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The primary relevence of Ibn al Arab for the crusades is his recently discovered work which argues that the crusaders' conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 was far less lethal than has been traditionally reported. While both crusader and Muslim accounts put the number of those slain at anywhere from 30,000 to 70,000, Ibn al Arab notes it was far less, perhaps around 3,000. While three thousand deaths is still a striking number, it changes a number of assumptions about the sack of the city. First, the entire population was not exterminated, as if only three thousand were slain (perhaps mostly warriors) then tens of thousands more were allowed to live. Second, 3000 slain after a hardfought siege is not unheard of on either the Muslim or Christian side in the Middle Ages. In otherwords, what happened in the wake of the crusaders conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 is well within keeping of the acceptable standards of the time for either Christians or Muslims, and certianly not unique in comparison with other atrocities committed by either Christians or Muslims in the Middle Ages. [This article is incomplete...please check back for more information in the future] (c) Andrew Holt, February 2007- Permission is granted for electronic copying and distribution in print for educational and personal use. No permission is granted for commercial use.