ABSTRACT
The mortar used in Frankish buildings varies in quality, from the coarse mud mortar used for the core of rubble-filled walls of domestic buildings to the hard white mortar found in fine masonry and the extremely hard mortar used in fortifications. The latter is so hard that in sandstone construction such as the walls of Ascalon and Caesarea it remains solid long after the ashlar facings have worn away, and at Vadum Jacob, where the ashlars have been robbed, the core still stands to a height of six or seven metres.
