- published: 07 Apr 2011
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![Kingdom of Heaven DC: Saladin Tribute [HD]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/11tViUnX1_Q/default.jpg "I do not own the video, nor the audio track used. I really liked Ghassan Massoud´s performance as Saladin in Ridley Scott´s Kingdom of Heaven (2005), so I thought it called for a tribute. Thumbs up if you want to see more of this brilliant actor! Music:")
![Saladin The Animated Series ep 1 [1/3]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4BFQuQu73ss/default.jpg "The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe")
![1 [1/3] - Saladin - Animated Series (English Voice + Malaysian Subs)](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q2sxG04R7ms/default.jpg "Please, note that this is NOT the story of Salahuddin Al Ayoubi. This is an entertaining series for children with the character Saladin, wich has NOTHING to do with the Legend of Islam Salahuddin Al Ayoubi. If you want to watch the story of the Muslim hero Salahuddin Al Ayoubi, this is the link: www.youtube.com")
![Saladin The Animated Series ep 1 [2/3]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/M2DquBCXcis/default.jpg "The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe")
![Ancient Islam Warrior [ Saladin The Kurd ] 2010](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rEIIlGVgU2E/default.jpg "ancient islam warrior - Selahaddin Ayyubi better known as SALADIN the sultan of Islamic Ayyubi Dynasty born in Kurdistan iraq save the holy land jerusalem palestine from christian crusaders governate over all syria hijaz saudi arabia jemen egypt and part of turkey")
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- A'zaz
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A'zaz
Azaz (Arabic: أعزاز A'zāz) is a small town in Syria, roughly 20 miles (30 kilometres) north-northwest of Aleppo (Halab). It is most notable for being the site of the Battle of Azaz between the Crusader States and the Seljuk Turks on June 11, 1125.
Azaz was the scene of a humiliating defeat of the Byzantine emperor Romanos III in August 1030, but was soon afer captured by the Byzantines under Niketas of Mistheia.
In the Battle of Azaz, forces of the Crusader States commanded by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem defeated Aq-Sunqur il-Bursuqi's army of Seljuk Turks on June 11, 1125 and raised the siege of the town. (One authority says the battle was fought on June 13.)
Joscelin I of Edessa had captured the city from the atabeg of Aleppo in 1118. The next year the Crusaders under Roger of Salerno were severely defeated at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis, and King Baldwin II of Jerusalem was captured while patrolling in Edessa in 1123.
In 1124 Baldwin II was released, and almost immediately he laid siege to Aleppo on October 8, 1124. This caught the attention of il-Bursuqi, the Seljuk atabeg of Mosul. Il-Bursuqi marched south to relieve the siege of Aleppo, which was nearing the point of surrender in January 1125 after a three-month siege. In spite of the city being "the greatest prize the war could offer," Baldwin cautiously withdrew without a fight.
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Acre, Israel
Acre (Hebrew: עַכּוֹ, Akko; Arabic: عكّا, ʻAkkā), is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country.
Historically, it was a strategic coastal link to the Levant. Acre is the holiest city of the Bahá'í Faith. In 2009, the population was 46,300. Acre is a mixed city, 72 percent Jewish and 28 percent Arab. The mayor is Shimon Lankri, who was re-elected in 2011.
The source of the name Akko is unknown. The Egyptians used it as long ago as the second millennium BC, but as it appears in the hieroglyphics as merely two consonants, its pronunciation is unknown.
In the Amarna letters, written in Akkadian, the letter "H" is used to signify the guttural Hebrew letters alef-heh-chet-ayin, and therefore it was possible to write the name of the city as if it were "Haca" or "Aca". Had the name not been preserved, we would not have been able to identify it with certainty with the name that appears in hieroglyphics. In Assyrian the name has been preserved with the spelling "AKK".
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Aden
Aden (/ˈɑːdɛn/ AH-den; Arabic: عدن ʻAdan) is a seaport city in South Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately a million people. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of a dormant volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and 7th centuries BCE. The modern harbour is on the other side of the peninsula.
Aden consists of a number of distinct sub-centers: Crater, the original port city; Ma'alla, the modern port; Tawahi, known as "Steamer Point" in the colonial period; and the resorts of Gold Mohur. Khormaksar, located on the isthmus that connects Aden proper with the mainland, includes the city's diplomatic missions, the main offices of Aden University, and Aden International Airport (the former British Royal Air Force station RAF Khormaksar), Yemen's second biggest airport. On the mainland are the sub-centres of Sheikh Othman, a former oasis area; Al-Mansura, a town planned by the British; and Madinat ash-Sha'b (formerly Madinat al-Itihad), the site designated as the capital of the South Arabian Federation and now home to a large power/desalinization facility and additional faculties of Aden University.
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Afula
Afula (Hebrew: עֲפוּלָה; Arabic: العفولة, al-ʻAfūlaḧ) is a city in the North District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley", referring to the Jezreel Valley. The city had a population of 40,500 at the end of 2009.
Located in the Jezreel Valley, Afula is roughly halfway between Jenin and Nazareth. It is mentioned in the Books of Kings (2 Kings 5, 24) in connection with Elisha and the disciple of Elijah, who lived in the vicinity.
The 12th-century sultan Saladin founded an Arab village named al-Fulah on the site. In 1226, Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi mentioned it as being "a town in Jund Filastin," and formerly a Crusader castle between Zir'in and Nazareth. In 1799, during Napoleon's Syrian campaign, the Battle of Mount Tabor was fought around al-Fulah.
In 1909 or 1910, Yehoshua Hankin completed his first major purchase in the Jezreel Valley. He bought some 10,000 dunams (10 km²) of land in Al-Fuleh (now Afula), which became the home of Merhavia and Tel Adashim. This purchase also marked the start of bitter disputes between Arabs and Jews over the rights of tenant farmers who had been evicted, and regarding the employment of Jewish or Arab watchmen for the land.
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Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس, trans. al-ʼAndalus; Spanish: Al-Ándalus; Portuguese: Al-Andalus; Catalan: Al-Àndalus), also known as Moorish Iberia, was a medieval Muslim state in parts of what are today Spain, Portugal, and France. The name more generally describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims (given the generic name of Moors), at various times between 711 and 1492 CE, though the boundaries changed constantly in wars with Christian kingdoms.
Following the Muslim conquest of Hispania, Al-Andalus was divided into five administrative units, corresponding roughly to modern Andalusia, Galicia and Portugal, Castile and León, Aragon and Catalonia, and Septimania. As a political domain, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms. Rule under these kingdoms saw a rise in cultural exchange and cooperation between Muslims and Christians. Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres in both the Mediterranean Basin and the Islamic world.
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Al-Fustat
Fustat (also Fostat, Al Fustat, Misr al-Fustat and Fustat-Misr, and in Arabic: الفسطاط, al-Fusţāţ), was the first capital of Egypt under Arab rule. It was built by the Arab general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Arab conquest of Egypt in AD 641, and featured the Mosque of Amr, the first mosque built in Egypt and in all of Africa.
The city reached its peak in the 12th century, with a population of approximately 200,000. It was the center of administrative power in Egypt, until it was ordered burned in 1168 by its own vizier, Shawar, to keep its wealth out of the hands of the invading Crusaders. The remains of the city were eventually absorbed by nearby Cairo, which had been built to the north of Fustat in 969 when the Fatimids conquered the region and created a new city as a royal enclosure for the Caliph. The area then fell into disrepair for hundreds of years and was used as a garbage dump.
Today, Fustat is part of Old Cairo, with few buildings remaining from its days as capital, though there have been many archaeological digs which have taken advantage of the wealth of buried material in the area. Many ancient items recovered from the site are on display in Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art.
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Al-Nusayri Mountains
The an-Nusayriyah Mountains (Arabic: جبال النصيرية / ALA-LC: Jibāl an-Nuṣayriyah), also known as al-Alawiyin Mountains (جبال العلويين / Jibāl al-‘Alawīyin)—both names referring to the Alawi sect which has traditionally lived there—or under their Syrian official name of Coastal Mountain Range (سلسلة الجبال الساحلية / Silsilat al-Jibāl al-Sāḥiliyah), are a mountain range in northwestern Syria running north-south, parallel to the coastal plain. Classically they were known as the Bargylus and under the Hashashins were known as the Jabal Bahra.
The mountains have an average width of 32 kilometres (20 mi), and their average peak elevation is just over 1,200 meters with the highest peak, Nabi Yunis, reaching 1,562 metres (5,125 ft), east of Latakia. In the north the average height declines to 900 metres (3,000 ft), and to 600 metres (2,000 ft) in the south.
The western slopes catch moisture-laden winds from the Mediterranean Sea and are thus more fertile and more heavily populated than the eastern slopes. The Orontes River flows north along side the range on its eastern verge in the Ghab valley, a 64 kilometres (40 mi) longitudinal trench, and then around the northern edge of the range to flow into the Mediterranean. South of Masyaf there is a large northeast-southwest strike-slip fault which separates An-Nusayriyah Mountain from the coastal Lebanon Mountains and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains of Lebanon, in a feature known as the Homs Gap.
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Alexandria
Alexandria (Arabic: الإسكندرية Al Iskandariyya, Coptic: Ⲣⲁⲕⲟⲧⲉ Rakotə, Greek: Αλεξάνδρεια Alexándria, Koine Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ κατ' Αἴγυπτον IPA: [ɑlɛˈksɑndɾiɑ e kɑt ˈɛʝypton] "Alexandria in Egypt", Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه [eskendeˈrejːæ]) is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypt's imports and exports. Alexandria is also an important tourist resort. It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library of Alexandria). It is an important industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez.
Alexandria was founded around a small pharaonic town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo). Alexandria was known because of its Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its library (the largest library in the ancient world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.
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Anatolia
Coordinates: 39°N 32°E / 39°N 32°E / 39; 32
Anatolia (from Greek Ἀνατολή Anatolē — "east" or "(sun)rise"; also Asia Minor, from Greek: Μικρὰ Ἀσία Mikrá Asía "small Asia"; in modern Turkish: Anadolu) is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Iskenderun and the Black Sea, approximately corresponding to the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. However, since Anatolia is now often considered to be synonymous with Asian Turkey, its eastern and southeastern borders are widely taken to be the Turkish borders with the neighboring countries, which are Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria, in clockwise direction.
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Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ, "Antioch on Daphne"; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη, "Antioch the Great"; Syriac: ܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ Anṭiokia; Hebrew: אנטיוכיה, antiyokhya; Georgian: ანტიოქია; Armenian: Անտիոք Antiok; Latin: Antiochia ad Orontem; Arabic:انطاکیه, Anṭākiya; also Syrian Antioch) was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.
Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East and was a cradle of Christianity. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. Its residents are known as Antiochenes. Once a great metropolis of half a million people, it declined to insignificance during the Middle Ages because of repeated earthquakes, the Crusaders' invasions, and a change in trade routes following the Mongol conquests, which then no longer passed through Antioch from the far east.
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Ar-Raqqah
Ar-Raqqah (Arabic: الرقة Ar Raqqa), also spelled Rakka, is a city in north central Syria located on the north bank of the Euphrates, about 160 km east of Aleppo. It is the capital of the Ar-Raqqah Governorate and one of the main cities of the historical Diyār Muḍar, the western part of the Jazīra. According to th 2004 official census, the population of the city is 220,488 people.
The Seleucid king Seleukos II Kallinikos (reigned 246–225 BC) founded ar-Raqqah as the eponymous city of Kallinikos (Latinized as Callinicum). In the Byzantine period, the city was briefly named Leontoupolis by the emperor Leo I (reigned 457–474 AD), but the name Kallinikos prevailed. In 542, the city was destroyed by the invasion of the Persian Sasanid Shahanshah Khusrau I Anushirvan (reigned 531–579), but was subsequently rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565).
