Fortifications and Mangonel Operation in Thirteenth-Century Ayyubid Cities: Damietta as a Case Study

Despite being a suspected forgery, the “Testament of al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb”–preserved in al-Nuwayrī’s Nihāyat al-Arab–contains vital information on technical aspects of defending Muslim cities in the thirteenth century. The text provides particular details on the fortifications of Damietta, where a castle, yet to be identified, had been built by sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil between 1221 and 1238. The text instructs in detail how to construct an outer wall in order to defend Damietta against a crusade. Furthermore, the defensive elements described in the text help in reconstructing the outer walls of other places, such as Montfort Castle. The original information provided on devising, positioning and operating mangonels clearly shows that, when possible, mangonels were not set-up on top of buildings, whereas the smallest type of stone-hurling machines, the luʿab, were located on city walls.