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The 8th-Century Startup: The City That Rose from the Sands and Defied History

The vast majority of cities in the Land of Israel are built upon the ruins of previous settlements, layered atop biblical mounds or ancient Hellenistic and Roman centers. However, there are a few extraordinary examples of cities established ex nihilo—out of nothing. One such city, founded not on the remains of the past but on pristine sand dunes, is Ramla (from the Arabic word Ramal, meaning sand). It is the only city founded by Muslims during the Middle Ages as a pre-planned city, a district capital, and an engineering powerhouse in the heart of the land.


The story of Ramla begins in the early 8th century, a result of administrative and logistical considerations, local social dynamics, and, as some scholars suggest, political rivalry. Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik, an Umayyad caliph, decided to bypass Christian Lydda (Lod) and establish a new Muslim capital just three kilometers away. Some traditions (found in later Arabic sources) describe a priest in Lydda refusing to transfer land, prompting Suleiman to choose a different site. This location was no accident: Ramla was established exactly at the most important crossroads in the Middle East—the intersection of the Via Maris (the Way of the Sea) and the road ascending from Jaffa to Jerusalem. It was a piece of medieval "High-Tech": a modern network city with straight streets, a magnificent palace, and infrastructure systems far ahead of their time.


One of Ramla’s greatest engineering achievements is hidden beneath the surface. Because the city was built on sand, its builders had to construct a massive 10-kilometer-long aqueduct from the Tel Gezer area to bring in fresh water. The crown jewel is the Pool of the Arches (Bir al-Aniziya), built in 789 CE. This is the only complete Abbasid structure in Israel, featuring the groundbreaking use of pointed arches—centuries before the Gothic style appeared in Europe. When we row boats there today, we are literally inside an international engineering monument.


Throughout the years, Ramla became a theater for imperial struggles. In 1099, shortly before the conquest of Jerusalem, the Crusaders captured Ramla. They misidentified it—due to the similarity of its name to Ramathaim—as Arimathea (Greek: Ἀριμαθέα), the "city of Judea" mentioned in the Gospel of Luke as the home of Joseph of Arimathea, who donated his burial cave in Jerusalem for the burial of Yeshua. The Crusaders built a magnificent cathedral there, which later became the "Great Mosque." In 1318, the Mamluks added the iconic White Tower, a 30-meter-high military observation tower and minaret that dominates the entire landscape. Even Napoleon Bonaparte passed through here in 1799; to this day, one can visit his room in the Franciscan Monastery and imagine the French Emperor looking out over the sleepy city through the red shutters.


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One of the defining dimensions of Ramla is the rare religious and cultural mosaic that composes the city. Alongside ancient mosques and Franciscan, Orthodox, and Armenian monasteries, lies the global center of Karaite Judaism. The Karaites—who differ from the mainstream Rabbinic Jewish movement—do not believe in the Oral Torah. They consider themselves bound only by the written scriptures explicitly stated in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). They made Ramla their center as early as the 9th century. This encounter between a glorious past and a living present creates a unique urban composition of vibrant communities preserving traditions over a thousand years old.


Today, Ramla is a mixed city facing significant social and economic challenges. It sits upon heritage assets of global importance. From the bustling market to the ancient gold hoards in the City Museum, Ramla invites visitors to discover layers hidden from the eye. While the city grapples with complex modern difficulties, it continues to showcase a magnificent history built from scratch upon the shifting sands.


Image 1: Ramla, 1895. Source: Wikipedia, Ramla.


Image 2: The Pool of the Arches, Ramla. Source: Wikipedia, Pool of the Arches.


Image 3: The Pool of the Arches as sketched by the Dutch artist Cornelis de Bruijn, who visited around 1680. Source: Wikipedia, Pool of the Arches.


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