ABSTRACT
Mechanical artillery had been employed in Levant for centuries before the First Crusade. By collating the available data and providing a survey of recorded finds, this chapter aims to help and encourage archaeologists to examine artefacts more closely and to better contextualise new finds as they are uncovered through the course of future excavations. In the meantime, the lack of published information relating to the stones already found inhibits efforts to better understand the influence and role of artillery at the close of the thirteenth century. The discernible destruction caused by stone projectiles is the only other physical evidence of medieval artillery. Given the scale of the stones used by Baybars in 1271 and those employed by al-Ashraf at Acre in 1291, Qalawun’s artillery may have thrown projectiles weighing up to 100 kg during his siege of the castle.