In the 6th century, Kallinikos became a center of Syriac monasticism. Deir Mār Zakkā, or the Saint Zacchaeus Monastery, situated on the tell just north of the city, today's Tall al-Bi'a, became renowned. A mosaic inscription there is dated to the year 509, presumably from the period of the foundation of the monastery. Deir Mār Zakkā is mentioned by various sources up to the 10th century. The second important monastery in the area was the Bīzūnā monastery or 'Dairā d-Esţunā', the 'monastery of the column'. In the 9th century, when ar-Raqqah served as capital of the western half of the Abbasid Caliphate, this monastery became the seat of the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch.
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Arbil
Erbil (Hewlêr in Roman-alphabet Kurdish) (also written Arbil, or Irbil) (Akkadian: Arba-ilu; Arabic: اربيل Arbīl; Kurdish: ھەولێر Hewlêr; Sumerian: Urbilum; Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܪܒܝܠ Arbaelo) is, with a population of approximately 1.3 million (2009), the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul. It is located 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Mosul, and is the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Urban life at Erbil can be dated back to at least 6000 BC, and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. At the heart of the city is the ancient Citadel of Arbil. The Hurrians were the first to establish Urbilum and expand their rule to the rest of northern Mesopotamia. The city has since been under the rule of many regional powers, including the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Arabs, and the Ottomans. Erbil's archaeological museum houses a large collection of pre-Islamic artifacts, and is a center for archaeological projects in the area.
The name Erbil was mentioned in Sumerian holy writings (c. 2000 BC) as Urbilum, Urbelum or Urbillum, and it may be Sumerian in origin. It is thought to originate from Sumerian UR (city) + BELA (high) meaning the city located in the upper area. The initial ar element also appears in a number of Hurrian place names.
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Armenia
Armenia
i/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (Armenian: Հայաստան Hayastan [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked, mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is a unitary, multiparty, democratic nation-state with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its religion, in the early years of the 4th century (the traditional date is 301 AD). The modern Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. Armenians have their own unique alphabet invented by Mesrob Mashtots in 406 AD.
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Ashkelon
Ashkelon (also Ashqelon and Ascalon; Hebrew: אַשְׁקְלוֹן
(audio) (help·info); Arabic: عسقلان (ˁAsqalān); Latin: Ascalonia; Akkadian: Isqalluna) is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Tel Aviv, and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age. In the course of its history, it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Israelites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Persians, the Egyptians and the Crusaders, until it was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1270. The Arab village of al-Majdal (Arabic: المجدل, Hebrew: אל-מג'דל, מגדל), was established nearby in the 16th century, under Ottoman's own rule.
In 1918, Ashkelon became part of the British Mandate for Palestine. In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Majdal was the forward position of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force based in Gaza. The village was occupied by Israeli forces on November 5, 1948, by which time most of the Arab population of 11,000 had been forced to leave. In 2010, the population of Ashkelon was 112,900.
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Aswan
Aswan ( /ˌæsˈwɑːn /; Arabic: [ʔɑˈsˁwɑːn], Arabic: أسوان Aswān, Ancient Egyptian: Swenet, Coptic: ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ Swān, Ancient Greek: Συήνη Syene), formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dams on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city has expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the island of Elephantine.
Aswan is the ancient city of Swenet, which in antiquity was the frontier town of Ancient Egypt facing the south. Swenet is supposed to have derived its name from an Egyptian goddess with the same name[citation needed]. This goddess later was identified as Eileithyia by the Greeks and Lucina by the Romans during their occupation of Ancient Egypt because of the similar association of their goddesses with childbirth, and of which the import is "the opener". The ancient name of the city also is said to be derived from the Egyptian symbol for trade.
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Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (
i/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası) is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest.
Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Aside from having been the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim-majority countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan has come under repeated international criticism for its record on human rights.
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Baalbek
Baalbek (Greek: Ἡλιούπολις; Arabic: بعلبك / ALA-LC: Ba‘albak) is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the empire. It is Lebanon's greatest Roman treasure, and it can be counted among the wonders of the ancient world, containing some of the largest and best preserved Roman ruins.
Towering high above the Beqaa plain, their monumental proportions proclaimed the power and wealth of Imperial Rome. The gods worshiped there, the triad of Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus, were grafted onto the indigenous deities of Hadad, Atargatis and a young male god of fertility. Local influences are seen in the planning and layout of the temples, which vary from the classic Roman design.
Baalbek is home to the annual Baalbeck International Festival. The town is about 85 km (53 mi) northeast of Beirut and about 75 km (47 mi) north of Damascus. It has a population of approximately 72,000.
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Baghdad
Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد, Baġdād, IPA: [bæɣˈdæːd]) is the capital of Republic of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Province. The population of Baghdad as of 2011 is approximately 7,216,040, making it the largest city in Iraq, the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt), and the second largest city in Western Asia (after Tehran, Iran).
Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic World. This in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g. House of Wisdom) garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 1,200,000 people. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arabic culture.
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Banias
Banias (or Paneas; Greek: Πανειάς; Arabic: بانياس الحولة; Hebrew: בניאס) is an archaeological site by the ancient city of Caesarea Philippi, located at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights. The city was located within the region known as the "Panion" (the region of the Greek god Pan), and is named after the deity associated with the grotto and shrines close to the spring called "Paneas".
The temenos (sacred precinct) included a temple, courtyards, a grotto and niches for rituals, and was dedicated to Pan. It was constructed on an elevated, 80m long natural terrace along the cliff which towered over the north of the city. A four-line inscription at the base of one of the niches relates to Pan and Echo, the mountain nymph, and was dated to 87 CE.
In the distant past, a giant spring gushed from a cave set in the limestone bedrock, to tumble down the valley and flow into the Hula marshes. Currently it is the source of the Nahal Hermon stream. Whereas the Jordan River previously rose from the malaria-infested Hula marshes, it now rises from this spring and two others at the base of Mount Hermon. The flow of the spring has decreased greatly in modern times. The water no longer gushes forth from the cave, but only seeps from the bedrock below it.
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Battle of Arsuf
The Battle of Arsuf was a battle of the Third Crusade in which Richard I of England defeated Saladin at Arsuf. Following a series of harassing attacks by Saladin's forces, battle was joined on the morning of 7 September 1191. Richard's forces resisted attempts to disrupt its cohesion until the Hospitallers broke ranks; he regrouped his forces and led them to victory.
After capturing Acre in 1191, Richard fought many engagements with Saladin, whose main objective was to prevent the recapture of Jerusalem. Knowing he would need to control the port of Jaffa before making an attempt on Jerusalem, Richard began to march down the coast from Acre in August 1191. Richard organized the advance with attention to detail. Mindful of the lessons of the disaster at Hattin, he knew that his army's greatest need was water and heat exhaustion its greatest danger. Though pressed for time, he marched only in the morning before the heat of the day. He made frequent rest stops, always beside sources of water. The fleet sailed down the coast in close support, a source of supplies and a refuge for the wounded. Aware of the ever-present danger of enemy raiders and the possibility of hit-and-run attacks, he kept the column in tight formation with a core of twelve mounted regiments, each with a hundred knights. The infantry marched on the landward flank, covering the flanks of the horsemen. Tormented by Saladin's archers and by tarantulas, which came out at night, Richard's generalship ensured that order and discipline were maintained under the most difficult of circumstances. Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, the Muslim chronicler, describes the march thus:
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Beirut
Coordinates: 33°53′13″N 35°30′47″E / 33.88694°N 35.51306°E / 33.88694; 35.51306
Beirut (Arabic: بيروت Bayrūt, Greek: Βηρυττός, Latin: Berytus, French: Beyrouth, Hebrew: ביירות Beyrut) is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As there has been no recent population census, the exact population is unknown; estimates in 2007 ranged from slightly less than 1 million to slightly more than 2 million. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport. The Beirut metropolitan area consists of the city and its suburbs. The first mention of this metropolis is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters, dating from the 15th century BC. The city has been inhabited continuously since then.
Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with many banks and corporations based in its city centre, Hamra Street, Rue Verdun and Ashrafieh. The city is the focal point of the region's cultural life, renowned for its press, theatres, cultural activities and nightlife. After the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beirut underwent major reconstruction, and the redesigned historic city centre, marina, pubs and nightlife districts have once again made it a tourist attraction. Beirut was named the top place to visit by The New York Times in 2009, and as one of the ten liveliest cities in the world by Lonely Planet in the same year.
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Bilbais
Bilbeis (Coptic Phelbs; Arabic بلبيس) is an ancient fortress city on the eastern edge of the southern Nile delta in Egypt.
The city played a role in the machinations for control of the Fatimid vizierate: first in 1164, when Shirkuh was besieged in the city by the combined forces of Shiwar and Amalric I of Jerusalem for three months; then again in 1168 when the city was assaulted again by Amalric's army, who took the city after three days on November 4 and indiscriminately killed the inhabitants. This atrocity angered the Coptic Egyptians, who had seen the Crusaders as deliverers but had suffered as much as the Muslim inhabitants of Bilbeis. The Copts ended their support of the Crusaders and united with their non-Christian neighbors against the foreigners. (See Crusader invasion of Egypt.)
In 1798, its fortifications were rebuilt at the order of Napoleon.
The city is small in size but densely populated, with over 300,000 residents. It also houses the Egyptian Air Force Academy complex, which contains the town's largest public school in Al-Zafer. It also has the first Mosque built in north Africa and one may say all Africa and all Egypt. Its name is Sadat Quriesh.[clarification needed]
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Cairo
Cairo ( /ˈkaɪroʊ/ KYE-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhira, literally "The Vanquisher" or "The Conqueror"), is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Located near the Nile Delta, it was founded in the year 969 A.D. making it 1,043 years old. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century AD.; but the land composing the present-day city was the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.
Egyptians today often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (Arabic: مصر), the Arabic pronunciation of the name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the city's continued role in Egyptian influence. Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World, as well as the world's second-oldest institution of higher learning, al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
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Cairo Citadel
The Saladin Citadel of Cairo (Arabic: قلعة صلاح الدين Qalaʿat Salāḥ ad-Dīn) is a medieval Islamic fortification in Cairo, Egypt. The location, on Mokattam hill near the center of Cairo, was once famous for its fresh breeze and grand views of the city. It is now a preserved historic site, with mosques and museums.
The Citadel was fortified by the Ayyubid ruler Salah al-Din (Saladin) between 1176 and 1183 CE, to protect it from the Crusaders. Only a few years after defeating the Fatimid Caliphate, Saladin set out to build a wall that would surround both Cairo and Fustat. Saladin is recorded as saying, "With a wall I will make the two [cities of Cairo and Fustat] into a unique whole, so that one army may defend them both; and I believe it is good to encircle them with a single wall from the bank of the Nile to the bank of the Nile." The Citadel would be the centerpiece of the wall. Built on a promontory beneath the Muqattam Hills, a setting that made it difficult to attack, the efficacy of the Citadel's location is further demonstrated by the fact that it remained the heart of Egyptian government until the 19th century. The citadel stopped being the seat of government when Egypt's ruler, Khedive Ismail, moved to his newly built Abdin Palace in the Ismailiya neighborhood in the 1860s.
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Constantinople
Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, Konstantinoúpolis; Latin: Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینیه, Qostantiniyye; and modern Turkish: İstanbul) was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin and the Ottoman Empires. It was founded in AD 330, at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine I, after whom it was named. The city was the largest and wealthiest European city of the Middle Ages, and shared the glories of the Byzantine Empire, which was eventually reduced to the city and its environs.
Although besieged on numerous occasions by various peoples, it was taken only in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade, in 1261 by Michael VIII, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. An inner wall was erected by Constantine I, and the city was surrounded by a triple wall of fortifications, begun during the 5th century by Theodosius II. The city was built on seven hills as well as on the Bosporus, and thus presented an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces, domes and towers. The Church of Hagia Sophia, the sacred palace of the emperors, the hippodrome, and the Golden Gate were among the largest of the many churches, public edifices, and monuments lining the arcaded avenues and squares.
