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The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin by Ibn Shaddad

al-Nawadir al-sultaniyya wa’l-nahasin al-Yusufiyya by Ibn Shaddad

Aliases
Aliases Arabic
Ibn Shaddad
Baha’ al-Din Abu’l-Mahasin Yusuf ibn Rafi‘ ibn Tamim
Background and Biography
Background and Biography

Excerpts
English from Guidoboni and Comastri (2005)

After becoming a city, Ramla was famous for its trade and as a work place; travellers went there and traders settled there, until the day when an earthquake struck, on 10 Jumada I in 460 [H. = 17 March 1068]. It destroyed houses and demolished the city walls, reducing it to rubble, and water overflowed from wells. The rock of Jerusalem split open and then came together again. A large proportion of the inhabitants of Ramla made for Aylat, rebuilt it, and turned it into a town.

Chronology
Year Reference Corrections Notes
17 March 1068 CE 10th of Jumada I A.H. 460 none
  • calculated using CHRONOS
  • The 10th of Jumada I in A.H. 460 equates to 17 March 1068 CE which fell on a Monday (calculated using CHRONOS)
Seismic Effects
  • Ramla destroyed houses and demolished the city walls, reducing it to rubble
  • Ramla water overflowed from wells
  • The rock of Jerusalem split open and then came together again
  • A large proportion of the inhabitants of Ramla made for Aylat1, rebuilt it, and turned it into a town
Foornotes

1 Gil (1992:408 n. 60) interprets Aylat as Iliya - an Arabic name for Jerusalem.

Ibn Shaddad (MS), 119b; (printed), 182; he is the only one who has the strange addition: 'most of the inhabitants of Ramla afterwards passed to Jerusalem (Iliya) and built it and fortified it'; it seems that the version is distorted and it was probably written there (approximately) that the inhabitants of Ramla fled to Jerusalem after the earthquake, but that they returned and rebuilt their city afterwards.

Locations
  • Ramla
  • Jerusalem
  • Aylat1
Foornotes

1 Gil (1992:408 n. 60) interprets Aylat as Iliya - an Arabic name for Jerusalem.

Ibn Shaddad (MS), 119b; (printed), 182; he is the only one who has the strange addition: 'most of the inhabitants of Ramla afterwards passed to Jerusalem (Iliya) and built it and fortified it'; it seems that the version is distorted and it was probably written there (approximately) that the inhabitants of Ramla fled to Jerusalem after the earthquake, but that they returned and rebuilt their city afterwards.

Online Versions and Further Reading
References