Археология евразийских степей (Oct 2023)
Results of the Study of the Sea Fortress Remains of Maraclea (Kharab Maraqiya) in the Water Area of the Syrian Arab Republic in 2021–2022
Abstract
In January and September 2022, the studies of the Syrian-Russian underwater archaeological expedition continued in the water area of the Tartus Governorate. To date, the specialists of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS and the Sevastopol State University has examined a number of underwater archaeological sites. One of the places, where the international expedition conducts research, is the unique structures of the sea fortress of Maraclea, located near the settlement of Kharab Maraqiya. The expedition members studied and fixed these structures on the seabed. The purpose of the studies was to create a general plan and a digital model of these unique structures, as well as to analyze written sources about this sea fortress in order to receive objective information and interpretation of the identified objects. For a long time Maraclea was a small coastal town, nevertheless it had a rich historical past. After the First Crusade, it became one of the most important Crusader possessions, part of the County of Tripoli, which in turn was destined to become the last stronghold of Western chivalry in the Holy Land. It was Maraclea that became the subject of a fierce struggle between the crusaders and the Mamluk sultans, as a result of which the town was literally wiped off the ground. However, in the shortest possible time, a castle with the same name was erected in the sea, opposite the destroyed Maraclea. Contemporaries and historians agree that this fortress Maraclea, rising from the depths of the sea, was for its time the most powerful fortification and, in many of its characteristics, has almost no analogues in world history. Thus, although sea fortress Maraclea did not last long, it remained a very brigt trace in history and continues to be the subject of the discussions among the scientists.
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