Levant The Journal of the Council for British Research in the Levant

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Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995–1999

G.R.D. King

To cite this article: G.R.D. King (2002) Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995–1999, Levant, 34:1, 39-58

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/lev.2002.34.1.39

Published online: 18 Jul 2013.

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Download by: [Laurentian University] Date: 17 March 2016, At: 02:24 LEVANT 34 2002 Pp. 39-58 Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995-1999

G.R.D. King

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WeiR OXG

The Citadel of Roms is set on one of the largest urban tells of Syria but it has been neglected in terms of its archaeology as it was occupied by the military until recent years. The tell goes back to at least the Early Bronze Age although the present paper focuses primarily on its Islamic fortifications. The extant Islamic walls were built during the Ayyubid period and the Mamluk sultan Baybars subsequently camoed out restorations. All of this work is testified by inscriptions although without exception, they are lost. A joint Syrian-British study of the Citadel of Roms commenced in 1994, and this has involved recording the remains of the walls and towers, while excavations have attempted to understand the stratigraphic sequence of floors in the rooms of the mediaeval Islamic defences.

Introduction visible today because of the high-rise modern struc- tures around it, but in earlier times it must have Homs (Cl. lfims) is one of the main cities of central dominated Homs, especially when its mediaeval Syria, situated on the road running north from Islamic fortifications were still intact as C.F. Volney Damascus to Hama and Aleppo. It commands shows them in an illustration drawn in 1785 (Volney access to the Mediterranean through the Tripoli 1959, 330) (Fig. 2). Gap in the west and to Palmyra in the desert to the east. Just outside Homs towards the west is the River Orontes, and beyond it is the lake of Homs and the The progress of research site of ancient Qadesh (Tell Nebi Mend). The Islamic period Citadel of Homs, sometimes called Although a sondage is said to have been excavated QalCat Usama, is located on the south side of the old on the Citadel during the period of the French walled town, towards its south-west corner, close Mandate, no report appears to have been published. to the gate known as the Bab al-Masdud and it Subsequently, an excavation by Mr Majid al- constitutes the most important and prominent Musalli, then of Homs Museum, was undertaken in archaeological site of Homs. 1974 in the north-west part of the tell during which

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 In the mediaeval period, the fortifications of a sculpture of a lion was discovered. It is now in Homs Citadel were comparable to those of the Homs Museum. It has a Greek inscription which Citadel at Aleppo although smaller in scale. states that it was presented by one Mayadanos to the However, because of the vicissitudes that Homs god of the Sun, Elagabalos, with thanks. This Citadel has suffered from the mid-nineteenth cen- sondage is the subject of an unpublished report held tury onwards, it is now in a far poorer state of at the Homs Museum (Majid ai-Mus alIi 1975; Najib preservation than the Citadel of Aleppo. Macazz 1995). Mr Najib Macazz, the former The man-made tell upon which Homs Citadel Director of the Homs Museum, suggested to the stands is set on a natural soft sedimentary stone out- present author in 1995 at the start of our work that, crop forming an elevated platform above the on the basis of the earlier Syrian investigations, the Orontes flood-plain. The tell is roughly circular, tell goes back to the third millennium Be, and that it measuring about 275 m. in diameter, and it is c. was also occupied in the Aramaean or in the Hittite 29 m. in height, making it the highest ground in period. Homs (Figs 1-5). Water from the Orontes once fed The current joint Syrian-British project at Homs a moat but our impression of the Citadel's height is Citadel was initiated in 1994 at the request of Dr now compromised by the in-filling of the moat that Sultan Muhesen, former Director-General of took place in the 1970s. The Citadel is not readily Antiquities, and an initial archaeological assessment

39 40 LEVANT 34 2002

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25 nt. 50 m. 75m. 100m, 505.16 m.• __ .. ..- :I:::!:->/.-1/

Landmark Surveys Nov 1996 Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016

Figure 1. Plan of the Citadel of Horns (1996).

of the Citadel was carried out by the joint Syrian- vations on the Citadel in Areas B, C, E and G and a British expedition in June 1995 (IZing, Dunlop, geophysical survey was carried out by the Faculty of Garfi and Tonghini 1995) which was followed in Civil Engineering of the BaCath University of Horns February 1996 by a 'conditions and remedies' report at the same time and this work continued in 1998. setting forth the technical requirements for the con- Also in 1998, Mr Farid Jabbour, co-Director of the servation of the Citadel with a recommendation for joint Syrian-British project, conducted investiga- an archaeological programme (Holden 1996). A tions inside a deep vertical well shaft in the centre of topographical survey of the Citadel was undertaken the tell. A short season followed in August- by Landmark Surveys in December 1996 and 1:500 September 1999 when trenches along the north and 1:1250 maps of the site were produced (Fig. 1). perimeter in Areas F and J and the south perimeter Between 27th July and 28th August 1997, the joint in Area C were excavated. Excavations are continu- Syrian-British archaeological team undertook exca- ing at the time of writing (November 2000). G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Horns, Syria: 1995-1999 41

Figure 2. The Citadel of Homs in 1785 (from Volney) Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie. By permission of the British Library: 149.9.PLA.20-795254). Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016

Figure 3. The Citadel of Homs in 1925 (courtesy of Peter J. Parr). 42 LEVANT 34 2002 Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016

Figure 4. Horns: the Bah al-Hawa' (Tower 3) in 1997.

Historical background early stratigraphy is masked by a mediaeval Islamic glacis, but where this has fallen away, the earliest As we have seen, before we carried out work on the stratified levels of the tell are exposed. Scaled photo- site, the unpublished French and Syrian soundings mosaics were made of these sections in 1997 and had already led to suggestions that the deeper levels ceramics were recovered from the very lowest sealed of the tell go back to the third millennium Be. In the levels immediately above bedrock on the south-east course of the 1997 and the 1999 seasons, we exam- side in 1999. These date to the Early Bronze Age ined a number of sealed and stratified sections on and they give the earliest indications of the antiquity the north-west and the south-east sides of the tell of the tell so far identified. just above bed-rock. In most places on the tell the This information does not fit well with the sug- G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Horns, Syria: 1995-1999 43

Figure 5. The Citadel of Homs from the air.

gestion made by N. Elisseeff (1971) that the foun- Cn. Pompeius Magnus took control of Syria from dation of Horns should be attributed to the the weakened Seleukids in 64 BC, and Horns passed Hellenistic ruler, Seleukos Nicator. C. Ritter (1855, under Roman rule, but with a local Arab dynasty 1008) was unconvinced of the association of allowed to remain in place. The town retained its Seleukos with Horns, noting that Appian (1999, II, own local rulers until AD 96 and the monumental xi, 213) writing in c. AD 125, records a total of six- tomb of a member of this dynasty, Sampsigeramos, teen cities which are said to have been built by was built there in 78 BC. This tomb was located just Seleukos, yet he makes no reference to Horns. This to the west of the Citadel tell and it survived until