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Daburiyya
Daburiyya (Arabic: دبورية; Hebrew: דַבּוּרִיָּה) is an Arab and all-Muslim village east of Nazareth that gained local council status in Israel's North District in 1961. Its jurisdiction extends over 7,200 dunams. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Daburiyya is home to approximately 8,500 residents. The town's population is homogeneously fallahen. A fallah is an Arab who lives or descended from the village, as opposed to city dwellers or medinniyin.
Daburiyya is located off of Highway 65 at the foot of Mount Tabor in the Lower Galilee, near the area where the prophetess Deborah judged.
According to the Information on Equality and Social Justice in Israel (ADVA), in 1999 10.5% of Daburiyya's job-ready population are unemployed and 40.4% of the town's university applicants are rejected.
Dabburiya has more than 20 different families that vary in number, some are: Massalha, Azaiza, Yousef, Ibrahem, Najjar, Jejini, Dahood, Mukatren, Dawas, Qanawat, and many others.
Daburiyya is associated with the Biblical city of Dabrath, which in Joshua 21:28 and in the Book of Chronicles is allotted to the tribe of Issachar who gave it to the Levites.
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Damascus
Damascus (Arabic: دِمَشق / ALA-LC: Dimashq; commonly known in Syria as al-Sham (Arabic: الشام / al-Shām), and as the City of Jasmine (Arabic: مدينة الياسمين / Madīnat al-Yāsmīn), is the capital and the second largest city of Syria. Both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious center of the Levant. The city has an estimated population of 1,711,000 (2009 est.).
Located in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area of 2.6 million people (2004). Geographically embedded on the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau 680 metres (2,230 ft) above sea-level, Damascus experiences a semi-arid climate due to the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.
First settled in the 2nd millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. During Ottoman rule, the city decayed completely while maintaining a certain cultural prestige. Today, it is the seat of the central government and all of the government ministries. Damascus was chosen as the 2008 Arab Capital of Culture.
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Damietta
Damietta (Arabic: دمياط Dumyāṭ), also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Cairo.
In Ancient Egypt, the city was known as Tamiat, but it became less important in the Hellenic period after the construction of Alexandria.
The Abbasids used Alexandria, Damietta, Aden and Siraf as entry ports to India and the Tang Empire of China. Damietta was an important naval base during the Abbasid, Tulunid and Fatimid periods. This led to several attacks by the Byzantine Empire, most notably the sack and destruction of the city in May 853.
Damietta was again important in the 12th and 13th centuries during the time of the Crusades. In 1169, a fleet from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with support from the Byzantine Empire, attacked the port, but it was defeated by Saladin.
During preparations for the Fifth Crusade in 1217, it was decided that Damietta should be the focus of attack. Control of Damietta meant control of the Nile, and from there the crusaders believed they would be able to conquer Egypt. From Egypt they could then attack Palestine and recapture Jerusalem. When the port was besieged and occupied by Frisian crusaders in 1219, Francis of Assisi arrived to peaceably negotiate with the Muslim ruler. The siege devastated the population of Damietta. In October 1218 reinforcements arrived including the Legate Pelagius with the English earls Ranulf of Chester, Saer of Winchester, and William Aubigny of Arundel together with Odonel Aubigny, Robert Fitzwalter, John Lacy of Chester, William Harcourt and Oliver the illegitimate son of King John. In 1221 the Crusaders attempted to march to Cairo, but were destroyed by the combination of nature and Muslim defenses.
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Daquq
Daquq or Daquqa, Dakuk, Daqooq, Tavuk or Tawuq (Arabic,داقوق) is a historic town in Iraq south of Kirkuk. It is the capital of Daquq District, one of the four Districts of Kirkuk Governorate. It lies just south of Taza.
Daquq is sometimes referred to as the earliest Turkmen settlement in Iraq.
Abul-Fath Mohammad bin Annaz, founder of the Annazid dynasty, temporarily seized Daquq from Banu Oqayl in 998 AD.
Up to the end of the 14th century AD, Daquq was for the most part administratively and economically superior to neighbouring Kirkuk.
The majority of the 50,000 inhabitants are Turkmen Shia. The town is known for its tea and famous mosque. It is situated on the Daquq river, of which the floodwaters in spring are said to join the Tigris.
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Deir al-Balah
Deir al-Balah or Dayr al-Balah (Arabic: دير البلح) is a Palestinian city in the central Gaza Strip and capital or muhfaza ("seat") of the Deir el-Balah Governorate. It is located 14 kilometers south of Gaza City. According to an estimate by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the city had a population of 49,751 in 2006.
Well known for its beaches and date palms, recent archaeological excavations uncovered an Ancient Egyptian cemetery dating back to the Late Bronze Age. A monastery was built by Hilarion in the mid-4th-century CE in Deir al-Balah and is currently the site of a mosque dedicated al-Khidr or Saint George. During the Crusader-Ayyubid wars, Deir al-Balah was the site of a strategic coastal fortress known as "Darum" which was continuously dismantled and rebuilt by both sides until its final destruction in 1196. It grew to become a large village on the postal route during Mamluk rule from the 13th to 14th-centuries. Deir al-Balah became the first city to come under Palestinian self-rule in 1994.
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Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: مسجد قبة الصخرة, translit.: Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah, Hebrew: כיפת הסלע, translit.: Kipat Hasela) is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik. The site's significance stems from religious traditions regarding the rock, known as the Foundation Stone, at its heart.
The Dome of the Rock is located at the visual center of a platform known as the Temple Mount. It was constructed on the site of the Second Jewish Temple, which was destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In 637 CE, Jerusalem surrendered to the Rashidun Caliphate army during the Muslim conquest of Syria.
The location of the Dome of the Rock was established as the site of the Islamic miracle of the Isra and Miraj by Caliph Omar ibn al Khattab, who was advised by his associate, Ka'ab al-Ahbar, a former Jewish rabbi who had converted to Islam, that Isra and Miraj took place at the site of the former Jewish Temples. The Dome of the Rock was erected between 689 and 691 CE. The names of the two engineers in charge of the project are given as Yazid Ibn Salam from Jerusalem and Raja Ibn Haywah from Baysan. Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan who initiated construction of the Dome, hoped that it would “house the Muslims from cold and heat” and intended the building to serve as a shrine for pilgrims and not as a mosque for public worship.
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Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa (Ancient Greek: Ἔδεσσα; Classical Syriac: ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhay; Armenian: Եդեսիա) is the historical name of an ancient town in upper Mesopotamia, refounded on an ancient site by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.
The earliest name of the city was Adma (Aramaic: אדמא also written Adme, Admi, Admum) which first appeared in Assyrian cuneiforms in the 7th century BCE. A Hellenistic settlement was found on the location of the Assyrian town by Seleucus I Nicator in 304 B.C. The new settlment was named "Edessa" after the ancient capital of Macedonia, perhaps due to its abundant water, just like its Macedonian homonym. The native Syriac name of the city "Orhay" (Classical Syriac: ܐܘܪܗܝ) appears to correspond with the toponym Antiochia Kallirhoe "Antioch by the Kallirhoe" (Αντιόχεια η επί Καλλιρρόης), which is found on Edessan coins struck by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 - 164 B.C.). The same name appears also in Armenian as Ուռհա, transliterated Urha or Ourha, in Arabic it is الرُّهَا transliterated as Er Ruha or Ar-Ruha, commonly Urfa, and Riha in Kurdish, and in Turkish Urfa, Ourfa, Sanli Urfa, or Şanlıurfa ("Glorious Urfa"), its present name. During Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis.
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Egypt
Egypti/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
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Eilat
Eilat (Hebrew: אֵילַת, Arabic: إيلات (audio) (help·info)) is Israel's southernmost city, a busy port as well as a popular resort, located at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on the Gulf of Aqaba. Home to 46,600 people, the city is part of the Southern Negev Desert, at the southern end of the Arava. The city is adjacent to the Egyptian village of Taba to the south, the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to the east, and within sight of Saudi Arabia to the south-east, across the gulf. Eilat's arid desert climate and low humidity is moderated by proximity to a warm sea. Temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in summer, and 21 °C (70 °F) in winter, while water temperatures range between 20 and 26 °C (68 and 79 °F). Eilat averages up to 360 sunny days a year. The city's beaches, nightlife and desert landscapes make it a popular destination for domestic and international tourism.
The geology and landscape are varied: igneous and metamorphic rocks, sandstone and limestone; mountains up to 892 metres (2,927 ft) above sea level; broad valleys such as the Arava, and seashore on the Gulf of Aqaba. With an annual average rainfall of 28 millimetres (1.1 in) and summer temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) and higher, water resources and vegetation are limited. "The main elements that influenced the region's history were the copper resources and other minerals, the ancient international roads that crossed the area, and its geopolitical and strategic position. These resulted in a settlement density that defies the environmental conditions."
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Gaza
Gaza (Arabic: غزة Ġazzah, Arabic pronunciation: [ˈɣazːa]), also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories. Inhabited since at least the 15th-century BCE, Gaza has been dominated by several different peoples and empires throughout its history. The Philistines made it a part of their pentapolis after the Ancient Egyptians had ruled it for nearly 350 years. Under the Romans and later the Byzantines, Gaza experienced relative peace and its port flourished. In 635 CE, it became the first city in Palestine to be conquered by the Rashidun army and quickly developed into a centre of Islamic law. However, by the time the Crusaders invaded the city in the late 11th-century, it was in ruins. In later centuries, Gaza experienced several hardships—from Mongol raids to floods and locusts, reducing it to a village by the 16th-century when it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During the first half of Ottoman rule, the Ridwan dynasty controlled Gaza and under them the city went through an age of great commerce and peace.
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Georgia (country)
Georgiai/ˈdʒɔrdʒə/ (Georgian: საქართველო Sakartvelo, IPA: [sɑkʰɑrtʰvɛlɔ] (
listen)) is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 km² and its population is almost 4.7 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy.
During the classical era independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century. A unified Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 11th–12th centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, Georgia was annexed by the Russian Empire. After a brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia was occupied by Soviet Russia in 1921, becoming the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic and part of the Soviet Union. After independence in 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil unrest and economic crisis for most of the 1990s. This lasted until the Rose Revolution of 2003, after which the new government introduced democratic and economic reforms.
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Giza
Giza (Coptic: ⲅⲓⲍⲁ Gee-zah, Arabic: الجيزة Al-Ğīzah), sometimes spelt Gizah, is the third largest city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River, some 20 km (12.43 mi) southwest of central Cairo. Along with Shubra El-Kheima, Cairo and Helwan, the four cities form the Province of Greater Cairo metropolis. The city of Giza is the capital of the Giza Governorate, and is located near the northeast border of this governorate in coordinates. It is located right on the banks of the River Nile. The city's population was 2,681,863 in the 2006 national census, while the governorate had 6,272,571 at the same census. Its large population makes it the second largest suburb in the world, tied with Incheon, South Korea and Quezon City, Philippines, second only to Yokohama, Japan.
Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau: the site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids and temples. The plateau and its monuments have been recorded in the Giza Plateau Mapping Project run by Ancient Egypt Research Associates, directed by Dr. Mark Lehner. AERA's 2009 field season was recorded in a blog.
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Golan Heights
The Golan Heights (Arabic: هضبة الجولان Haḍbatu 'l-Jawlān or مرتفعات الجولان Murtafaʻātu l-Jawlān, Hebrew: רמת הגולן, Ramat ha-Golan (audio) (help·info)), referred to as the Syrian Golan by the United Nations, and as the Golan by other sources, forms a rocky plateau in the Anti-Lebanon mountains that overlooks southern Syria. The plateau has an average altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), an area totaling 1,800 square kilometres (690 sq mi), and straddles the boundary between Syria and Israeli-held territory. Elevations range from 2,814 metres (9,232 ft) in the north at Mount Hermon, to below sea level along the Sea of Galilee and the Yarmuk River in the south. Internationally recognized as Syrian territory, it has been occupied and administered by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. The region attracts three million tourists a year and supplies Israel with one-third of its water.
