Sieges in the Mediterranean World

Abstract

Urban warfare in the Middle East today is characterised by the increasing use of an ancient form of urban warfare: the siege. In 2016, eastern Aleppo was subjected to a well-known siege that lasted 190 days; the obstruction of humanitarian assistance caused massive suffering among civilians in many other Middle Eastern towns and cities as well, such as Fallujah, Taiz, Deir Ezzor, Foua, Kefraya and Madaya. In the Syrian Old City of Homs, which was under siege from May 2012 to May 2014, cart seller Abu Hani says that his family gathered firewood in the streets at night, as there was no diesel or gas to be had and they could not move around during the day because of the fighting. Because of shortages of food, he adds, people tried to grow their own vegetables but they often had to resort to eating partially rotten lentils and plants growing in the street that, in normal circumstances, were not considered edible. 'We lost a lot of weight [during this time],' Hani says. 'One does not think about food when one is afraid, one meal is enough.' In some cases, cities in conflict are virtually under siege because of the extreme difficulty of taking goods in or out. The partial siege imposed on Taiz since the summer of 2015 has brought the local economy to the point of collapse. 'Most markets in the city have closed, and in those that still have some food, the prices are so high that people do not have enough money to buy anything,' says Nancy Hamad, who runs the ICRC's office in Taiz. 'Malnutrition cases have gone up very sharply, especially among children.' 'People are eating from the garbage because they can't get food,' she adds. 'We've seen women boiling tree leaves just to give children some hot soup.' Fighting in or around a besieged city can also cause the destruction of harvests in fields within the city or on its outskirts, or make the fields inaccessible. At one camp for internally displaced people, children who had recently left a city under siege recall times of bitter hunger. 'I can't remember the last time I saw a chicken or a sheep,' says one child.1

Archaeomagnetic Dating of the Outer Revetment Wall at Tel Lachish

“…: 717; Garfinkel et al 2021a : 435). The use of wood in order to build a siege ramp is mentioned in the description of the siege laid by Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, to the city of Uppume, as well as the attempt of the defenders of the city to burn it (Borger 1956 : 104; Ephʿal 2013 : 89; Siddal 2019 : 46). 5 Similar use of wood in order to build a siege ramp during the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem is implied by Jeremiah (Jer 6:6; see Ephʿal 2013 : 85).…”