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 is all the more striking as Appian mentions Arethusa 1911 when it was dynamited (Seyrig 1952, 204). (al-Rastan) just to the north of Horns. R. Dussaud This Sampsigeramos preferred to reside at Arethusa also only cautiously associated Horns with Seleukos (al-Rastan) to the north of Horns, although Horns (1927,103). was to become his burial place. His tomb was illus- Ammianus Marcellinus, writing in c. AD 390-391 trated by L. de Laborde in 1838 (Fig. 6). (2000, I, xiv, 8.9, 69) calls the town Emissa and Under the Romans, Horns was known as Emesa treats it as a city of Phoenicia, the equal of Tyre, and it became the main place of Phoenicia Libanesia. Sidon, Berytus and Damascus and of great anti- Domitian (AD 81-96) made Horns a part of the quity. Ibn Hawqal attributed the origins of Horns Roman empire, and deposed the local ruling family. to the Amalakites which at least implies a sense of An imperial mint was established there by the time its great antiquity (Ibn Hawqal 1938, 117; al- of the rule of Antonius Pius (AD 138-161). Istakhri 1967, 61). The evidence of the EB4 Although the role of the Citadel tell in the Roman ceramics retrieved from the south-east exposure period is so far unclear, Elisseeff thought that confirms that settlement at the tell of Horns indeed Horns's square urban plan with the Citadel on the goes back to a very much earlier date than the south side derived from a reorganization under the Hellenistic period. Romans. Roman period settlement on the Citadel 44 LEVANT 34 2002

Figure 6. Tomb of Sampsigeramos (from Laborde, by permission of the British Library: Tab 817b Pl. V lower-957S454).

tell is indicated by the presence of eastern terra with the Citadel tell itself as Horns lacks any natural sigillata found in the course of our excavations in mountain. redeposited contexts. A number of columns in pink- Wherever it was located, the temple of Horns ish granite, possibly from Aswan, are also scattered appeared on the town's Roman coinage and it was a around the Citadel and one stands in the centre of a place of sanctity for the local tribes before the cult modern pond in the Officers' Garden, created by the achieved wider fame in the Empire. The temple

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 military in the twentieth century. All of these pink associated with Horns was richly decorated with columns are taken to be Roman in origin. gold and silver, with a black (basalt?) conical stone Like other great Syrian cult temples, that asso- as the main focus of worship. Some writers have ciated with the Sun at Horns appears to have noted the parallal that this black stone offers to the undergone a major expansion under the Romans. It black stone in the pre-Islamic Kacba at Makka. An was assumed by Elisseeff, following Waddington, idea of the wealth of Horns and its temple in the that the site of the Sun temple of Horns was where period before Islam can be inferred from the luxuri- the Nuri Mosque now stands in the old town ous grave-goods found in the necropolis of Horns although Conder suggests that the temple should be (Seyrig 1952, 204-250). sought on top of the Citadel (1883, 43). However, Horns and its Sun cult emerged to empire-wide there is no evidence from the Citadel so far to prove prominence when one Elagabalos, a devotee of the or disprove Conder's contention. The name of the cult, if not its high priest, became Roman Emperor principal Emesa deity, Elagabalos, i.e., Blah al- in AD 21 7 under the name of Marcus Aurelius Gabal (Allah al-Jabal), the God of the Mountain, Antoninus. With opulently lavish ceremony, he car- could support Conder's argument, for it may be the ried the black stone from Horns to Rome, where, case that the Gabal or mountain was synonymous despite the stern disapproval of the officials of state G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Horns, Syria: 1995-1999 45

and army, he paraded it in the imperial capital, an In the fifth century, Emesa/Homs became the seat episode related with sonorous disdain by Edward of a bishop within Phoenicia Libanesia and with the Gibbon. conversion of the Empire to Christianity, it may be Warwick Ball has recently countered the tradi- that the site of the Horns Sun temple became a tional association of the temple with Horns by church in the same way as occurred at Damascus raising the possibility that the cult temple of Emesa where the temple of Jupiter also became a church in was not at Horns at all but in the Emesene lands out- the late fourth century. This of course assumes that side Horns where it should be identified with the the temple stood in the old town where the N uri great complex of temples at Ba'albakk (Ball 2000, Mosque now stands and the uncertainties of this 37-47). Ball has suggested that both topography and assumption are all too clear from what has been said lack of substantial remains at Horns argue in favour already. AI-Mascudi, writing in AH 336-345/AD of Ba'albakk as the cult centre. It is a tempting the- 947-956, attributes this church to St Helena, the sis for there is a disturbing lack of masonry at Horns mother of Constantine I, describing it as being built that can be associated with a great temple. There is on four great piers (arkiin), but his account is insuf- certainly nothing at Horns to indicate that any puta- ficiently precise to determine what the piers tive temple there was remotely comparable in scale supported (al-Mascudi 1861, I, 312). The head of St to the vast Ba'albakk shrine. John the Baptist is said to have been found near We have not yet reached Roman stratigraphic Horns in AD 452 and it was reburied in a church, levels at the Citadel, but enough pottery was presumably that which was on the site of the present retrieved by us in 1997 and 1999 to demonstrate Nuri Mosque. It is, of course, well known that the Roman period occupation of the site. Possible burial place of St John the Baptist's head is also Roman structures have also been noted. These marked in the the Great Mosque of Damascus, and include the lowest parts of the well shaft in the the claims of Horns in this respect are doubtful. central part of the tell which may be Roman or Other Christian antiquities at Horns included an Byzantine, judging by the brickwork and its general early sixth century underground mortuary chapel construction. In a non-archaeological pit south of with paintings of crosses which was at Bab al-Siba' Area J opened in 1998 similar brickwork appeared, (Bab Sba J), and there is a series of Christian belonging to a large but so far undated building. paintings in the church of Mar Elian (Iliyan) still However, no other remains identified can be associ- in situ. ated with a substantial Roman structure like a Horns was the base used by Heraclius before he temple. If the temple associated with Elagabalos finally withdrew from Syria in AH 16/AD 637 in the was on the Citadel as Conder has suggested, then it face of the Muslim invasion. As at Damascus, the must be assumed to have been levelled in post- coming of Islam led to the division of the main Roman times. If the temple was not on the Citadel church site of Horns which thereafter was shared but at the Nuri Mosque site in the old town, the with the Muslims who built a mosque next to the remains extant there are also slight, consisting prin- church. This situation continued still in the fourth cipally of some Roman capitals and a tank or century AH/tenth century AD when al-Istakhri, Ibn sarcophagus in basalt now set in the mosque court- Hawqal and al-Maqdisi all described the division of

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 yard. Although our conclusions are far from settled, the site by the two faiths (al-Istakhri 1967, 61; Ibn Ball's hypothesis that the temple of Elagabalos was Hawqal 1938, 117; al-Maqdisi 1967, 156). The not at Horns but in the Emesene countryside at Jamic mosque in the old town, now known as the Ba'albakk is attractive. While the current excava- Nuri mosque, was rebuilt on this site by Nur aI-Din tions do not prove him right, nor do they yet prove Zangi after a twelfth century earthquake and the him wrong church at this point finally vanished, the whole Horns's military importance at the junction of a enclosure being thereafter dedicated solely as a series of major routes was reflected in its role during mosque. the Emperor Aurelian's campaign against Queen The history of Horns Citadel itself under the Zenobia's expansionist Palmyra. He defeated Romans and Byzantines remains unclear and we are Zenobia at Horns in AD 271 and he then used the not yet in a position to tie it in with any of the infor- town as his base of operations when he launched his mation that we have relating to the rest of Horns in final assault on Palmyra in the following year. This this period. Nor is there any information regarding use of Horns as a mustering place foreshadows its the Citadel in the early Islamic period although role in the period of the Crusades, when it was the Horns is mentioned in the context of a number of gathering point for the Muslim forces of Nur aI-Din episodes under the first caliphs and the Umayyads. Zangi. The conqueror of Syria, I