The earliest evidence of human habitation dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. According to the Bible, an Amorite Kingdom in Bashan was conquered by Israelites during the reign of King Og. Throughout the Old Testament period, the Golan was "the focus of a power struggle between the Kings of Israel and the Aramaeans who were based near modern-day Damascus." The Itureans, an Arab or Aramaic people, settled there in the 2nd century BCE and remained until the end of the Byzantine period. Organized Jewish settlement in the region came to an end in 636 CE when it was conquered by Arabs under Umar ibn al-Khattāb. In the 16th century, the Golan was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and was part of the Vilayet of Damascus until it was transferred to French control in 1918. When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic.
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Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba (Arabic: خليج العقبة; transliterated: Khalyj al-'Aqabah) is a large gulf located at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian mainland. Its coastline is divided between four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. In Israel, it is often referred to as the Gulf of Eilat, after Eilat, the predominant Israeli city at its northern end (Hebrew: מפרץ אילת, transliterated: Mifratz Eilat).
The Gulf is located to the east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian mainland. This and the Gulf of Suez are the two gulfs extending from the northern portion of the Red Sea; the Gulf of Aqaba is east of the Gulf of Suez. Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all have coastlines on the Gulf. It reaches a maximum depth of 1,850 m in its central area (the Gulf of Suez is significantly wider but less than 100 m deep).
The Gulf of Aqaba measures 24 kilometres (15 mi) at its widest point and stretches some 160 kilometres (99 mi) north from the Straits of Tiran to a point where the border of Israel meets the borders of Egypt and Jordan.
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Hama
Hama (Arabic: حماة Ḥamāh [ħaˈmaː], Biblical Ḥamāth, ("Fortress") is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 312,994 (2004 census), Hama is the fifth-largest city in Syria after Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Latakia. The modern city is built on the site of the ancient city of Hamath ( /ˈheɪ.mʌθ/).
The city is renowned for its seventeen norias used for watering the gardens, which are locally claimed to date back to 1100 BC. Though historically used for purpose of irrigation, the norias exist today as an almost entirely aesthetic traditional show.
In the last decades, the city of Hama has become known as a center of the anti-Ba'ath opposition in Syria, most notably the Muslim Brotherhood. The city was raided by the Syrian Army, beginning with the 1964 Islamic uprising, and becoming the scene of carnage during the Islamic uprising in Syria in April 1981 and especially in 1982, when some 25,000 people were killed in what became known as Hama massacre. The city was once again besieged by the Syrian military, as one of the main arenas of the 2011 uprising.
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Hamah
Hama (Arabic: حماة Ḥamāh [ħaˈmaː], Biblical Ḥamāth, ("Fortress") is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 312,994 (2004 census), Hama is the fifth-largest city in Syria after Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Latakia. The modern city is built on the site of the ancient city of Hamath ( /ˈheɪ.mʌθ/).
The city is renowned for its seventeen norias used for watering the gardens, which are locally claimed to date back to 1100 BC. Though historically used for purpose of irrigation, the norias exist today as an almost entirely aesthetic traditional show.
In the last decades, the city of Hama has become known as a center of the anti-Ba'ath opposition in Syria, most notably the Muslim Brotherhood. The city was raided by the Syrian Army, beginning with the 1964 Islamic uprising, and becoming the scene of carnage during the Islamic uprising in Syria in April 1981 and especially in 1982, when some 25,000 people were killed in what became known as Hama massacre. The city was once again besieged by the Syrian military, as one of the main arenas of the 2011 uprising.
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Harem, Syria
Harem (Arabic: حارم, Turkish: Harim) is a Syrian city administratively belonging to Idlib Governorate. Harem has an altitude of 160 meters. It has a population of 21,934. Harem is situated exactly on the border of Turkey. The city is 55 km west of Aleppo.
There is an important Arab Islamic castle in Harem which has been built in a unique military style.
This city, located on the Turkish border used to be on the route between Antioch and Aleppo, and has been around since the Byzantine era. The castle was originally Byzantine and was built by Nicephorus shortly after 959, it then fell to the Arabs and then to the Seljuk Turks. In 1097 it was taken by the Crusaders who kept it till 1119, except for a short time in 1098 when it was taken by the Muslim Arabs.
It fell to Nur Al Din in 1149, then taken back by the Crusaders in 1158 and back again by Nur Al Din in 1164. When the Mongols invaded in the 13th century, much of Harem was destroyed including its castle. What is left of the castle dates back to the Muslim - Crusader battles between 1164 and 1268. The crusader castle was rebuilt by the son of Saladin, Malik Al Zaher Ghazi.
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Harran
Harran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles (44 kilometers) southeast of Şanlıurfa. The location is in a district of Şanlıurfa Province that is also named "Harran".
A few kilometers from the village of Altınbaşak are the archaeological remains of ancient Harran, a major commercial, cultural, and religious center first inhabited in the Early Bronze Age III (3rd millennium BCE) period. It was known as Ḫarrānu in the Assyrian period; possibly Ḫaran (חָרָן) in the Hebrew Bible; Κάῤῥαι or Carrhae under the Roman Empire; Hellenopolis (῾Ελληνὀπολις 'Greek city') in the Early Christian period; and Ḥarrān (حرّان) in the Islamic period.
The earliest records of Harran come from the Ebla tablets (c. 2300 BCE). From these, it is known that an early king or mayor of Harran had married an Eblaite princess, Zugalum, who then became "queen of Harran", and whose name appears in a number of documents. It appears that Harran remained a part of the regional Eblaite kingdom for some time thereafter.
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Hasankeyf
Hasankeyf (Kurdish: Heskîf, Greek: Kiphas, Turkish: Hasankeyf, Latin: Cepha, from Syriac: ܚܨܢ ܟܐܦܐ Ḥéṣn Kayfa) is an ancient town and district located along the Tigris River in the Batman Province in southeastern Turkey. It was declared a natural conservation area by Turkey in 1981. Predominantly Armenian and Arab before, a steady and significant Kurdish immigration from surrounding villages in the last 20-30 years - combined with the effects of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide - has shifted the ethnic balance. Kurdish people form the majority of the city centre today.
Much of the city and its archeological sites are at risk of being flooded with the completion of the Ilisu Dam.
Hasankeyf is an ancient city, and has been identified with the Ilanṣura of the Mari Tablet (c. 1800 BC). The Romans had built the Cephe fortress on the site and the city became the Kiphas fortress and a bishopric under the Byzantine Empire. It was conquered by the Arabs, in ca. 640, renamed Hisn Kayf. In the 12th century, the city was successively captured by the Artukids as their capital. During this period, Hasankeyf's golden age, the Artukids and Ayyubids built the Old Tigris Bridge, the Small Palace and the Great Palace. The infrastructure, location and significance of the city helped increase trade and made Hasankeyf a staging post on the Silk Road. The Ayyubids (descendants of Saladin) captured the city in 1232 and built the mosques that made Hasankeyf an important Islamic center.
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Homs
Homs (Arabic: حمص Ḥimṣ), previously known as Emesa (Greek: Ἔμεσα, Emesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is 501 metres (1,644 ft) above sea level and is located 162 kilometres (101 mi) north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast.
Homs is a major industrial center, and with a population of at least 652,609 people (2004 census), it is the third largest city in Syria after Aleppo to the north and the capital Damascus to the south. Its population reflects Syria's general religious diversity, composed mostly of Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims and Alawite and Christian minorities. The city boasts a number of historic mosques and churches and is close to the Krak des Chevaliers, a world heritage site.
Homs did not emerge into the historical record until the 1st-century BCE at the time of the Seleucids. It later became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Emesani dynasty who gave the city its name. Originally a center of worship for the sun god El-Gabal, it later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines. Homs was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th-century and made capital of a district that bore its current name. Throughout the Islamic era, Muslim dynasties contending for control of Syria sought after Homs due to the city's strategic position in the area. Homs began to decline under the Ottomans and only in the 19th century did the city regain its economic importance when its cotton industry boomed. During French Mandate rule, the city became a center of insurrection and, after independence in 1946, a center of Baathist resistance to the first Syrian governments. Homs has played a central role in the ongoing Syrian uprising against the Baathist government and since May 2011 has been under siege by the Syrian Army.
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Iraq
Iraq (/ɪˈræk/ ori/ɪˈrɑːk/; Arabic: العراق al-‘Irāq); officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: 
جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūriyyat al-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.
Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the southwest and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country.
Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
Historically, Iraq was the center of the Abbasid Arabic Islamic Empire. Iraq has been known to the west by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing, law and the wheel. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.
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Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region (Kurdish: ههرێمی کوردستان, Herêmî Kurdistan; Arabic: إقليم كردستان العراق Iqlīm Kurdistān al-‘Irāq) is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr. The region is officially governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The establishment of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq dates back to the March 1970 autonomy agreement between the Kurdish opposition and the Iraqi government after years of heavy fighting. The Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s and the Anfal genocide campaign of the Iraqi army devastated the population and nature of Iraqi Kurdistan. Following the 1991 uprising of the Iraqi people against Saddam Hussein, many Kurds were forced to flee the country to become refugees in bordering regions of Iran and Turkey. A northern no-fly zone was established following the First Gulf War in 1991 to facilitate the return of Kurdish refugees. As Kurds continued to fight government troops, Iraqi forces finally left Kurdistan in October 1991, leaving the region to function de facto independently; however, neither of the two major Kurdish parties had at any time declared independence and Iraqi Kurdistan continues to view itself as an integral part of a united Iraq but one in which it administers its own affairs. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent political changes led to the ratification of a new Constitution of Iraq in 2005. The new Iraqi constitution defines Iraqi Kurdistan as a federal entity of Iraq, and establishes Arabic and Kurdish as Iraq's joint official languages.
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Jacob's Ford
Bnot Ya'akov Bridge (Hebrew: גשר בנות יעקב ,Gesher Bnot Ya'akov; Arabic: جسر بنات يعقوب, Jisr Banât Ya'qūb, lit. Crossing of Jacob's Daughters) is a bridge across the Jordan River on Highway 91, straddling the border between Israel and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights. The area around the bridge was settled in antiquity, and a river crossing there, known as Jacob's Ford, served as part of the regional route between central Israel and Syria, along the ancient Via Maris.
Archaeological remains at the site analyzed by archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Germany and the United States, found that Lower Paleolithic ancestors living on the lake shore produced stone tools, butchered animals, gathered plant food and controlled fire as early as 790,000 years ago.
The bridge is of strategic military and historical significance as it is one of the few fixed crossing points over the northern Jordan River which enable access from the Golan Heights to the Upper Galilee.
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Jaffa
Jaffa (English pronunciation: /ˈdʒæfə/, /ˈdʒɑːfə/;Hebrew: יָפוֹ, Yāfō (help·info); Arabic: يَافَا Yāfā (help·info); Latin: Joppe; also Japho, Joppa (transliteration from the Greek "Ιόππη") is an ancient port city believed[by whom?] to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv in 1950 creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.
The name of the city is mentioned in Egyptian sources and the Amarna Letters as Yapu. There are several legends about the origin of the name Jaffa. Some say it is named for Japheth, one of the sons of Noah, who built it after the Great Flood.[citation needed] The Hellenist tradition links the name to "Iopeia", which is Cassiopeia, the mother of Andromeda. An outcropping of rocks near the harbor is reputed to have been the place from which Andromeda was rescued by Perseus. Pliny the Elder associates the name with Jopa, the daughter of Aeolus, god of wind. The Arab geographer Al-Muqaddasi mentions it under the name Yaffa, which is used by Arabic speakers today.
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Jerusalem
Jerusalem ( /dʒəˈruːsələm/; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushaláyim ; Arabic: القُدس al-Quds and/or أورشليم Ûrshalîm) is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such, and one of the oldest cities in the world. It is located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea. If the area and population of East Jerusalem is included, it is Israel's largest city in both population and area, with a population of 801,000 residents over an area of 125.1 km2 (48.3 sq mi). Jerusalem is also a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond its boundaries.
