This, however, could not last under
the fanatical Fatimate caliphs, who
succeeded them, and the suffering of
the Christians then led to that ex
traordinary series of invasions com
monly called the Crusades. The Cru
saders were a semireligious and a
semi-military movement. They repre
sented the passions and ideas of Eu
rope In the twelfth and thirteenth cen-
turiesIts chivalry, its hatred of Mo
hammedanism and its desire to pos
sess the spots hallowed by the suffer
ings of our Lord. Their long continu
ance shows the intensity of the senti
ments which possessed them. During
this period Palestine was harried for
about a hundred years and the undy
ing tradition of which no doubt re
tarded the final triumph of Christian
ity over the Arab". In 1247 Jerusalem
became subject to Egypt for 270 years
until the Ottoman sultan, Selim I, con
quered Syria in 1517, and Turkish
possession has continued to the pres
ent day and under rule practically
without a^-history.
Singularly Situated.
In 1187 Jerusalem fell to Saladin,
who rebuilt its walls. From 1229 to
1241 the German Christians held Je
rusalem, but in 1244 a fearful mas
sacre swallowed up the last relics of
Christian occupation. In 1517 it was
conquered by the Sultan Selim I, and
since then it has been a Turkish city.
Selim's successor, Suleiman the Mag
nificent, restored the fortifications,
which since that time have been little
altered.
The situation of Jerusalem is in
several respects singular among the
cities of Palestine. Its elevation is re
markable, occasioned not from its be
ing on the summit of one of the nu
merous hills of Judea, like most of
the towns and villages, but because it
is on the edge of one of the highest
tablelands of the country.