AH 211AD 642 at Horns and a mosque was built on of believers, and this on Tuesday, 25th Sha'ban in the the site of his tomb which lies outside the old town year 669 (8 April, 1271) walls (Herzfeld 1943, 66-68; al-cDsh 1963, 111-139; al-cUsh 1969, 15-47). This mosque was There was a second inscription on the south-west rebuilt in c. 1908. side of a tower in the outer wall with an identical text In AH 278/AD 891 al-YaCqubi commented on the (van Berchem 1913, Inscription 10, 13-14). I am size of Horns, but he made no mention of the not sure where this second inscription would have Citadel. AI-Istakhri, writing in AH 340/AD 950-1, been located. No inscriptions remain today any- speaks of a decline that Horns had suffered as a where on the surviving fortifications. Baybars's result of Byzantine attacks into northern Syria in his interest in Horns is also reflected in the magnificent day. The first specific account of the Citadel by a wooden sarcophagus (tabut) that he donated to the Muslim writer is provided by the Palestinian geogra- tomb of IZhalid b. al-Walid (al-CUsh 1963,111-139; pher, al-Maqdisi, writing in c. AH 375/AD 985 who al-cUsh 1969, 15-47) which is now in the National says that it rose high above the surrounding coun- Museum at Damascus. tryside (al-Maqdisi 1967, 156). Ibn Jubayr writing in Of the mediaeval Islamic fortifications of the AH 5801 AD 1184 commented on the Citadel's Citadel, walls and towers are now mainly preserved strength, describing it as standing to the south of on the northern side of the tell where they stand in Horns, as a powerful, impregnable castle, separate several places to over 3 m., although originally they and detached from the town (Ibn Jubayr 1952, were higher. In most other places, the superstructure 267-8). Yaqut in c. AH 622/AD 1225 refers to Horns of the walls and towers has entirely vanished, but as a walled town and its citadel as a "...a strongly examination of the surface of the perimeter of the fortified castle standing on a high hill" (Yaqut, ii, tell summit shows that much of the substructure of 334; Le Strange 1965, 356). Yaqut (or his source) the walls may well survive below the surface. must have seen the mediaeval fortifications of which Archaeological excavation by the Syrian- British parts still survive today and which are dated by the team has confirmed the subsurface survival of defen- inscriptions of the Ayyubid ruler aI-Malik al- sive wall foundations in Area C on the south side of Mujahhid Shirkuh II to AH 594/AD 1198 and AH the tell and in Areas F and J on the north side. 599/AD 1202. These inscriptions were located on In the mediaeval Islamic period, the Citadel was Tower 2 according to Elisseeff (van Berchem and entered through a fortified and bent gateway on the Fatio 1914, 165; Elisseeff, BP). Later Ayyubid inter- north-east side facing towards the town, the Bab al- est in Horns is also reflected in the building of the Hawa'. This gate is now blocked and cannot be fully Bab aI-Mas dud in the old town wall just below the explored archaeologically until the structure has Citadel. This is dated to AH 641/AD 1244 and it may been stabilized (Tower 3, Fig. 4). The present point relate to a general renewal of the fortifications of of entry to the Citadel is a steep concreted track Horns (Wiet 1941, xi, p. 151; 1952, I, 210 and winding up the north-west side of the tell, cutting note 16). through archaeological deposits and the remains of In AH 669/AD 1271, in the aftermath of the defeat fortifications. While this track has every appearance of the Mongol forces of Hulegu, the Mamluk Sultan of being modern in its present form, Mr Mundhir Baybars repaired the fortifications of the Citadel of Ha'ik has suggested that it may go back to Ottoman

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 Horns and provisioned it as a strongpoint against times, and that it was merely improved when the future Mongol attack. An inscription was published Citadel was used by the French and Syrian armies. by van Berchem which came from the east side of He has suggested that the track was intended to the entrance to the Citadel. I take this to have been accommodate access for the Turkish artillery. Given set into the north-east gate, the Bab al-Hawa' (van the difficulty of bringing cannon of any length Berchem 1913, Inscription 9, 13). This inscription through the north-east bent entrance, the Bab al- is no longer in situ but there is a place over the gate Hawa', he may well be right. where it could once have been fitted into the A spiral staircase shaft for drawing water is located masonry. According to van Berchem, the inscription against the south side of a great water tank on the read: north central side of the tell. This shaft was the sub- ject of a detailed study in 1998 by Mr Farid Jabbour, In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate, ordered the restoration (tajdid) of this blessed fortress co-Director of the Syrian-British Horns Citadel pro- (hisn) in the reign of our lord the Sultan, al-malik al- ject. The staircase descends through the central part Zahir, the wise, the just, the guardian of the frontier of the tell to a depth of over 30 m. with basalt vaults forts, guided by God, the victorious, Rukn al-Dunya and a rectangular shaft in the upper part which wa'l-Din, Abu'l-Fath Baybars, colleague of the prince appears to be mediaeval Islamic in origin. It was G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Horns, Syria: 1995-1999 47

reconstructed in its uppermost parts by the French Pasha, the Citadel was blown up between 1831 and army. The lowest part of the stair-shaft is circular 1840. The only building left standing was the and of brick, and it reaches to the base of the tell. mosque known as Jamic aI-Sultan but it too has since The brick shaft may be of Byzantine or Roman ori- vanished entirely. The origins of the Jamic aI-Sultan gin. Mr Ha'ik informed us that tunnels in excess of are unclear. The title of 'Sultan' could point to a metre in diameter were located to the south-east of Baybars as its builder, rather than to Nur aI-Din the tell during road building some years ago. These Mahmud Zanki, or Shirkuh II. A large amount of presumably fed the well at the base of the shaft. The stone was probably taken from the Citadel for re-use case may be compared with the great well cut in the town below after Ibrahim Pasha's demolition, through the natural rock of the Citadel at Cairo built but there is reason for thinking that the Citadel still by Salah aI-Din in AH 572/AD 1176 (al-Maqrizi, II, stood thereafter to a greater elevation than at present 204; Creswell 1969, ii, 5). In the case of Horns, the and that it was to be the French army that caused Islamic period architects had an easier time of it the final demolition of the walls. insofar as there seems already to have been a more A. von IZremer mentions the Citadel and the gates ancient Roman or Byzantine well in the middle of in 1853 (von Kremer 1853, 220-221), and Conder the site and the Horns tell was far softer to cut visited the Citadel during a tour of Syria in 1881-2 through than the solid rock of the Cairo Citadel. (Conder 1883, 46-47). Van Berchem and Fatio Other medieval Islamic building work included described the site in 1895 in the following terms and the construction of an impressive glacis which still also record the dating inscription that Elisseeff indi- runs from the foot of the tell to the summit in some cates was on Tower 2 (van Berchem and Fatio 1914, places. The glacis appears to constitute the latest re- 165): organization of the fortifications, covering over Non loin de la [Bab al-Masdud], vers l'angle sud- earlier concentric wall systems, themselves almost est de la ville, se dresse un tertre qui portait la certainly mediaeval Islamic in origin. The building citadelle et qui parait etre artificiel, comme ceux of this glacis also had the effect of concealing earlier des citadelles d'autres villes syriennes; celIe de occupation levels of the ancient tell. These are now Horns existait encore, en partie du moins, au only visible at the points where the glacis has fallen debut du XIX siecle. En 1895, il n'en restait que away on the north-west and the south-east sides of quelques pans de murs et, sur Ie front nord, une the tell. tour en ruine, portant une inscription arabe au Running around much of the base of the tell today nom du sultan ayyoubide Malik Mujahid Chirkuh is a modern park and there is housing on the north et datee de l'annee 594 (1198). side, but in former times this whole area ringing the tell formed a moat, said to have been dug once to a Whatever the damage caused by Ibrahim Pasha, depth of some 6-7 m. According to Colonel Squire the destruction that he wrought was greatly exacer- who saw the Citadel in 1802, the moat was 60 feet bated by the French army when the Citadel was (c. 8-19 m.) wide (Ritter 1855,1016). Conder also used as a military base during the Mandate period. mentions the moat but he gives no dimensions At this time, remaining stretches of the curtain wall (Conder 1883, 47). The moat drew its water from seem to have been toppled. Our excavations at