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Jordan River
The Jordan River (American English) or River Jordan (British English) (Hebrew: נהר הירדן Nehar haYarden, Arabic: نهر الأردن Nahr al-Urdun) is a 251 kilometres (156 mi) long river in West Asia flowing to the Dead Sea. Currently, the river serves as the eastern border of the State of Israel and of the disputed Palestinian Territories. In Christian tradition, Jesus was baptised in it by John the Baptist. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan takes its name from this river.
The river drops rapidly in a 75 kilometre run to swampy Lake Hula, which is slightly above sea level. Exiting the lake, it drops much more in 25 kilometres to the Sea of Galilee. The last section has less gradient, and the river meanders before entering the Dead Sea, about 422 metres below sea level, which has no outlet. Two major tributaries enter from the east during this last section: the Yarmouk River and Jabbok River.
Its section north of the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew: כינרת kinneret, Arabic: Bohayrat Tabaraya, meaning Lake of Tiberias) is within the boundaries of Israel, and forms the western boundary of the Golan Heights. South of the lake, it forms the border between the Kingdom of Jordan (to the east) and Israel and the West Bank (to the west).
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Kerak
Kerak Castle is a large crusader castle located in Kerak in Jordan. It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant. Construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagan, Fulk of Jerusalem's butler. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Karak in Moab", as it is frequently referred to in history books. Kerak should not be confused with Krak des Chevaliers.
Paganus was also Lord of Oultrejordain (Transjordan), and Karak became the centre of his power, replacing the weaker castle of Montreal to the south. Because of its position east of the Dead Sea, Karak was able to control Bedouin herders as well as the trade routes from Damascus to Egypt and Mecca. His successors, his nephew Maurice and Philip of Milly, added towers and protected the north and south sides with two deep rock-cut ditches (the southern ditch also serving as a cistern). The most notable Crusader architectural feature surviving is the north wall, into which are built immense arched halls on two levels. These were used for living quarters and stables, but also served as a fighting gallery overlooking the castle approach and for shelter against missiles from siege engines.
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Khuzestan
Khuzestan Province (Persian: استان خوزستان, Ostān-e Khūzestān is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq's Basra Province and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahwaz and covers an area of 63,238 km². Other major cities include Behbahan, Abadan, Andimeshk, Khorramshahr, Bandar Imam, Dezful, Shushtar, Omidiyeh, Izeh, Baq-e-Malek, Mah Shahr, Dasht-i Mishan/Dasht-e-Azadegan, Ramhormoz, Shadegan, Susa, Masjed Soleiman, Minoo Island and Hoveizeh.
Historically, Khuzestan is what historians refer to as ancient Elam, whose capital was in Susa. The Achaemenid Old Persian term for Elam was Hujiyā, which is present in the modern name. Khuzestan, meaning "the Land of the Khuz" refers to the original inhabitants of this province, the "Susian" people (Old Persian "Huza" or Huja (as in the inscription at the tomb of King Darius I at Naqsh-e Rostam, (the Shushan of the Hebrew sources) where it is recorded as inscription as "Hauja" or "Huja"). This is in conformity with the same evolutionary process where the Old Persian changed the name Sindh into Hind/Hindustan. In Middle Persian the term evolves into "Khuz" and "Kuzi" The pre-Islamic Partho-Sassanid Inscriptions gives the name of the province as Khwuzestan. As the most ancient Iranian province, it is often referred to as the "birthplace of the nation," as this is where the history of the Persian Empire begins.
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Kish Island
Kish (Persian: کیش) is a 91.5-square-kilometre (35.3 sq mi) resort island in the Persian Gulf. It is part of the Hormozgān Province of Iran. Due to its free trade zone status it is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centres, tourist attractions, and resort hotels. It has an estimated population of 20,000 residents and about 1 million people visit the island annually. Kish Island was ranked among the world’s 10 most beautiful islands by The New York Times in 2010, and is the fourth most visited vacation destination in the Middle East after Dubai, U.A.E, and Sharm el-Sheikh. Foreign nationals wishing to enter Kish Free Zone from legal ports are not required to obtain visas prior to travel. Valid travel permits are stamped for 14 days by airport and Kish port police officials.
Kish Island has been mentioned in history variously as Kamtina, Arakia, Arakata, and Ghiss. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great commissioned Nearchus to set off an expedition voyage into the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
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Lebanon
Lebanon (i/ˈlɛbənɒn/ or /ˈlɛbənən/; Arabic: لبنان Libnān or Lubnān, Lebanese Arabic: [lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية اللبنانية al-Jumhūrīyah al-Libnānīyah, Lebanese Arabic: [elˈʒʊmhuːɾɪjje l.ˈlɪbneːnɪjje]), is a country in the East Mediterranean. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than 7,000 years—predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for nearly 2,500 years (3000–539 BC). Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five provinces that comprise modern Lebanon were mandated to France. The French expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon, which was mostly populated by Maronite Catholics and Druze, to include more Muslims. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, and established a unique political system, known as confessionalism, a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities – Bechara El Khoury who became independent Lebanon's first President and Riad El-Solh, who became Lebanon's first prime minister, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence. French troops withdrew from Lebanon in 1946.
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Lod
Lod (Hebrew: לוֹד; Arabic: الْلُدّ al-Ludd; Greco-Latin: Lydda, Diospolis) is a city 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2011, it had a population of 74,000.
The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod. When al-Ludd, as it was known by its Arab inhabitants was captured by Israel, the Arab inhabitants fled or were expelled and the city was settled by Jewish immigrants, most of them refugees from Arab countries. Of the former Arab population, only 1,056 inhabitants remained. It is today known as Lod, its biblical name.
Israel's main international airport, Ben Gurion International Airport (previously known as Lydda Airport, RAF Lydda, and Lod Airport) is located on the outskirts of the city.
The Hebrew name Lod appears in the bible as a town of Benjamin, founded by Shamed or Shamer (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; 11:35). In the New Testament it appears as its Greek form, Lydda. The city also finds reference in an Islamic Hadith, as the location of the battlefield where 'Dajjal' (the Anti-Christ) will be slayed before the Day of Judgment.
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Malatya
Malatya (Armenian: Մալաթիա Malat'ya; Greek: Μαλάτεια, Malateia;; Kurdish: Meletî; Classical Syriac: ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of its eponymous province.
The city site has been occupied for thousands of years. The Assyrians called the city Meliddu. Following Roman expansion into the east, the city was renamed in Latin as Melitene. The site of ancient Malatya lies a few kilometres from the modern city in what is now the village of Arslantepe and near the dependant district center of Battalgazi (Byzantine to Ottoman Empire). Present-day Battalgazi was the location of the city of Malatya until the 19th century, when a gradual move of the city to the present third location began. Battalgazi's official name was Eskimalatya (Old Malatya); until recently, it was a name used locally.
Arslantepe has been inhabited since the development of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent, nearly 6,000 years ago. From the Bronze Age, the site became an administrative center of a larger region in the kingdom of Isuwa. The city was heavily fortified, probably due to the Hittite menace from the west. The Hittites conquered the city in the fourteenth century B.C. In Hittite, melid or milit means "honey," offering a possible etymology for the name, which was mentioned in the contemporary sources of the time under several variations (e.g., Hittite: Malidiya and possibly also Midduwa;Akkadian: Meliddu;Urar̩rtian: Melitea).
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Manbij
Manbij (Arabic: منبج Manbiǧ, Classical Syriac: ܡܒܘܓ mabbug) is a town in the Aleppo Governorate, Syria, 30 kilometers west of the Euphrates. In the 2004 census by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Manbij had a population of nearly 100,000.
The ruins of the ancient city "Hierapolis Bambyce," also known as "Hierapolis Euphratensis" or "Hierapolis in Euphratesia", are 20 km north, where remains of aqueducts and the Byzantine walls of Justinian are still to be seen.
The place first appears in Greek as Bambyce, but Pliny (v. 23) tells us its Syrian name was Mabog (also Mabbog, Mabbogh). As a centre of the worship of the Syrian goddess Atargatis, it became known to the Greeks as the Ἱερόπολις (Hieropolis) 'city of the sanctuary', and finally as Ἱεράπολις (Hierapolis) 'holy city'.
This worship of Atargatis was immortalized in De Dea Syria which has traditionally been attributed to Lucian of Samosata, a native of Commagene, who gave a full description of the religious cult of the shrine and the tank of sacred fish of Atargatis, of which Aelian also relates marvels. According to the De Dea Syria, the worship was of a phallic character, votaries offering little male figures of wood and bronze. There were also huge phalli set up like obelisks before the temple, which were ceremoniously climbed once a year and decorated.
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Mardin
Mardin (Ottoman Turkish: ماردين, Mardīn, Kurdish: Mêrdîn, Classical Syriac: ܡܪܕܝܢ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.
The name of the city is derived from the Syriac-Aramaic word "ܡܪܕܐ" meaning fortress. Most Syriac Orthodox churches and monasteries in the city were built on ancient pre Christian temple sites and some are still active today. The Syriac Orthodox Saffron Monastery was founded in 439 AD and is one of the oldest monasteries in the world and the only one that is still functioning in southern Turkey. From 1160 until 1932, it was the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch, until the Patriarchate relocated to the Syrian capital Damascus. The site of the monastery itself is said to have been used as a temple by sun worshipers as long ago as 2000 BC. Mardin is likely the Maride and Marida of the Greeks and Romans. Another important church, Kırklar Kilisesi (Church of the 40 Martyrs), originally built in the name of Behnam and Saro, the two sons of a Aramean (Syriac) ruler who executed them because they chose to become Christian, dates from 569 AD[citation needed], and even during its use as a capital by the Artukid Turkish dynasty which ruled Eastern Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. The 12th century Sitti Radviyye Madrasa, the oldest of its kind in Anatolia, dates from this period.
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Mecca
Mecca ( /ˈmɛkə/; Arabic: مكة, Makkah, pronounced [ˈmækːɐ]) is a city in the Hejaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during Hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah.
As the birthplace of Muhammad and a site of the composition of the Quran, Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in the religion of Islam and a pilgrimage to it known as the Hajj is obligatory upon all able Muslims. The Hijaz was long ruled by Muhammad's descendants, the sharifs, either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger empires. It was absorbed into Saudi Arabia in 1925. In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure. Because of this Mecca has lost many thousand years old buildings and archaeological sites. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan and diverse cities in the Muslim world, although non-Muslims remain prohibited from entering the city.
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Medina
Medina (/mɛˈdiːnə/; Arabic: اَلْمَدِينَة اَلْمَنَوَّرَة, al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, “the radiant city” (officially), or اَلْمَدِينَة al-Madīnah; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Medina is historically significant for being Muhammad's home after the Hijrah. Before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib, but was personally renamed by Muhammad.
Medina is home to the three oldest mosques in Islam, namely Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque), Quba Mosque (the first mosque in Islam's history), and Masjid al-Qiblatain (the mosque where the qibla was switched to Mecca).
Because of the Saudi government's religious policy and concern that historic sites could become the focus for idolatry, much of Medina's Islamic physical heritage has been destroyed since the beginning of Saudi rule.[citation needed]
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Mosul
Coordinates: 36°20′N 43°08′E / 36.34°N 43.13°E / 36.34; 43.13
Mosul (Arabic: الموصل al-Mawṣil; North Mesopotamian Arabic: el-Mōṣul; Syriac: ܢܝܢܘܐ Nînwe; Kurdish: Mûsil/Nînewe; Turkish: Musul), is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Nineveh Province, some 400 km (250 mi) northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linking the two sides. The majority of its population is Arab (with Assyrians, Turcoman and Kurdish minorities). It is Iraq's third largest city after Baghdad and Basra.
The fabric Muslin, long manufactured here, is named after this city. Another historically important product of the area is Mosul marble.
In 1987, the city's population was 664,221 people; the 2002 population estimate was 1,740,000, and by 2008 was estimated to be 1,800,000. People from Mosul are called Maslawis.
