1009: The 'Mad Caliph' destroys Jewish, Christian sites in Fatimid Empire

On October 18, 1009, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacked the Church's foundations down to bedrock. An excerpt from the article:

"On or about October 18, 1009, the so-called “Mad Caliph” of the Fatimid Empire flouted a long-standing policy of religious tolerance. With the ultimate aim of converting the empire’s Jews and Christians to Islam, Abu Ali-Mansur ordered the destruction of non-Muslim buildings and objects throughout the empire and specifically in the city of Jerusalem – including synagogues, Torah scrolls, Jewish artifacts and especially the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the church of Jesus’ resurrection.

The original church had been built at the orders of Queen Helena, the mother of the Roman Christian emperor Constantine, in 330 C.E. In fact, the building destroyed by the caliphate was not the original church. That had been destroyed by the Persians in the year 614. What the caliph’s soldiers pulled down to the ground four centuries later was the second version.

The destruction in Jerusalem was effected at the orders of the enormously powerful Fatimid caliph ruling from Egypt, who ordered competing religious symbols such as synagogues and churches destroyed throughout Palestine, Egypt and Syria. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was reportedly of specific irritant, supposedly housing the cave in which Christ was thought to have lain before his resurrection.

Certain sections of the church did survive the assault, chiefly by virtue of being buried under rubble as the ceilings and walls were pulled down, according to the Custodia Terrae Sanctae. But while the church would be rebuilt within a century – at the inspiration of the caliph’s own son – much of the original design would be lost forever."