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 the river Orontes. Before it was filled in the 1970s, Horns Citadel since 1997 have revealed the extent of local people describe taking small boats onto it. We the destruction caused by the French army. The assume that the moat related to the mediaeval forti- French also levelled parts of the site with about 2 m. fications but as it has now been obliterated by the of fill. On this fill, they constructed barracks on con- presence of the park, the point can no longer be crete rafts. In more recent times, the tell has suffered readily tested. yet more disturbance with the construction of a TV After the Ottoman conquest of Syria by Selim I in aerial system on the east side and associated sub-sur- 1516, Horns was made a liwa of Tripoli, and the face concrete structures in the centre which have Ottomans used the Citadel, as a military command also had the effect of severely limiting the retrievable post just as the Mamluks had done before them. archaeology on the Citadel. They also blocked the Bab al-Masdud gate in the The French also put parts of the central area of the town wall below. There are a number of accounts of northern side of the site permanently beyond the the Citadel under the Turks. Volney drew it in 1785 reach of archaeology when they cut a great water tank and he shows the fortifications as entirely undam- system deep into the tell. However, it is possible that aged (Volney 1959, 330) (Fig. 2). However, after a this 7 m. deep water tank includes some part of an revolt against the invading forces of the Egyptian earlier Ayyubid or Mamluk tank. If this is the case it general, Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad CAli was greatly refurbished and enlarged by the French 48 LEVANT 34 2002

and all traces of any older work were obliterated and lies to just to the north of Horns. Arethusa had fine subsumed into the present structure. The masonry of Roman walls in a calcareous masonry that is very the present French water tank system is black basalt, much like that at Horns Citadel. However, at al- like that used in the mediaeval fortifications of the Rastan/Arethusa today only the foundations of a Citadel. The presence of the deep well and staircase monumental gate and short stretches of wall are vis- shaft mentioned earlier, to the immediate south of ible. It may be that the superstructure of the the French tank, may reinforce the view that there Arethusa walls was carried off to be reused for facing was an earlier storage tank on the site now occupied the fortifications of Horns Citadel in the mediaeval by the French water tank. Islamic period, being regarded as a prestigious stone As a result of all of this cumulative disturbance, it because of its size and its whiteness, and well suited became clear to us during the 1997 season that there for a major fortification. is little prospect of archaeological survival in most of Basalt columns are used to reinforce the towers, the central area of the tell. The removal of the con- the walls and the glacis of Horns Citadel. These crete rafts beneath the barracks and the excavation of columns are laid horizontally, only their diameters the underlying fill would entail an immense effort showing in the coursing. This use of columns for and in effect the areas concealed by the barracks raft reinforcement is also encountered in the town walls walls and beneath all other French and post-French of Horns. Creswell has associated the use of bonding period buildings must be judged to be beyond rea- columns with the Islamic period in Egypt, Syria and sonable archaeological retrieval. The work associated elsewhere (Creswell 1940, ii, 359-360; Creswell with the TV and other aerials has been similarly 1952, i, 210). The oldest reported use of such a sys- destructive. The potential for archaeology at Horns tem, he suggests, was in Ibn Tulun's construction of

Citadel is thus confined to the perimeter of the tell a mole in CAkka (Acre) harbour in Palestine, built where the fortifications and the chambers behind between AH 264/AD 878 and AH 270/AD 883. them can be traced relatively easily and where there Thereafter, such bonding columns appear in is some potential for finding sealed floors. Here alone Fatimid architecture, including the AH fifth cen- we may be able to relate the mediaeval Islamic forti- tury/ AD eleventh century walls of Cairo which were fications to that which precedes them. built by order of Badr al-Jamali, the Armenian gen- eral who had come to Egypt with an entourage from Syria. This bonding system subsequently became The Islamic fortifications ubiquitous in Syria, with Muslim and Crusader architects alike using columns as a means of rein- The masonry forcing walls, both as a defence against undermining by sappers and against battering rams. On the north side of the Citadel where the Islamic period towers survive to their greatest extent, the The glacis facing masonry is principally of well-cut ashlar blocks of yellowish-white limestone, whereas inner The building of the glacis at Horns Citadel required surfaces are of coarser and much smaller black basalt the dumping of thousands of tons of earth against blocks. The glacis is also constructed of basalt, set in the ancient tell to form a steep ramp. This ramp was a hard plaster cement faced with black basalt masonry set in a lime mortar, Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 Generally, the external facing of the towers is bet- c. 2 m. in thickness. At its lowest preserved stretch ter preserved, whereas the poorer quality of the along the western side of the tell, the glacis is basalt masonry has probably contributed to collapse. anchored by the basalt columns described above, the There are also occasional examples of basalt blocks, columns regularly inserted at right angles into the some of which are spolia bearing decoration. Basalt cementing plaster. ashlar and rubble stone is also used in repairs: the In several places, the basalt facing of the glacis is basalt used for these repairs tends to be smaller. very well preserved, but where it has fallen away, The fine yellowish-white calcareous blocks that long rectangular stones are exposed, set lengthwise face the towers seem to have been in relatively short into the face of the slope, and projecting upwards. supply. The local building stone of Horns tradition- These are most visible along the western and ally is basalt coming from a natural exposure on the southern parts of the glacis where they are evenly dis- west side of the town. By contrast, it seems that the tributed among the masonry that forms the slope. limestone was imported from elsewhere. It is These long stones served as rivets or nails standing tempting to wonder if this limestone masonry was out boldly from the relative smoothness of the sur- taken from al-Rastan, the Roman Arethusa, which rounding facing basalt masonry G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Horns, Syria: 1995-1999 49