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Nablus
Nablus (Arabic: نابلس Nāblus [næːblʊs] ( listen), Hebrew: שכם Šəḵem, Biblical Shechem ISO 259-3 Škem) is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately 63 kilometers (39 mi) north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.
Founded by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 CE as Flavia Neapolis, Nablus has been ruled by many empires over the course of its almost 2,000-year-long history. In the 5th and 6th centuries, conflict between the city's Christian and Samaritan inhabitants climaxed in a series of Samaritan revolts against Byzantine rule, before their violent quelling in 529 CE drastically dwindled that community's numbers in the city. In 636, Neapolis, along with most of Palestine, came under the rule of the Islamic Arab Caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab; its name Arabicized to Nablus. In 1099, the Crusaders took control of the city for less than a century, leaving its mixed Muslim, Christian and Samaritan population relatively undisturbed. After Saladin's Ayyubid forces took control of the interior of Palestine in 1187, Islamic rule was reestablished, and continued under the Mamluk and Ottoman empires to follow.
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Nusaybin
Nusaybin (pronounced [nuˈsajbin]; Akkadian: Naṣibina; classical Nisibis; Syriac: ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, Niṣībīn; Armenian: Մծբին, Mtsbin; Kurdish: Nisêbîn) is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey, populated mainly by Kurds. Earlier Arameans, Arabs, Mhallamis, Assyrians and Armenians lived in the city. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009.
First mentioned in 901 BC, Naşibīna was an Aramaean kingdom captured by the Assyrian king Adad-Nirari II in 896. By 852 BC, Naṣibina had been fully annexed to the Neo Assyrian Empire and appeared in the Assyrian Eponym List as the seat of an Assyrian provincial governor named Shamash-Abua. It remained part of the Assyrian Empire until its collapse in 608 BC.[citation needed]
It was under Babylonian control until 536 BC, when it fell to the Achamaenid Persians, and remained so until taken by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. The Seleucids refounded the city as Antiochia Mygdonia (Greek: Αντιόχεια της Μυγδονίας), mentioned for the first time in Polybius' description of the march of Antiochus III the Great against the Molon (Polybius, V, 51). Greek historian Plutarch suggested that the city was populated by Spartan descendants. Around the 1st century AD, Nisibis (נציבין, Netzivin) was the home of Judah ben Bethera, who founded a famous yeshiva there.
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Oman
Oman (i/oʊˈmɑːn/ oh-MAAN; Arabic: عمان ʻUmān), officially called the Sultanate of Oman (Arabic: سلطنة عُمان Salṭanat ʻUmān), is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam enclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.
For a period, Oman was a moderate regional power, formerly having a sultanate extending across the Strait of Hormuz to Iran, and modern day Pakistan, and far south to Zanzibar on the coat of south-east Africa. Over time, as its power declined, the sultanate came under heavy influence from the United Kingdom, though Oman was never formally part of the British Empire, or a British protectorate. The Omani royal family claim that Oman has been ruled by the Al Said dynasty since 1744, although without substantial proof. Oman has long-standing military and political ties with the United Kingdom and the United States, although it maintains an independent foreign policy.
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Orontes River
The Orontes ([pronunciation?]; Ὀρόντης) or ‘Āṣī (Arabic: العاصي, Turkish: Asi) is a river of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.
It was anciently the chief river of the Levant, also called Draco, Typhon and Axius. The last was a native form, from whose revival, or continuous employment in native speech, has preceded the modern name ‘Āṣī ("rebel"), because the river flows from the south to the north unlike the rest of the rivers in the region[citation needed].
The name Orontes is the Hellenized form of the Iranic (possibly Kurdish) term Harawanta/Harawand/Alwand, meaning "Of greatness, mighty".[citation needed] There are many other rivers and mountains by this same Iranic name in the general area of the Fertile Crescent. These include the Alwand River on Iran-Iraq borders, east of Baghdad, and Mount Alvand to the east of the same river. The name of the eponymous Armenian dynasty, the Orontids springs from the same lexical roots.
The Orontes rises in the great springs of Labweh on the east side of the Beqaa Valley, very near the fountains of the southward-flowing Litani, and it runs due north, parallel with the coast, falling 2000 feet (600 m) through a rocky gorge. Leaving this it expands into the Lake of Homs, having been dammed back in antiquity. The valley now widens out into the rich district of Hamah (Hamaih-Epiphaneia), below which lie the broad meadow-lands of Amykes, containing the sites of ancient Apamea and Larissa. This central Orontes valley ends at the rocky barrier of Jisr al-Hadid, where the river is diverted to the west, and the plain of Antioch opens.
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Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim (Arabic: قصر ابريم) is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological site in Lower Nubia to have survived the Nile floods. Both prior to and after the Nile floods, it has remained a major site for archaeological investigations.
Human habitation at the site dates from the Late Kingdom, but it reached its greatest prominence in the Middle Ages, when the area was the home of the Eparch of Nobatia. Qasr Ibrim is the source of the largest collection of Old Nubian documents ever found, including the records of the Eparch. The site was inhabited until the 1840s. Today the island is closed to all but archaeologists.
This important site derives its name from the nearby village of Ibrim, on the east bank of the Nile. Wasr Ibrim is also notable for its fortress of Qasr Ibrim ("The Castle of Ibrim"), which certainly stood on older pharaonic foundations. Partly built "in Roman times under the prefecture of Gaius Petronius during Augustus' reign," it was originally a pharaonic site with material from the New Kingdom and later periods of Egyptian history being found here. This is established by reused and isolated monuments from this older period: the earliest record is a dated Year 8 stela of Amenhotep I while "a temple structure of Taharqa (with a painting showing the king offering to a god)" is also known here.
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Quneitra
Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; Arabic: القنيطرة al-Qunayṭrah) is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at an elevation of 1,010 metres (3,313 feet) above sea level. Quneitra was founded in the Ottoman era as a way station on the caravan route to Damascus and subsequently became a garrison town of some 20,000 people, strategically located near the ceasefire line with Israel. Its name is Arabic for "the little bridge".
On 10 June 1967, the last day of the Six-Day War, Quneitra came under Israeli control. It was briefly recaptured by Syria during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, but Israel regained control in its subsequent counter-offensive. The city was almost completely destroyed before the Israeli withdrawal in June 1974. It now lies in the demilitarized United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone between Syria and Israel, a short distance from the de facto border between the two countries, and is populated by only a handful of families. Syria refused to rebuild the city and actively discourages resettlement in the area. Israel was heavily criticized by the United Nations for the city's destruction, while Israel has also criticized Syria for not rebuilding Quneitra.
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Ramla
Ramla (Hebrew: רַמְלָה Ramlāh; Arabic: الرملة ar-Ramlah, also Ramlah,Ramle, Remle and sometimes Rama), is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region. Ramla lies along the route of the Via Maris, connecting old Cairo (Fustat) with Damascus, at the intersection of the roads connecting the port of Jaffa with Jerusalem.
It was conquered many times in the course of its history, by the Abbasids, the Ikhshidids, the Fatamids, the Seljuqs, the Crusaders, the Mameluks, the Turks, the British, and the Israelis. After an outbreak of the Black Death in 1347, which greatly reduced the population, an order of Franciscan monks established a presence in the city. Under Arab and Ottoman rule the city became an important trade center. Napoleon's French Army occupied it in 1799 on its way to Acre.
Most of the town's Arab residents were expelled or fled during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War while others remained in the town. The town was subsequently repopulated by Jewish immigrants. In 2001, 80% of the population were Jewish and 20% Arab (16% Muslim Arabs and 4% Christian Arabs).
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Samarra
Sāmarrā (Arabic: سامَرّاء) is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, 125 kilometers (78 mi) north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700.
Medieval Islamic writers believed that the name “Samarra” is derived from the Arabic phrase “Sarra man ra’a” (Arabic: سر من رأى), which translates to “A joy for all who see”. Later when the city declined the name changed to “Sa'a man ra’a” (Arabic: ساء من رأى), which translates to “A sadness for all who see”. Eventually the two names merged to its current form Samarra' (Arabic: سامَرّاء).
In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra one of its World Heritage Sites.
The remains of ancient Samarra were first excavated between 1911 and 1914 by the German Archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. Since 1946, the notebooks, letters, unpublished excavation reports and photographs have been in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Though the present archaeological site covered by mudbrick ruins is vast, the site of Samarra was only lightly occupied in ancient times, apart from the Chalcolithic Samarran Culture (ca 5500–4800 BC) identified at the rich site of Tell Sawwan, where evidence of irrigation—including flax— establishes the presence of a prosperous settled culture with a highly organized social structure. The culture is primarily known by its finely-made pottery decorated against dark-fired backgrounds with stylized figures of animals and birds and geometric designs. This widely-exported type of pottery, one of the first widespread, relatively uniform pottery styles in the Ancient Near East, was first recognized at Samarra. The Samarran Culture was the precursor to the Mesopotamian culture of the Ubaid period.
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Saruj
Suruç is a rural district of Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey, on a plain near the Syrian border 46 km south-west of the city of Şanlıurfa.
The modern Turkish name “Suruç” is derived from Serugh (Syriac: ܣܪܘܓ, Sĕrûḡ, pronounced as if Sıruğ in Modern Turkish orthography, but present pronunciation influenced by Arabic: سروج, sarūj), the pre-Islamic name for the area. The name literally means “woven” or “latticed,” and either refers to weaving or saddle making, both of which are traditional in the district. Alternatively, the name is associated with Serug (Hebrew: שרוג, śərûḡ) the great-grandfather of the prophet Abraham (Genesis 11.20–23; I Chronicles 1.26; Luke 3.35).
In antiquity the Sumerians built a settlement in the area. The city was a centre of silk-making. They were succeeded by a number of other Mesopotamian civilisations. The Roman Emperor Constantine I brought the town under the control of the city of Edessa (modern day Şanlıurfa). One of the most famous residents of the district is its 6th century Syriac bishop and poet-theologian Jacob of Serugh. The town was surrendered to the Abbasid Arabs in 639. It was later controlled by Crusaders (in 1098), and Moslems again (in 1127). The city was then destroyed in the Mongol invasions, and in 1517 the area was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Selim I. Suruç was occupied in 1918 by British and in 1919 by French troops, but was freed by a local resistance struggle.
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Shaubak
Montreal is a Crusader castle on the eastern side of the Arabah, perched on the side of a rocky, conical mountain, looking out over fruit trees below. The ruins, called Shoubak or Shawbak in Arabic, are located in modern town of Shoubak in Jordan.
The castle was built in 1115 by Baldwin I of Jerusalem during his expedition to the area where he captured Aqaba on the Red Sea in 1116. Originally called 'Krak de Montreal' or 'Mons Regalis', it was named in honour of the king's own contribution to its construction (Mont Royal). It was strategically located on a hill on the plain of Edom, along the pilgrimage and caravan routes from Syria to Arabia. This allowed Baldwin to control the commerce of the area, as pilgrims and merchants needed permission to travel past it. It was surrounded by relatively fertile land, and two cisterns were carved into the hill, with a long, steep staircase leading to springs within the hill itself.
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Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai (Arabic: سيناء sīnā' ; Hebrew סיני) is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about 60,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi) in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two continents. The bulk of the peninsula is divided administratively into two of Egypt's 27 governorates (with three more straddling the Suez Canal area), and has a population of approximately 500,000 people. In addition to its formal name, Egyptians also refer to it affectionately as the "Land of Fayrouz", based on the Ancient Egyptian "Dumafkat", which has the same meaning.
The region has historically been the centre of conflict between various states, based largely on its strategic geopolitical location. In addition to periods of direct rule by Egyptian governments (including the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, and the modern Egyptian republic), it was like the rest of Egypt, also occupied and controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and the United Kingdom (which occupied Egypt from 1882 until 1956). Israel invaded and occupied Sinai during the Suez Crisis (known in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression) of 1956, and during the Six Day War of 1967. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched the October War to liberate the peninsula, which was the site of fierce fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces. In 1982, after the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from the entirety of Sinai. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in Abrahamic faiths.
