In 1099, Ma'arat Misrin was conquered by the Crusaders who killed the town's defenders and destroyed the minbar ("pulpit") of its mosque.
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The Burid and Artuqid rulers Toghtekin and Ilghazi besieged it the next year, prompting Baldwin II to lead a relief effort.
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In the early 20th-century, American archaeologist Robert Garrett noted that the town's soil was "unusually fertile" and that there was an abundance of fig trees.