The pre-glacis ring walls The glacis is built over pre-existing ring or curtain walls which can be seen where the glacis has fallen away or has been robbed out. It seems that there were up to three of these ring walls encircling the ancient tell, rising one above the other in a concen- tric 'wedding cake' fashion. The dating of these walls is uncertain, although we take them all to be of mediaeval Islamic origin. On the western side of the mound and close to its base, there is a short length of an exposed ring wall in basalt, the lowest of the concentric walls. There is also a stretch of rubble masonry exposed (its facing removed, presumably through robbing) in the south-west part of the tell. It is likely that this con- stitutes the continuation of the line of the lowest curtain wall Further up the tell and visible where the glacis is missing, there are quite long stretches of a higher, intermediate wall encircling the Citadel mound, the second of the ring walls. There is a substantial length of wall on this alignment extending south from the modern concrete access track to the Citadel. This stretch of wall has an aperture preserved in it. Like the lower curtain wall, this wall is made up of rela- tively well cut, square to rectangular black basalt masonry blocks. Given the presence of the aperture, one must assume that the wall predates the glacis, for the glacis when it was in place would have blocked the aperture completely. The position of an intermediate curtain wall is also indicated by the partial remains of the founda- Figure 7. Horns Citadel: the excavations in Area F and J tions of two D-shaped towers, constructed of basalt (1999) looking west to Tower 2, with the outer wall exposed by rubble with a facing of rectangular limestone blocks. a Syrian military trench. One of the latter is visible on the south side of the tell while the other is adjacent to the modern con- crete track up to the summit of the Citadel. stands above the concrete entry ramp on the north- west side. Further along the north side, to the east of Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 The extant towers and curtain wall Tower 1 stands Tower 2. Tower 3, the Bab al- The remains of the towers and walls on the summit Hawa', stands to the east again on the north-east of the tell form the uppermost concentric ringwall side of the tell with Tower 4 to its south overlooking and they are best preserved on the northern and the it. Tower 5 is the last of these defences, lying on the eastern side of the Citadel (Fig. 7). Nowhere do east side of the tell, to the south of Tower 4. either the towers or the curtain walls stand to their original height and in most places their superstruc- Towers 1 and 2 ture has vanished entirely. Nevertheless, the Tower 1 is faced with the usual yellow-white lime- alignment of stretches of the upper ring wall can be stone ashlar blocks described above, with smaller traced close to the top of the glacis, and excavation basalt masonry in the unexposed internal parts. It in 1997 and 1999 (continued in 2000) confirmed has had a later structure added on to it, although the this point. original tower is still well defined in plan. In total, there are· still visible the remains of five To the east of Tower 1 is Tower 2 which is quite well defined towers related to the upper ring wall. well preserved (Fig. 7). It shows clear signs of These are preserved along the perimeter of the rep ointing from a consolidation undertaken in 1952 Citadel. The westernmost of these is Tower 1 which (Elisseeff, EE-). The tower is constructed of lime- 5 0 LEVANT 34 2002

stone blocks of similar size to those in Tower 1. Its have been positioned above the arch. We therefore plan is incomplete, but the front elevation with an take this to have been the location of the lost intact arrow-loop is impressive, and the masonry is inscription recording the renewals undertaken by preserved to a height of 13 courses. It has parallels al-Zahir Baybars in Shacban AH 669/April AD 1271 with the Bab al-Masdud, the only extant town gate which van Berchem says that he saw on the east which is set just below the Citadel mound in the side of the entrance. As the Bab al-Hawa' is the southern perimeter wall of Horns. Re-used basalt only formal entrance to the Citadel, it seems that columns have been incorporated as reinforcements this must be the gate to which van Berchem in Tower 2. Down the slope of the tell in front of referred. Tower 2, there are the remains of more masonry. In front of the filled-in arch of the Bab al-Hawa' are the remains of a staggered entrance passage or Tower 3 (the North-East Gate~ Bab al-Hawa) outwork of limestone providing access from the town-ward side of the tell. All trace of the structural Tower 3, at the north-east salient of the Citadel, remains that we assume once led up from the town incorporates the gate locally known as Bab al- have now vanished. When approaching the Bab al- Hawa'. It was the sole entrance to the Citadel in Hawa' from Horns, once inside the bent passage, mediaeval Islamic times. It is this gateway which only a forced turn to the left gave access to the appears in Volney's illustration of 1785 (Figs 2 and arched entrance into Bab al-Hawa'. This entry pas- 4). It was a formidable structure and in design, it is sage is now buried but it must continue deep into reminiscent of the well preserved entrance to Aleppo the interior of the tell. An arched entrance on the Citadel, albeit on a much smaller scale. south side of the passageway is also blocked with The north side of the Bab al-Hawa' stands to a earth. It was to identify the continuation of these height of about 7 m., but on the east side it is very passage systems that we opened excavations in Area much more extensive, being built down the face of G during the 1997 excavations. the mound to just above the mid-point of the height Access to the staggered passage and the arched of the tell. The north flank is made up of masonry gateway system of the Bab al-Hawa' is now identical to that of Towers 1 and 2. The surfaces extremely difficult from either the top of the tell or that are not exposed are of very irregular and rough from the town below. During the 1997 excavation basalt, whereas the external facings are of the large season, the gateway tower was cleaned of under- yellow-white limestone ashlar. It may be that at least growth and debris to prepare it for photography. some of the interior of the Bab al-Hawa' super- However, before any further archaeological investi- structure was once filled in with earth and/or rubble. gation of the Bab al-Hawa' can be undertaken, the Inserted in the walls of the Bab al-Hawa' tower there structure must be consolidated. are re-used basalt columns like those noted else- where in the Citadel walls. Towers 4 and 5 In the elevation of the gateway there is an arch, blocked to almost its full height. There is an irregu- South-east of the Bab al-Hawa' is Tower 4. This is lar, broken opening immediately above the gate, fairly well preserved, constructed like the other filled in with small, neatly coursed basalt blocks towers in large yellow-white limestone blocks. It also which are set back from the face of the tower: this incorporates re-used columns as reinforcements. Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 constitutes repair. There is also a crack extending Judging from a section of masonry now missing from upwards from the broken opening above the arch. the front elevation, where an arrow-loop was proba- This more or less mirrors the change in build bly located, it has an internal chamber, now filled in. between large blocks of stone making up the north- The front of the tower is preserved to a height of ern half of the elevation and the small blocks of the twelve courses. main body of the southern half of the Bab al-Hawa'. Further south-east is another salient, Tower 5. It There are also large limestone blocks at the top of is identical in construction to the other towers the structure overlying the basalt masonry. The jux- already described. The north-east elevation is pre- taposition of two contrasting building materials in served to a height of seven stone courses. the main elevation of this gateway tower raises Immediately beneath the tower, to the east-south- important questions about its structural phasing. east, and just above the mid-way point up the slope There are nine rectangular voids the size of the of the tell, there are the remains of a structure built usual individual basalt stones above the gateway, in limestone blocks and basalt rubble. This could be and it may be speculated that these were for keying a tower or a lower salient in line with the intermedi- in a large tablet for an inscription which would ate ring wall. G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995-1999 51

