The leaders of a Turkish clan named Hiaroquin claimed Jerusalem as their hereditary right, and were accused of cowardice by the clan's matriarch for not putting this claim into action. So they gathered a large army and marched towards the city via Damscus. There they were urged not to go ahead with their plan, but decided to persist. They went straight to Jerusalem, while the defenders assembled at Nablus, which needed protection as it had no walls. The Turks approached Jerusalem up the narrow road from Jericho, where they were routed and massacred by the Jerusalem garrison, on terrain which favoured the defenders. They turned in flight, but those who escaped were cut off at the Jordan from Nablus as they passed. Few survived; as many as 5,000 were said to have been killed that day. There was much rejoicing in the city