In the early summer of 1123, disaster struck the newly established crusader states of the Holy Land.

The new King of Jerusalem, Baldwin II, currently acting as protector to the northern counties of Antioch and Odessa too,

after both of their defeats in battle, was himself defeated

and held prisoner by the feared Artukid prince Balak. With the loss of the king, increasingly

daring bands of Turks began to push over the frontier to seize plunder and slaves, threatening to plunge the entire region into

turmoil. To make matters even worse, along the coastline, the Fatimid Egyptians, no particular

allies to the Turks, but a deadly adversary nonetheless to the Crusaders, still controlled

the highly sought-after seaways along the Levantine

shore. Over the preceding decades, a long and bitter war of attrition had been fought by the

Lords of Tripoli and Jerusalem in order to bring the Egyptian-held coastal cities of the Levant

under their control.

Though in truth, little headway had been made since the early days, cities such as Acre, Jaffa, and Tripoli,

already long having fallen under the sway of Jerusalem. Yet large and powerful maritime cities, such as Ascolon and Tyre, ever resupplied

from the sea, still remained in the hands of the Fatimids and the Turks, both offering fierce

resistance towards any attempts at capturing them, and proving a constant thorn in the side of the Crusaders.

Fleets operating out of both of these cities and from the ports of Alexandria and Damietta

in Egypt dominated the seaways in those days, disrupting shipping and threatening to cut off the Crusaders from Europe altogether.

In May 1123, a large Egyptian fleet seized the opportunity of Baldwin's capture to besiege the coastal city of Jaffa.

After an inconclusive engagement, the Egyptian fleet ultimately pulled out towards the south,

likely to resupply of Ascalon.

Knowing that the Crusaders lacked any sort of naval power to speak of,

and the Byzantines being preoccupied with events to the north

...