Chronology ing inscription of AH 641/ AD 1244 (Wiet 1941, xi, 151; Creswell 1940, I, 210 and note 16). Those We cannot yet estimate the absolute date of the for- stretches that survive of the town walls of Horns dis- tifications, although there can be no doubt that they play features that correspond to the walls of the are of mediaeval Islamic origin. As we have seen, al- Citadel although the Citadel walls were stronger and Maqdisi refers to the Citadel in the late AHfourth/AD more impressive. The dating inscripton on the Bab tenth century, but he says nothing of the fortifica- ai-Mas dud recorded by Wiet could suggest that it is tions at that date. The atabek Nur aI-Din Mahmud a later insertion into the town wall. It is built in Zangi may have built at the Citadel in the middle much the same manner as the Citadel walls. The years of the AH sixth/AD twelfth century, just as he most that can be said at present is that the Bab al- did at Aleppo, but this has yet to be proven. He had Masdud's dating inscription shows that in late a great deal of concern for Horns as a launching Ayyubid times, military construction at Horns was point for his attacks westwards against the Crusaders still a concern for the regime. and for his ambitions southwards, towards Damascus. Evidence of his interest in Horns is reflected in the fact that he rebuilt the Horns Great The 1997 Syrian-British excavations Mosque, known as the Nuri Mosque, and he also built a madrasa in the city for Ibn Abi Asrun (now The principal objective of the 1997 season of exca- vanished). However, at present we have no means of vations at the Citadel was to investigate and date the associating him with work on the Citadel fortifica- Islamic period remains. However, the instability of tions. the standing structures is such that consolidation is According to Elisseeff, as we have seen, on Tower required before excavation can be attempted close to 2 on the north side there was formerly an inscription them, and this limited the areas where excavation in the name of the Ayyubid prince aI-Malik al- could be undertaken in the course of the season. Mujahhid Shirkuh, dated to AH 594/AD 1198. It A series of wall traces on the surface on the south seems likely that all the extant towers are to be side (in Area B) had attracted our attention ini- attributed to Shirkuh II, given the consistency of tially. This area had been used in the modern their construction but the dating of the intermediate period by the French and Syrian armies as a garden and the lower ring walls is unclear. Nor do we know (hence termed by us "The Officers' Garden", in when the glacis was built, but sequentially it could the light of local information as to its past role). only have been after the ring walls were completed. The origin of this very late enclosure is confirmed As we have seen, Baybars repaired the Citadel by the date of 1965 inscribed on a concrete step on after taking power in AH 659/AD 1260. His work is the Garden's north side. There is a modern con- precisely dated to Shacban AH 669/April AD 1271 by crete-lined pool here with a re-erected Roman the inscription recorded by van Berchem and Fatio, pillar of pink granite. but like all other Arabic inscriptions on the Citadel An arch and wall traces on the south edge of the noted by earlier scholars, Baybars' inscriptions are Citadel (Area C) were thought deserving of investi- no longer in situ. The date of the repairs to the Bab gation as they were taken at first sight to have al-Hawa' is also complicated and clearly take place escaped attention in the French Mandate period and Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 over a period of time. Furthermore, the relationship when the Syrian army used the site. They also had between the Citadel walls and the old town walls of not undergone the concreting that characterizes the Horns itself has yet to be determined. The walls of re-use of the similar rooms on the north side in Area Horns are mentioned by Ibn Jubayr in AH 580/AD F between Towers 2 and 3 (the Bab al-Hawa'). 1184 in terms that might have once been appropri- However, our excavations were to prove neverthe- ate for the fortifications of the Citadel (Ibn Jubayr less that much damage was done in Area C by the 1952, 268): French army. The walls of this city are of the oldest antiquity and We also put a sondage in the middle of the tell in the greatest strength, being built of hard black stone Area D, to see to what extent the central part of the compactly laid. Its iron gates are of towering height, Citadel retained early structures or whether all had awesome to look upon, and fearful in their beetling been obliterated by building during French and disdain. It is surrounded by soaring towers, well forti- Syrian use of the site. A resistivity survey was con- fied. ducted by al-Bacath University ofHoms in Area E to Whether the ruinous walls of the old town that we identify underlying structures and we used a JCE see now are those recorded by Ibn Jubayr is open to back-hoe lent by the Syrian Army to expose struc- doubt, especially as the Bab ai-Mas dud bears a dat- tures that the resistivity survey had identified. 5 2 LEVANT 34 2002

On the north side we cleaned Area F, a group of "Officers' Garden" proved that it had been severely cellar-like rooms along the perimeter of the Citadel disturbed by a large modern rubbish pit. Below this which had been concreted when they were turned was a layer of homogenous clayey deposit, which into latrines by either the French or the Syrian produced Mamluk period pottery. However, a more armies, but which were originally rooms comparable refined study of the pottery is required to estimate to Room 1 in Area C on the south side of the the precise chronological horizon that is represented Citadel. here. This clayey deposit overlaid a stone wall and We also opened a trench in Area G immediately masonry tumble associated with it just inside the west of the Bab al-Hawa', in order to identify the northern perimeter of the trench. This wall stood structures within the Citadel that may relate to the no less than two courses high and it was at least passages that must lead into the Citadel from this 30 cm. wide. A black basalt quern stone fragment external gateway. All work on the north side was of and the grinding end of a pounder were found by very limited nature because of the instability of the the wall. neighbouring walls and towers. This was especially the case with structures associated with the Bab al- 2. Area C, Room 1 Hawa'. We opened a trench in Area C on the south perime- ter of the Citadel to clarify the nature of an arch that 1. Area B was protruding from the ground surface prior to It quickly became obvious that Area B was very dis- excavation. It was adjacent to a surviving stretch of turbed and that no remains of early floors or curtain wall. This proved to be a very well-preserved internal fittings survived at a depth accessible within room, henceforth referred to as Room 1 (Fig. 8). It the season with the labour available to us. had a stairway leading down into it through an arch Excavation of the upper 1.20 m. of deposit in the in its east wall. There was evidence of an adjoining Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016

Figure 8. Homs Citadel, Room 1, Area C in 1997, looking south. G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995-1999 53

room to the west but this could not be investigated 5. Area F in the 1997 season. Area F is the group of cellar-like rooms west of the After the removal of more than 1 m. of disturbed Bab al-Hawa'· gate tower and they run along the overburden, large tumbled limestone blocks w~re northern perimeter of the mound. These were exposed and a complicated sequence o~constn:ctIon cleaned out. They are taken to be mediaeval in ori- was revealed within the room. AssocIated WIth an gin, and they seem similar in form and l~yout to early phase there was a stump of plastered ~aulting Room 1 in Area C. They had been re-used In recent that sprang from the inside face of the cur::aln. wall. times by the French or the Syrian armies as latrines. It curved on a north/south alignment, runnIng In the This involved the blocking of connecting doorways opposite direction to the vaulting of t~e room after in the east and west walls of the cellars, and the cre- alterations in a subsequent phase. In thIS later phase, ation of new doors and a passageway on the south new vaulting was inserted, curving on an east/west side. Concrete floors and drains were added in this alignment. The earlier vaulting system was demol- late period. We did not attempt to break through ished down to the level of its springing during the these cement floors to reach the earlier occupation construction of this later vaulting system. However, layers beneath as the neighbouring fortifications on at present we cannot date either roofing system, the north and north-east side of the Citadel are far apart from observing on this sequential series of too insecure at present to allow machine drilling building events. anywhere close to them. 3. Area D 6. Area G The geophysical resistivity survey was concentrate.d It is extremely difficult to excavate anywhere in the initially in Area D in the central part of the tell. ThIS vicinity of the Bab al-Hawa' because of the instabil- survey was conducted for us by the BaCath ity of its structure and because of the presence. of University of Horns to test their resistivity sur:ey buildings which were built by the French or whIch equipment for the first time in an archaeologIcal are associated with the TV aerial buildings. These context. The survey continued in 1998. We are factors restricted us to a limited area for excavation. indebted to Dr cAbd aI-Majid Shaykh Husayn, for- Within these constrictions, it was nevertheless possi- mer President of the BaCath University of Horns, for ble to open a trench in Area G to the west of the ~ab facilitating the geophysical survey by the University. al-Hawa' where staff now working at the TV statIon To explore sub-surface anomalies identified by on the Citadel remembered a tunnel or passage and the resistivity team in Area D, we used a Banhams an entrance that had been found during construc- JCB back-hoe loaned by the Syrian army, thanks to tion work in the 1970s. the generous support provided by General Mustafa After clearing late fill in Area G, we came down on Tlass, Minister of Defence. This back-hoe was used loose rubble at a depth of 1.50 m. at which point to clear the late levelling fill laid down by the French excavation ceased as we concluded that it would be army. Excavation down to a depth of 2 m. revealed unsafe to proceed any deeper. Once the issue of st~- a massive structure in concrete that occupies a large bilisation of the Bab al-Hawa' has been addressed, It area in the centre of the tell to the south of the Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 will be an important aspect of future study of the water-tank built by the French. The foundations of Citadel to work out the internal design of the Bab al- this concrete structure are assumed to go far down, Hawa' and its internal passage-ways in Area G. perhaps to bedrock. The existence of this structure and the French water-tank system to the north, as well as the TV and other aerials and the associated The 1999 Syrian-British Excavations structures means that a very large part of the centre of the tell is lost to archaeology. The work during this short season was intended firstly to extend excavations to define the southern 4. Area E rooms of the Citadel in Area C, to the west of Room Area E was chosen for excavation in collaboration 1 and secondly, to examine the stratigraphic rela- with the BaCath University A machine trench cut tionship of Tower 2 on the north side with the glacis, using the Syrian army JCB revealed that occupation the curtain wall and the cellar-like rooms (used by levels begin in this area at 1.50 m. under the present the French and Syrian armies as latrines) on the ground level with a layer of charcoal and ash. At a north side in Areas F and J. We also examined the depth of 3.50 m. from ground level, a possible wall lowest exposed stratified levels on the south-east was noted. side of the tell. 54 LEVANT 34 2002

