And here is how the Christians took Jerusalem, "turn the other cheek": "After the walls fell, an uncontrolled slaughter began in the city. It is important to understand that at that time in Jerusalem there were thousands of refugees from the surrounding villages. Unlike many other sieges, where the nobility could be left alive for ransom, in Jerusalem they killed everyone: the elderly, women and children. According to various estimates (from medieval to modern), the number of victims ranged from 10,000 to 70,000 people. The city was literally littered with bodies, which the surviving Muslims were later ordered to carry outside the walls to avoid epidemics. The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock became the sites of the bloodiest episode. Tancred of Taranto promised protection to a group of Muslims who had taken refuge on the roof of the mosque, and even gave them his banner as a safe conduct. However, the next morning, other units of crusaders broke in and killed everyone, despite Tancred's intercession. Chronicler Raymond of Agilles wrote with pride (which horrifies modern readers) that the blood of the slain reached the knees of the horsemen. The city's Jewish community fought on the walls shoulder to shoulder with the Muslim garrison. When the defenses fell, most Jews took refuge in their main synagogue. The Crusaders piled brushwood around the building and set it on fire. Everyone inside burned alive to the sound of psalms sung by the knights besieging them from outside. Religious fervor was closely intertwined with the greed for profit. Mosques and private homes were completely plundered. Eyewitnesses described the knights hanging their shields on the doors of houses to indicate that the house and all property (including slaves) now belonged to them. There are accounts of the Crusaders cutting open the bellies of slain Muslims, as rumors circulated that they had swallowed gold coins to hide them from the invaders. The bodies were later burned in enormous bonfires. to find gold in the ashes. Although the campaign was intended to aid Eastern Christianity, local Orthodox Christians (Syrians, Armenians) also suffered. They were expelled from the city before the assault by the Muslim garrison (to avoid betrayal), and after the assault, the crusaders were in no hurry to restore their rights and property, viewing them as "heretics" or inferior people.
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