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Sinjar
Sinjar (Arabic:سنجار, Kurdish: Şengal ) is the name of a town and district in northwestern Iraq's Ninawa Governorate near the Syrian border. Its population at the time of the 2006 census was 39,875. The region is home to the native Yezidi and Shabak people.
A huge mound and wall in northeastern Syria known as Tell Hamoukar indicate an urban civilisation dating back at least 6,000 years. The Sinjar valley belonged to the Northern Ubaid culture. In the Sinjar plain, where Tell Hamoukar is located, civilizations are known to have existed many centuries earlier (Hassuna, Halaf, Ubaid). More than 200 sites are known.
Some sources mention the city as the birthplace of the Christian saint Abd-al-Masih (Abda).
Sinjar was also the site of the filming, and some of the plot, for the 1973 film The Exorcist.
Coordinates: 36°19′N 41°52′E / 36.32°N 41.86°E / 36.32; 41.86
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Sudan
Sudan (i/suːˈdæn/ or /suːˈdɑːn/;Arabic: السودان, as-Sūdān), officially the Republic of the Sudan (Arabic: جمهورية السودان, Jumhūrīyat as-Sūdān), sometimes called North Sudan, is an Arab state in North Africa (sometimes also considered to be part of the Middle East). It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. The population of Sudan is a combination of indigenous inhabitants of Nile Valley, and descendants of migrants from the Arabian Peninsula. Due to the process of Arabisation common throughout the rest of the Arab World, today Arab culture predominates in Sudan. The majority of the population of Sudan adheres to Islam. The Nile divides the country between east and west sides.
The people of Sudan have a long history extending from antiquity which is intertwined with the history of Egypt. Sudan suffered seventeen years of civil war during the First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) followed by ethnic, religious and economic conflicts between the Muslim Arab northern Sudanese and the mostly animist and Christian Nilotes of Southern Sudan. This led to the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983. Because of continuing political and military struggles, Sudan was seized in a bloodless coup d'état by colonel Omar al-Bashir in 1989, who thereafter proclaimed himself President of Sudan. The civil war ended with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement which granted autonomy to what was then the southern region of the country. Following a referendum held in January 2011, South Sudan seceded on 9 July 2011 with the consent of Sudan's President al-Bashir.
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Syria
Syria (/ˈsɪriə/ ( listen) SIRR-ee-ə; Arabic: سورية Sūriyya or سوريا Sūryā; Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܐ; Kurdish: Sûrî), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية al-Jumhūriyyah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūriyyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
In English, the name Syria was formerly synonymous with the Levant, known in Arabic as Sham, while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate, and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi, 10% Christian, and 3% Druze. Combined, 87% of the Syrian population is Muslim, while the other 10% is Christian, which includes mainly Arab Christians but also Assyrians and Armenians. Major ethnic minorities in Syria include Kurds (9%), Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens and Circassians. The majority of the population is Arab (90%).
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Taibe, Galilee
Taibe (Arabic: الطيبة; Hebrew: טַּיִּבָּה), meaning "The goodly", is a Bedouin village in northeastern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In 2008 it had a population of 2,000.
Remains from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, and Mamluk periods have been found. During the Crusader period there was a castle here called Forbelet. It was probably Hospitaller and dependent on nearby Belvoir. The castle was sacked by Saladin in 1183, and occupied by the Muslims besieging Belvoir in 1187-88. Some parts of the castle still remain.
In 1596, the village appeared in Ottoman tax registers as Tayyibat al-Ism in the Nahiya of Shafa of the Liwa of Lajjun. It had a population of 13 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, and goats or beehives.
In the "Survey of Western Palestine" at the end of the 19th century, Taibe was described as: "A straggling village, of moderate size, lying on flat ground, and containing several good stone houses. There is one in the middle of the village, belonging to the Sheikh, which is larger than the rest."
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Tartus
Tartus (Arabic: طرطوس / ALA-LC: Ṭarṭūs; also transliterated Tartous) is a city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Tartus is the second largest port city in Syria (after Latakia), and the largest city in Tartus Governorate. The population size is 115,769 (2004 census).
The city lies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea bordered by the Alawite Mountains to the east. Arwad, the only inhabited island on the Syrian coast, is located a few kilometers off the shore of Tartus.
Tartus occupies most of a flat area, surrounded to the east by hills composed mainly of limestone and, in certain places around the town of Souda, basalt.
The climate is Mediterranean, with short winter months and a moderate temperature from April to October. The hills to the east of the city create an alternative environment and climate. Tartus is known for its mild weather and high precipitation. Humidity in the summer can reach 80%.
The History of Tartus goes back to the 2nd millennium BC when it was founded as a Phoenician colony of Aradus. The colony was known as Antaradus (from Greek "Anti-Arados → Antarados", Anti-Aradus, meaning "The town facing Arwad"). Not much remains of the Phoenician Antaradus, the mainland settlement that was linked to the more important and larger settlements of Aradus, off the shore of Tartus, and the nearby site of Amrit.
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Tikrit
Tikrit (Arabic: تكريت, Tikrīt also transliterated as Takrit or Tekrit) is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river (at 34.61°N, 43.68°E). The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.
As a fort along the Tigris (Akkadian: Idiqlat), the town is first mentioned in the Fall of Assyria Chronicle as being a refuge for the Babylonian king Nabopolassar during his attack on the city of Assur in 615 BC.
Tikrit is usually identified with the Hellenistic settlement Birtha. As Tagrit, it was the seat of the Maphrian of the Monophysites.
Over a thousand years ago, it possessed a fortress and a large Christian monastery. It was renowned as a centre for the production of woolen textiles. The Arab Uqaylid Dynasty took hold of Tikrit in 1036.
Around 1138, the legendary leader Saladin was born there; his many achievements include defending Egypt against the Christian Crusaders and recapturing Jerusalem in 1187. The modern province of which Tikrit is the capital is named after him.
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Tyre (Lebanon)
Tyre (Arabic: صور, Ṣūr; Phoenician:
, Ṣur; Hebrew: צוֹר, Tzor; Tiberian Hebrew צר, Ṣōr; Akkadian: 𒋗𒊒 Ṣurru; Greek: Τύρος, Týros; Turkish: Sur; Latin: Tyrus) is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. There were approximately 117,000 inhabitants in 2003, however, the government of Lebanon has released only rough estimates of population numbers since 1932, so an accurate statistical accounting is not possible. Tyre juts out from the coast of the Mediterranean and is located about 80 km (50 mi) south of Beirut. The name of the city means "rock" after the rocky formation on which the town was originally built. The adjective for Tyre is Tyrian, and the inhabitants are Tyrians.
Tyre is an ancient Phoenician city and the legendary birthplace of Europa and Elissa (Dido). Today it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon and houses one of the nation's major ports. Tourism is a major industry. The city has a number of ancient sites, including its Roman Hippodrome which was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.
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Tzippori
Tzippori (Hebrew: צִפּוֹרִי, ציפורי), also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya (Arabic: صفورية, also transliterated Safurriya and Suffurriye) is located in the central Galilee region, 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel. The site holds a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Assyrian, Hellenistic, Judean, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Arabic and Ottoman influences.
Interest on the part of Biblical archaeologists is related to the belief in Christian tradition that the parents of the Virgin Mary, Anna and Joachim, were natives of Tzippori, at the time a Hellenized town. Notable structures at the site include a Roman theater, two early Christian churches, a Crusader fortress that was renovated by Daher El-Omar in the 18th century, and upwards of forty different mosaics.
Tzippori once served as a center of Jewish religious and spiritual life in the Galilee; remains of a 6th-century synagogue have been uncovered in the lower section of the site. In the 7th century, the town came under the rule of the Arab caliphates like much of the rest of Palestine. Successive Arab and Islamic imperial authorities ruled the area until the end of the first World War I, with a brief interruption during the Crusades.
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Yemen
The Republic of Yemen (Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhūrīyah al-Yamanīyah), commonly known as Yemeni/ˈjɛmən/ (Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman), is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east. Yemen is considered one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. Its capital and largest city is Sana'a. Yemen's territory includes over 200 islands, the largest of which is Socotra, about 415 km (258 mi) to the south of mainland Yemen, off the coast of Somalia. It is the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a purely republican form of government. Approximately 53% of Yemenis are Sunnis, while 45% are Zaydi Shias.
One etymology derives Yemen from yamin, meaning "on the right side", as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise. Another derives Yemen from yumn, meaning "felicity", as the region is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) as opposed to Arabia Deserta (Deserted Arabia), which was their term for northern Arabia.
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Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains (Arabic: جبال زغروس, Aramaic: ܛܘܪ ܙܪܓܣ, Kurdish: زنجیرهچیاکانی زاگرۆس, Lurish: کو یه لی زاگروس, Persian: رشته كوه زاگرس) are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km (932 mi), from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of Hormuz. The highest points in the Zagros Mountains are Zard Kuh-bakhtiari and Dena. The Hazaran massif in the Kerman province of Iran forms an eastern outlier of the range, the Jebal Barez reaching into Sistan.
The Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by collision of two tectonic plates — the Eurasian and Arabian Plates. Recent GPS measurements in Iran have shown that this collision is still active and the resulting deformation is distributed non-uniformly in the country, mainly taken up in the major mountain belts like Alborz and Zagros. A relatively dense GPS network which covered the Zagros in the Iranian part also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate of shortening in SE Zagros is ~10 mm/yr and ~5mm/yr in the NW Zagros. The NS strike-slip Kazerun fault divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening directions along the belt, i.e. normal shortening in the South-East and oblique shortening in the NW Zagros.
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Zir'in
Zir'in (Arabic: زرعين) was a Palestinian Arab village of over 1,400 in the Jezreel Valley, located 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) north of Jenin. Identified as the Canaanite town of Yizre'el, it was known as Zir'in during Islamic rule, and was near the site of the Battle of Ain Jalut, in which the Mamluks halted Mongol expansion southward. Under the Ottomans, it was a small village, expanding during the British Mandate in the early 20th century. After its capture by Israel in 1948, Zir'in was destroyed.
Zir'in is known as the Canaanite town of Yizre'el mentioned by Joshua in the Bible. Yizre'el translates in Hebrew as "God give seed", and the name was Arabicized into "Zir'in" following the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century CE.
After the Crusaders invaded the Levant, they referred to it as "le Petit Gerin" or "the Little Jenin" to distinguish it from Jenin, which they called "le Grand Gerin". In Latin literature of the time it was called "Gezrael", "Iezrael", "Parvum Gerinum" or "Zarain". A vaulted building and other structures remain from a castle that belonged to the Templars by the 1180s. During the Battle of al-Fule, Saladin's sent skirmishers to raid then Crusader-held Zir'in in October 1183. In September 1184, Saladin and his Ayyubid forces passed through the village on their way to Nablus.
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Abu Tammam
Abu Tammam (Habib ibn Aws Al-Ta'i.) (أبو تمام حبيب بن أوس) (b.788-845) was an Abbasid era Arab poet and Muslim convert born to Christian parents.
Abu Tammam was born in Jasim (Josem), Syria, north-east of the Sea of Tiberias and near Hierapolis Bambyce. He seems to have spent his youth in Homs, though, according to one story, he was employed during his boyhood selling water at a mosque in Cairo. His first appearance as a poet was in Egypt, but as he failed to make a living there he went to Damascus, and then to Mosul. From there he made a visit to the governor of Armenia which was at the time a part of the Arab Islamic empire, where he was well-supported. After 833 he lived mostly in Baghdad, at the court of the caliph Mo'tasim. From Baghdad he visited Khorasan, where he enjoyed the favour of Abdullah ibn Tahir. In approximately 845 he was in Ma'arrat un-Nu'man, where he met the poet al-Buhturi (c. 820–897). He died in Mosul in 845.