the towers and the glac£s. Although the rooms in Area F have been refurbished and concreted as we noted in 1997, there appeared to be a chance at the start of excavations that there would be other undis- turbed rooms adjacent to Tower 2 in Area J. However, a Syrian military trench running along the north perimeter of the tell, between the glacis sum- mit and the north face of the curtain wall, had compromised the chances of securing the strati- graphic relationship between the curtain wall and the glacis in many places. This military trench had had the effect of exposing the outer face of the cur- tain wall (Fig. 7), and all we did here was to clean the wall-face. The glacis fill was removed along the Figure 9. Homs Citadel: the exposed rooms in Area C in length of the north face of the curtain wall within 1999, looking east. Area F. Topsoil in Area F was removed from the southern face of the uppermost curtain wall of the Citadel and this exposed the summits of a number of walls but 1. Area C they were not investigated further because the sea- In Area C we investigated the wall-traces of the son was so short. The relationship of the glac£s facing rooms that run within the line of the southern ring and its fill to the curtain wall and related ring walls wall, continuing on from Room 1 where we had remains problematic because of the effects of the worked in 1997. Rooms 2 and 3 and a putative Syrian army trench. All that can be said with any Room 4 were defined by clearing the summits of the degree of certainty at this stage is that the glacis and walls to a depth of 20 cms (Fig. 9). Given the lim- its fill post-dates the construction of the north cur- ited resources available, it was not possible to do tain wall, as it was deposited against the north face more in this area during the 1999 season. More of the wall, but what this means in terms of absolute extensive excavation was undertaken during the dating is still unclear. 2000 season, underway at the time of writing. Massive stone walls were identified dividing 3. The lowest stratigraphic levels Rooms 1, 2, and 3. The masonry was set in a Exposures on the north-west and the south-east concrete-like plaster. These walls were some 1.5 m sides where the glacis has fallen away provide a view wide, implying a substantial superstructure. In of the stratigraphy of the tell down to the lowest lev- Room 1, excavations continued through the earth els on the red virgin soil and on bedrock. This is floor surface reached in 1997 in the western half of important as the height of the Citadel and the the trench and we exposed a pebbled floor surface. restrictions on archaeological access on the summit Finds associated with the sealed earth surface pro- of the tell caused by late structures are such that it is duced Tell Minis wares, and although this pottery extremely unlikely that the lowest levels can ever be Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 may be residual, they are important finds and indi- reached by excavation coming down from above. cate activity at the site in the twelfth century AD. The north-west and the south-east exposures, and finds retrieved from them, are therefore of great 2. Areas F and J importance for assessing the earliest occupation of The objective of work on the north side of the the tell. However, the exposures on the north-west Citadel in Areas F and J was to take advantage of side of the tell are very dangerous to examine. We room cleaning that the Department Antiquities had recorded them in 1997 and removed ceramics, but carried out in 1998; it was hoped that eventually the safety considerations for the team and the houses of stratigraphic relationship between the various rooms people living below precluded any further work on and towers on the north side of the tell could be this side. established (Fig. 7). The standing towers are taken The south-east exposure is also unstable and dan- to be Ayyubid in the light of the lost dating inscrip- gerous, but at least it has no housing beneath it. The tions in the name of Shirkuh II from Tower 2. An exposure shows stratigraphy from the bedrock at the analysis of the stratigraphy may eventually allow us base of the tell up to the mediaeval Islamic levels, to to understand the relationship of the extant rooms, which the towers and the walls of the fortifications G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995-1999 55

belong. A detailed scaled photographic record was silent on the Citadel of Horns. Tell Minis pottery in made of the south-east exposure in 1999. some quantity was found in Room 1 in Area C indi- The early levels (i.e., the lowest, set above cating a possible twelfth century AD date (Porter and bedrock and virgin soil) produced two fragmentary Watson 1987, 175-220; Tonghini 1998, passim). EB4 vessels stacked one within the other, as well as Other Islamic period finds include twelfth-thirteenth other sherds. These were found in association with century ADRaqqa-style fritwares and varieties of the an early wadi boulder wall. This wadi stone wall in slip-painted unglazed wares attributed in Syria and the south-east exposure corresponds in character to Jordan to the Ayyubid-Mamluk period. Mamluk a wadi stone wall visible low down in the north-west glazed ceramics were also found in some quantity. exposure, near the entry ramp. The finds inside Room 1 in the disturbed fill included relief-moulded white ware sherds of possible thirteenth century date. Fragments from a near com- The finds plete vessel were reconstructed as a large unglazed two-handled pilgrim flask with moulded decoration The following is a summary of the significant finds that included lion motifs (Fig. 10). It is taken to be from the 1997 and the 1999 seasons. With certain of mid-thirteenth century date. A sherd of similar specific exceptions, finds from all excavated areas style has a representation of a parrot (Fig. 11). Finds came from redeposited fill put down to a depth of from Area G included fragments of a fine blue glass 1-2 m. by the French army in the Mandate period. vessel with gold enamel decoration of very high The finds from the south-east exposure are the quality: it is probably Ayyubid or early Mamluk in most important exception as they were stratified and came from the lowest levels of the base of the tell. As already noted, these finds included two fragmentary EB4 vessels as well as other sherds of similar date (c. 2500-2000 Be). Eastern terra sigillata sherds were retrieved from disturbed contexts in Areas F and J and represent Roman period activity on the Citadel tell. The pink granite columns of which there are several examples on the tell are also likely to be of Roman origin. The Roman or the Byzantine period is represented by mosaic cubes that were retrieved from Area J. A cluster of white mosaic cubes set in plaster was found, suggesting a lost floor mosaic. We also found a single green glass and a single blue glass mosaic cube and an oil-lamp fragment with a Christian cross in relief in Area J. While the context from which these finds came in Area J was from rede-

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 posited fill of the French Mandate period, this concentration of finds is important, inasmuch as it confirms Roman and Byzantine period activity on the tell. It is obviously possible that the mosaic cubes could range from a Roman date through to the early Islamic period, but the fact that they were found in association with an oil-lamp with a Christian cross and Roman finds may push us towards a date in the Byzantine period. However, the redeposited nature of the context must be acknowledged. The discovery of a single piece of ruby-red lustre imported from Iraq is extremely interesting for although a surface find, it is the first indication of c. third AH/ninth AD century Islamic activity at the tell, and it is archaeological evidence for a period Figure 10. Mid-thirteenth century pilgrim flask from Room 1~ when the Arabic literary sources are frustratingly Area C~ Hams. 5 6 LEVANT 34 2002

Figure 11. Parrot on a white ware moulded sherd from Room 1, Area C, Homs. Possibly thirteenth century.

