- Ma'arrat al-Numan
Infobox Settlement
official_name = Ma'arrat al-Numan
other_name =
native_name = معرة النعمان
nickname =
settlement_type =
motto =
imagesize =
image_caption =
flag_size =
image_
seal_size =
image_shield =
shield_size =
image_blank_emblem =
blank_emblem_type =
blank_emblem_size =
mapsize =
map_caption =
mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
image_dot_
dot_mapsize =
dot_map_caption =
dot_x = |dot_y =
pushpin_
pushpin_label_position =bottom
pushpin_mapsize =300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Syria
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Flag|Syria
subdivision_type1 = Governorate
subdivision_name1 =Idlib Governorate
subdivision_type2 = District
subdivision_name2 =Ma'arrat al-Numan District
subdivision_type3 =
subdivision_name3 =
subdivision_type4 =
subdivision_name4 =
government_footnotes =
area_magnitude =
unit_pref =Metric
population_as_of =
population_footnotes =
population_note =
population_total =
timezone =
utc_offset =
timezone_DST =
utc_offset_DST =
latd=35|latm=38|lats=|latNS=N
longd=36|longm=40|longs=|longEW=E
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 530
elevation_ft =
postal_code_type =
postal_code =
area_code =
blank_name =
blank_info =
blank1_name =
blank1_info =
website =
footnotes = .Today the city has a
museum withmosaic s from theDead Cities , amosque with theminaret rebuilt after the1170 earthquake ,madrassa Abu al-Farawis from1199 and remains of the medievalcitadel . The city is also a birthplace of thepoet Abu al-Ala al-Maari (973 -1057 ).Massacre of Ma'arra
The most infamous event from the city's history dates from late
1098 , during theFirst Crusade . After theCrusade rs, led by Raymond de Saint Gilles and Bohemond of Taranto, successfully besieged Antioch they found themselves with insufficient supplies offood . Their raids on the surrounding countryside during the winter months did not help the situation. ByDecember 12 when they reached Ma'arra, many of them were suffering fromstarvation andmalnutrition . They managed to breach the city's walls and about 20,000 inhabitants, as they often did when they captured a city. However, this time, as they could not find enough food, they resorted tocannibalism .Fact|date=February 2008One of the crusader commanders wrote to
Pope Urban II : "A terrible famine racked the army in Ma'arra, and placed it in the cruel necessity of feeding itself upon the bodies of theSaracens ."Fact|date=February 2008Radulph of Caen , another chronicler, wrote: "In Ma'arra our troops boiled pagan adults alive in cooking-pots; they impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled."Fact|date=February 2008Those events had a strong impact on the local inhabitants of
Southwest Asia . The crusaders already had a reputation for cruelty and barbarism towardsMuslim s,Jews and even OrthodoxChristians (the Crusades began shortly after the Great Schism of 1054). Crusaders are still referred as "cannibals" in many Southwest Asian and north african languagesFact|date=February 2008 and even centuries later their image as fanatical cannibals was alive inArabic literature .Fact|date=February 2008 Many authors suggest that the crusaders' behaviour was not really born of their hunger but fanatical belief that the Muslims were even lower than theanimal s.Fact|date=February 2008Amin Maalouf in his bookThe Crusades Through Arab Eyes points out the most crucial line for such belief among the Muslims: "Not only did our troops not shrink from eating dead Turks and Saracens; they also ate dogs!" byAlbert of Aix .External links
* [http://utah.indymedia.org/news/2003/10/6476_comment.php The Cannibals of Ma`arra] at Utah Indymedia
* [http://i-cias.com/e.o/crusades_05.htm Encyclopedia of the Orient]Further reading
* Amin Maalouf,
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes . Schocken, 1989, ISBN 0-8052-0898-4
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.