ABSTRACT

The castles built by the Crusaders in Palestine were, from the start, rather different in design and purpose from the works of fortification that had existed there in the early Islamic period. Just how the lands conquered by the Crusaders in Palestine were first divided out amongst the conquerors is difficult to tell in detail, for few early charters have survived and often we must rely simply on snippets of information contained in later grants or confirmations. Since 1986, Belmont has been the subject of a programme of excavation sponsored by the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem and directed in the field by Richard P. Harper. At Belvoir, as at Belmont, there is a rectangular inner ward, surrounded in this case by a rectangular outer one; and in addition, there is a rock-cut ditch on three sides, and a barbican downhill on the fourth.