"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٦‎٨] (٧٣٨/١٤١)

130
MILITARY HISTORY
In 969 the Fatimite khalifs began to rule Egypt. They
at once sought to acquire the Syrian dependencies of their
predecessors. At first the forces ranged against them, beaded
by Damascus, were too strong. But from 983 onwards the
Fatimites were overlords of southern Syria, including
Damascus. The most troublesome of the revolts with which
they had to deal were risings of Arab tribes resident in
Palestine (1011-13, 1024-9). The towns on the coast as
far as Tripoli were governed by Fatimite emirs, who in some
cases transmitted their authority to their descendants and so
were petty dynasts. Between the Greek empire and the
Fatimite khalifate Aleppo maintained a precarious inde
pendence. Its emirs usually paid tribute to the emperors
and at the same time made a nominal acknowledgement of the
khalifs.
Syria and the Byzantine Empire
After the Arab conquest of Syria and Euphratesia, Asia
Minor was overrun but not permanently occupied. In the
tenth century Seif ed-din of Aleppo was the most powerful
emir on the borders of the Greek empire and brilliantly
represented the warfare of his time and people. Every
summer he raided and plundered the lands of the empire.
His battles, on a small scale, were always fought in Greek
territory. The Greeks used local forces to surprise and cut
off the raiders. But no defeat deterred the Moslems from
returning next year. Two Greek writers supply descriptions
of this unending border warfare. In the eighth and ninth
centuries the Moslem armies seem to have regularly included
horse and foot. When they drew up in line of battle they were
arranged in a rectangle | | in which African bowmen
stood in front and the horsemen were posted behind. In this
order they stood firmly and preferred to await attack. The
foot-soldiers advanced with the cavalry when they took the
offensive. On the march each horseman carried a foot-
soldier on his horse, if the distance were not too great. For
longer marches the foot-soldiers also were mounted. Camels