mamluk leader Baybars advanced with his army from Egypt and outflanked the Mongolian forces. The Mongols, alarmed by the immense dust clouds raised by the Egyptian soldiers, began to flee. This was a grave mistake. The weary Mongols fled for many kilometers northward, with the Mamluks in pursuit. Upon reaching the springs valley beneath Mount Gilboa (then known as Ein Jalut), the unaware Mongols continued toward the mountain and encountered a dead end. Meanwhile, the Mamluks seized the springs and quenched their thirst. They then surrounded the exhausted Mongols and defeated them entirely on Friday, September 3, 1260.

Israel became part of the Mamluk Sultanate, governed from Mamluk Egypt. If the Crusaders erred gravely by not settling and instead residing in massive fortresses, the Mamluks made the opposite mistake. They greatly feared foreign dominance and thus destroyed fortresses and ports, crippling trade and the ability to secure routes.

One historian writes: "In 1265, Baybars decided on a systematic policy of destroying fortresses and ports along the coast of Israel. He summoned camps of stonemasons and builders, commanding them to demolish the conquered fortresses. Not one stone was left upon another... This action significantly impacted the future development of Israel... rendering much of the coastal plain an abandoned wasteland."

Jaffa, a principal port city since the days of Jonah the Prophet, was described by a traveler in 1347, eighty years later: "The city of Jaffa is completely destroyed, there is nothing but two caves, where a miserable officer and a few Saracens guard the port. However, the port is destroyed and sealed off from fear that ships might land in the Holy Land."

"Urban population dwindled, there was a lack of agricultural tools, irrigation means were absent, and the agricultural population suffered greatly. Villages were depleted, and cultivated lands shrank."

This is how later historians describe the end of the Mamluk era: "Between cities, there were robbers; from Gaza to Jerusalem, robbers; from Jericho to Jerusalem, robbers."

As if that wasn't enough, the plague arrived: "In the mid-14th century, the Black Death... struck the Mamluk state... populated settlements were affected... Muslim chroniclers report that in a single month, over twenty-two thousand people died in the Gaza district, markets closed, and people perished amidst their tasks... Following the Black Death, the population dwindled, settlements were permanently abandoned, cultivated areas shrank, and the productive workforce was reduced."

The final blow to the Mamluk kingdom came with the discovery of new sea trade routes, eliminating the need for their slow caravans from Gaza to Egypt. Camels were replaced with merchant ships sailing new routes to India and America.

The Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta, in his 14th-century journeys, writes: "Palestine appears like a wasteland, most places are empty and abandoned, with no trace of its former glory."

German traveler Wilhelm von Boldensel, in his 14th-century travels, describes: "I traveled through a land that seemed abandoned long ago, homes deserted, and land uncultivated."

The Muslim historian Al-Maqrizi, in his book "Description of Egypt" (15th century), states: "The land appears as a desert, with most settlements deserted and empty."

Italian traveler Anselmus Adorno, in his 15th-century travels, wrote: "I found no living soul across most of the journey, desolation prevails everywhere."

Another adversary sought to claim the Land of Israel for themselves, but the land rejected them. It continued to grow more and more desolate, preparing to be rebuilt by those awaiting in exile.