Knights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the wealthiest and most popular military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded circa 1119, headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.
SamariaSamaria (səˈmæriə,_-ˈmɛəriə; שֹׁמְרוֹן, السامرة, or جبل نابلس: romanized: Jabal Nablus, lit. "Mount Nablus") is a historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first-century historian Josephus set the Mediterranean Sea as its limit to the west, and the Jordan River as its limit to the east. Its territory largely corresponds to the biblical allotments of the tribe of Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh.
JaffaJaffa, in Hebrew Yafo (יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa (يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, is an ancient Levantine port city founded by the Canaanites that is now part of southern Tel Aviv, Israel. Sitting atop a naturally elevated outcrop on the Mediterranean coastline, it was a strategic location that exchanged hands repeatedly in ancient Near East history, and was also contested during the Crusades, when it presided over the County of Jaffa and Ascalon.
CairoCairo (ˈkaɪroʊ ; al-Qāhirah, ælqɑ(ː)ˈheɾɑ) is the capital of Egypt and the city-state Cairo Governorate, and is the country's largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million, is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area.
GizaGiza (ˈgiːzə; sometimes spelled Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza; al-Jīzah, æˈjiːzæ, الجيزة elˈgiːzæ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 4,872,448 in the 2017 census. It is located on the west bank of the Nile opposite central Cairo, and is a part of the Greater Cairo metropolis.
HamaHama (حَمَاة DIN, ħaˈmaː; ħ(ə)mɑθ; Biblical Hebrew: חֲמָת Ḥamāṯ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 854,000 (2009 census), Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria after Damascus, Aleppo and Homs. The city is renowned for its seventeen norias used for watering the gardens, which are locally claimed to date back to 1100 BC.
CoptsCopts (niremənkhēmi; al-qibṭ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are Coptic Oriental Orthodox Christians. They are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East, as well as in Sudan and Libya. Copts have historically spoken the Coptic language, a direct descendant of the Demotic Egyptian that was spoken in late antiquity.
JeninJenin (dʒə'niːn; ) is a Palestinian city in the Israeli occupied West Bank. The city serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. The city came under Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority as Area A of the West Bank in 1993. In 2007, Jenin had a population of approximately 40,000 people, whilst the Jenin refugee camp had a population of 10,000, housing Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine War.
QutuzSaif ad-Din Qutuz (سيف الدين قطز; died 24 October 1260), also romanized as Kutuz or Kotuz and fully al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Sayf ad-Dīn Quṭuz (الملك المظفر سيف الدين قطز), was a military leader and the third or fourth Mamluk Sultan of Turkic origin. He reigned as Sultan for less than a year, from 1259 until his assassination in 1260, but served as the de facto ruler for two decades. Sold into slavery in Egypt, he rose to become vice-sultan for more than 20 years, becoming the power behind the throne.
Seventh CrusadeThe Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) was the first of the two Crusades led by Louis IX of France. Also known as the Crusade of Louis IX to the Holy Land, it aimed to reclaim the Holy Land by attacking Egypt, the main seat of Muslim power in the Near East. The Crusade was conducted in response to setbacks in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, beginning with the loss of the Holy City in 1244, and was preached by Innocent IV in conjunction with a crusade against emperor Frederick II, Baltic rebellions and Mongol incursions.