Figure 13. Stacked catapult ammunition from Area C at Homs.

the French army and thereafter. Given the degree of disturbance and the quantity of redeposit, at this stage it seems premature to publish the excavated finds. In future seasons, when we have excavated the stratified contexts that we reached at the end of the 1999 season, it should be possible to provide a more coherent record of ceramics and other finds that can be usefully compared to the material from other for- tified sites in the area, including the Qalca at Hama, that at Aleppo and at Qalca Jacbar on the Euphrates. Figure 12. Ayyubid-Mamluk enamelled glass from Area Gat Homs. As to the fortifications of Horns, they are in a far

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 more desolate state than those of Aleppo, Shaizar, Qara Jacbar or other contemporary Islamic fortified date (Fig. 12). The discovery of a grenade fragment sites in the area. Far more survives of the Horns reflects the military nature of the site, and this should Citadel defences, however, than we have at Hama be juxtaposed to the discovery of manjaniq (catapult) whose tell has lost its mediaeval Islamic walls and ammunition of small rounded river stones found towers. Sufficient survives at Horns Citadel to show stacked in Area C in 1997 just outside Room 1 that originally the Ayyubid and Mamluk fortifica- (Fig. 13). tions there were comparable to those of Aleppo, although they were on a smaller scale. The glacis at Horns Citadel is especially well preserved and it is Conclusion comparable to that at Aleppo Citadel. It is also com- parable in some degree to the glacis at Shaizar and The intention of this interim paper on our research also to the remains of the glacis at Qalca Rahba on at Horns is to present our initial observations based the Euphrates in eastern Syria. Enough survives to on excavation. The ceramics retrieved so far are suggest that the eighteenth century illustration of the nearly all from disturbed contexts, redeposited by Citadel by Volney has an accuracy, albeit confused G.R.D. KING Archaeological Fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995-1999 57

by a degree of artistic licence. His illustration and mechanical digger and 30 soldiers as excavation labour for our study of the site indicate that had the defences of the 1997 season. Mr Hayyan Attassi very kindly provided Horns Citadel survived the depredations of the mid- a team of labourers from the Jandar Estate in 1997. nineteenth century onwards, they would have been Mr Adrian Sindall and Mr Basil Eastwood, both for- among the more important and celebrated Islamic merly HM ambassadors to Syria, have provided us with much advice and assistance since the project was first ini- fortifications in Syria. tiated. At the British Council, Damascus, the former The extant fortifications at Horns present a num- Director, Dr Peter Clark, was instrumental in the setting ber of chronological problems which may be up of the Horns Project and he provided a great deal of resolved by excavation. While one can estimate rea- personal support. In 1997 the British Council, Damascus sonably accurately the location of the now-lost also funded a preliminary survey at al-Rastan by members Ayyubid and Mamluk inscriptions published by of the British team excavating at Horns. British Council earlier scholars, the fact remains that these inscrip- support has been continued by Dr Clark's successor, Mr tions are no longer in situ and this is a major loss. David Baldwin. We express our thanks to the efficient Even if we can date the walls reasonably precisely by support provided by Ms Hadheel aI-Ahmad and Mr estimating the position of the lost inscriptions, there MuCtazz of the British Council, Damascus. Mr Alan Waddams, formerly EU Representative to Syria and Mrs remains the difficulty presented by the glacis which Waddams also provided a great deal of encouragement to appears to overlie earlier ring walls that we take to be the Horns project. mediaeval Islamic in origin. The final fortification Mr Malcolm Billings of the BBC joined the team on site process seems to have been the addition of the glacis between 17th and 22nd September, 1997 for interviews but whether this was Ayyubid or Mamluk work for a programme on archaeology and tourism in Syria that remains unclear. Furthermore, the limited excava- was subsequently broadcast by BBC Worldservice Radio tions that have taken place in Area C have shown in November 1997. major changes in orientation of the vaulting in Room The Syrian-British team since 1995 has been led by the 1. There is so far no way of dating this work and it author on the British side and Mr Farid Jabbour on the would be precipitate at this stage to associate the Syrian side. Mr Peter Holden (Acanthus, Pembroke) wrote a 'conditions and remedies' report and Mr Mark Johnson structural changes we can see in this room on the (Landmark Surveys) undertook the mapping of the Citadel. southern perimeter with the Ayyubid and Mamluk Other team members have included Dr C. Tonghini, dating inscriptions from the north side of the Citadel University of Venice, formerly of SOAS; Dr J. Elders, tell. To clarify these problems the areas on the Archaeological Advisor, Church of England; Mr S. Garu, northern and the southern sides which are best pre- Mr J. Czastka, Mr D. Dunlop, Ms H. Maren, SOAS; Dr A. served require further archaeological investigation. Wasse, Assistant Director, CBRL, Amman; Mr E.Gibbs, SOAS; Ms Philippa Loates, SOAS and Ms Anna Zielke. Team members on the Syrian side have included Ms Acknowledgements Maryam Bsheish, Mr Hikmet Awad and Mr Baha Akhzam. We also received logistical support from al-Bacath The British team of archaeologists working at Horns is University, Horns, thanks to the great interest in our work based in the Department of Art and Archaeology at the shown by Dr Abdul Majid Sheikh Hussein, former President School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), of the University. A geophysical team joined us from the University of London. The British team has been spon- Civil Engineering Department, al-Bacath University, Horns,

Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 02:24 17 March 2016 sored by the Council for British Research in the Levant in 1997, co-operation for which we are very grateful. Much (CBRL) and it has been given generous support from a help has also been given to us by Mr Jihad of the Horns variety of sources. These include SOAS; the British Grand Hotel. Weare grateful to the British Library for Embassy, Damascus; the British Council, Damascus; allowing us to publish Figs 2 and 6, and to Mr Peter Parr for British Mediterranean Airways; the British Institute at providing Fig. 3. The constructive comments of the editor of Amman/CBRL and The Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust. Levant and of the anonymous reviewers of this paper are Other funds and resources were very kindly provided by gratefully acknowledged; it has benefitted greatly from their Mr Hayyan Attassi, Mrs M. Mamarbachi and other pri- observations. Finally and in particular, we express our col- vate Syrian and British donors. lective debt and thanks to the sustained interest and advice On the Syrian side we met with a great deal of co-oper- that we have received from Mr Mundhir Ha'ik of al-Bacath ation and support from Dr Najih Attar, former Minister of University, Horns, who has been an adviser, a colleague and Culture; Professor-Dr Sultan Muhesen, former Director- friend since the Horns Citadel project was conceived. General of the Directorate of Antiquities and Mr Farid Jabbour, Director of the Museum at Horns and co- Director of the Horns Citadel excavation. This Bibliography co-operation has continued under Dr A.R. Mo'azz, the present Director-General of Antiquities. General Mustafa Abdulkarim, M. (1999) Telt~diction et archeologie sur la Tlass, Ministry of Defence, generously provided a Syrian formation de la cite d'Emese a l'epoque romaine (Syrie military helicopter for aerial photography, a Banhams JCB Centrale). Photo-interpretation, 14-23. 5 8 LEVANT 34 2002

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