Abu Tammam is best known in literature by his 9th century compilation of early poems known as the Hamasah. The Hamasah (Arabic, "exhortation") is one of the greatest anthologies of Arabic literature ever written. Abu Tammam gathered these works together when he was snowbound in Hamadan, where he had access to an excellent library belonging to Abu al-Wafa Ibn Salama. There are ten books of poems in the Hamasah, all classified by subject. Some of them are selections from long poems. This is one of the treasuries of early Arabic poetry, and the poems are of exceptional beauty. A later anthology by the same name was compiled by the poet al-Buhturi, and the term has been used in modern times to mean "heroic epic."
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Abu'l-Fida
Abu al-Fida (Arabic: أبو الفداء) or Abul Fida Ismail Hamvi (fully Abu Al-fida' Isma'il Ibn 'ali ibn Mahmud Al-malik Al-mu'ayyad 'imad Ad-din, (also transliterated Abulfeda, Abu Alfida, and other ways)) (November 1273 – October 27, 1331) was a Kurdish historian,geographer, and local sultan. The crater Abulfeda on the Moon, is named after him.
Abulfeda was born in Damascus, where his father Malik ul-Afdal, brother of the prince of Hamah, had fled from the Mongols.
In his boyhood he devoted himself to the study of the Qur'an and the sciences, but from his twelfth year onward, he was almost constantly engaged in military expeditions, chiefly against the crusaders.
In 1285 he was present at the assault of a stronghold of the Knights of St. John, and took part in the sieges of Tripoli, Acre and Qal'at ar-Rum. In 1298 he entered the service of the Mamluk Sultan Malik al-Nasir and after twelve years was invested by him with the governorship of Hama. In 1312 he became prince with the title Malik us-Salhn, and in 1320 received the hereditary rank of sultan with the title Malik ul-Mu'ayyad.
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Al-'Āḍid
Al-AziD or Al-Adid (1149–1171), also known as Al-Azid and Athid, was the fourteenth and last Caliph of the Fatimid dynasty (1160–1171). He is most famous for a remarkable alliance struck during the Crusades, between his caliphate and that of the Christians in Jerusalem, to support each other against another Muslim invading force, that of Nur ad-Din Zangi. The alliance, brokered by the powerful Egyptian vizier Shawar, was sealed by, at Crusader insistence and to the scandal of the caliph's court, the teenaged caliph Adid actually removing his glove and shaking hands with one of the Christian envoys.
Al-Adid was believed by the Hafizi Ismaili Muslims to be an imam.
He became Caliph as a minor following the death of his brother Al-Faiz (1154–1160). The rule of the Fatimids was so weak and divided by this time that the Crusaders were able to begin invasions of Egypt.
With the help of the Zengids, the Syrian Sultan Nur ad-Din, Shawar was able to establish himself as vizier (1163–1169), and he was the effective ruler of Egypt. With the help of Syrian troops under Shirkuh and Saladin, Shawar's forces were able to fight off the Crusader incursions. Through careful seesaw diplomacy between Crusaders and Zengids, Shawar maintained a fragile grip on power. Eventually, however, the Zengids overthrew Shawar in 1169 and installed Shirkuh as leader, and then after Shirkuh's death two months later, Shirkuh's nephew Saladin became vizier of Egypt. When Al-Adid died of natural causes in 1171, the Fatimid dynasty ended to make way for the Ayyubids (1171–1260), a dynasty named for Saladin's father Ayyub (Job).
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Al-Adid
Al-AziD or Al-Adid (1149–1171), also known as Al-Azid and Athid, was the fourteenth and last Caliph of the Fatimid dynasty (1160–1171). He is most famous for a remarkable alliance struck during the Crusades, between his caliphate and that of the Christians in Jerusalem, to support each other against another Muslim invading force, that of Nur ad-Din Zangi. The alliance, brokered by the powerful Egyptian vizier Shawar, was sealed by, at Crusader insistence and to the scandal of the caliph's court, the teenaged caliph Adid actually removing his glove and shaking hands with one of the Christian envoys.
Al-Adid was believed by the Hafizi Ismaili Muslims to be an imam.
He became Caliph as a minor following the death of his brother Al-Faiz (1154–1160). The rule of the Fatimids was so weak and divided by this time that the Crusaders were able to begin invasions of Egypt.
With the help of the Zengids, the Syrian Sultan Nur ad-Din, Shawar was able to establish himself as vizier (1163–1169), and he was the effective ruler of Egypt. With the help of Syrian troops under Shirkuh and Saladin, Shawar's forces were able to fight off the Crusader incursions. Through careful seesaw diplomacy between Crusaders and Zengids, Shawar maintained a fragile grip on power. Eventually, however, the Zengids overthrew Shawar in 1169 and installed Shirkuh as leader, and then after Shirkuh's death two months later, Shirkuh's nephew Saladin became vizier of Egypt. When Al-Adid died of natural causes in 1171, the Fatimid dynasty ended to make way for the Ayyubids (1171–1260), a dynasty named for Saladin's father Ayyub (Job).
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Al-Adil
Al-Adil I (Arabic: العادل, in full al-Malik al-Adil Sayf al-Din Abu-Bakr ibn Ayyub, Arabic: الملك العادل سيف الدين أبو بكر بن أيوب; 1145–1218) was an Ayyubid-Egyptian general and ruler of Kurdish descent. From his honorific "Sayf al-Din" (Sword of Faith) he was sometimes known to the Frankish crusaders as "Saphadin".
Al-Adil was a son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, and a younger brother of Salah ad-Din Ayyubi. He was born in June 1145, possibly in Damascus. He first achieved distinction as an officer in Nur ad-Din Zengi's army during his uncle Shirkuh's third and final campaign in Egypt (1168–1169); following Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Al-Adil governed Egypt on behalf of his brother Saladin and mobilized that country's vast resources in support of his brother's campaigns in Syria and his war against the Crusaders (1175–1183).
He was governor of Aleppo (1183–1186) but returned to administer Egypt during the Third Crusade (1186–1192); as governor of Saladin's northern provinces (1192–1193), he suppressed the revolt of 'Izz Al-Din of Mosul following Saladin's death (March 1193), and played the role of kingmaker during the succession dispute among Saladin's sons Al-Aziz Uthman and Al-Afdal (1193–1196). He was named governor of Damascus and used this base to expand his power, and championed the faction opposed to Al-Afdal's inept rule following Al-Aziz's death in 1198. Although he was closely besieged in Damascus (1199), he defeated Al-Afdal at the Battle of Bilbeis in January 1200. After his victory, he was proclaimed Sultan and ruled wisely and well over both Egypt and Syria for nearly two decades, promoting trade and good relations with the Crusader states (1200–1217). He took Ahlat in 1207 and bring to Ahlatshahs. He took the field again on hearing news of the Fifth Crusade, despite his advanced age (62, in the year 1217), and organized the defenses of Egypt and Palestine. He fell ill and died while on campaign (August 1218) and was succeeded by his son Malik Al-Kamil.
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Al-Adil I
Al-Adil I (Arabic: العادل, in full al-Malik al-Adil Sayf al-Din Abu-Bakr ibn Ayyub, Arabic: الملك العادل سيف الدين أبو بكر بن أيوب; 1145–1218) was an Ayyubid-Egyptian general and ruler of Kurdish descent. From his honorific "Sayf al-Din" (Sword of Faith) he was sometimes known to the Frankish crusaders as "Saphadin".
Al-Adil was a son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, and a younger brother of Salah ad-Din Ayyubi. He was born in June 1145, possibly in Damascus. He first achieved distinction as an officer in Nur ad-Din Zengi's army during his uncle Shirkuh's third and final campaign in Egypt (1168–1169); following Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Al-Adil governed Egypt on behalf of his brother Saladin and mobilized that country's vast resources in support of his brother's campaigns in Syria and his war against the Crusaders (1175–1183).
He was governor of Aleppo (1183–1186) but returned to administer Egypt during the Third Crusade (1186–1192); as governor of Saladin's northern provinces (1192–1193), he suppressed the revolt of 'Izz Al-Din of Mosul following Saladin's death (March 1193), and played the role of kingmaker during the succession dispute among Saladin's sons Al-Aziz Uthman and Al-Afdal (1193–1196). He was named governor of Damascus and used this base to expand his power, and championed the faction opposed to Al-Afdal's inept rule following Al-Aziz's death in 1198. Although he was closely besieged in Damascus (1199), he defeated Al-Afdal at the Battle of Bilbeis in January 1200. After his victory, he was proclaimed Sultan and ruled wisely and well over both Egypt and Syria for nearly two decades, promoting trade and good relations with the Crusader states (1200–1217). He took Ahlat in 1207 and bring to Ahlatshahs. He took the field again on hearing news of the Fifth Crusade, despite his advanced age (62, in the year 1217), and organized the defenses of Egypt and Palestine. He fell ill and died while on campaign (August 1218) and was succeeded by his son Malik Al-Kamil.
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Al-Afdal Muhammad
Al-Afdal Muhammad Arabic: الأفضل محمد, was the last Ayyubid governor of Hama in central Syria, reigning from 1332 to 1341. The Ayyubid sultanate in Syria collapsed in 1260 with the advent of the Mongols, however the Mamluks of Egypt drove them out and allowed Ayyubid rule to be maintained in the principality Hama under Abu al-Fida, the father of al-Afdal. Al-Afdal incurred the displeasure of his Mamluk overlords and was deposed by them in 1341.
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Al-Aziz Uthman
Al-Malik Al-Aziz Osman bin Salahadin Yusuf (1171 – 29 November 1198) was the second Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt. He was the second son of Saladin.
Before his death, Saladin had divided his dominions amongst his kin: Al-Afdal received Palestine and Syria, Al-Aziz was made ruler of Egypt, Al-Zahir received Aleppo, Al-Adil received Karak and Shawbak, and Turan Shah retained Yemen. However, conflict soon broke out, and Al-Adil became the undisputed ruler of Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Arabia. Al-Aziz Uthman succeeded his father and ruled between 1193 and 1198 AD.
Despite Al-Aziz's having specifically inherited suzerainty over the whole Ayyubid empire, soon he had to face the revolt of the Zengid emirs of Mosul and Sanjar and of the Artuqids in southern Iraq. When Al-Afdal expelled all the ministers left by his father to support him, they came to Egypt, asking al-Aziz to reconquer Syria. In [? year] al-Aziz besieged Damascus; Al-Afdal asked help to Saladin's brother, Al-Adil, who met al-Aziz and convinced him to a reconciliation. The following year al-Aziz attacked again Syria, but Al-Afdal was able to have some of the emirs of his army to desert. Later al-Adil allied with al-Aziz against al-Afdal, who was besieged and captured in Damascus on 3 July 1196. Al-Afdal was exiled at Sarkhad, while al-Aziz was proclaimed supreme overlord of the Ayyubid empire; however, most of the effective power was in the hands of Al-Adil, who had installed himself in Damascus.
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Al-Kamil
Al-Kamil (Arabic: الكامل) (full name: al-Malik al-Kamel Naser al-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Muhammed) (1180–1238) was a Kurdish Ayyubid sultan who ruled North Africa. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated two crusades. In a temporary agreement with the Crusaders, he ceded Jerusalem to the Christians.
He was the son of sultan al-Adil, a brother of Saladin. In 1218 al-Kamil led the defense during the Siege of Damietta against the Fifth Crusade, and later that year became sultan when his father died. In 1219 he was almost overthrown by a conspiracy among Coptic Christians, and considered fleeing to Yemen until the conspiracy was put down by his brother al-Mu'azzam, governor of Damascus.
Al-Kamil made many offers of peace to the Crusaders, all of which were rejected, due to the influence of the papal legate Pelagius. He offered to return Jerusalem and rebuild its walls (which his brother had torn down earlier in the year), and to return the True Cross (which he probably did not have). At one point he even negotiated with Francis of Assisi, who had accompanied the crusade, and who apparently tried to convert the sultan.
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Al-Mansur Ibrahim
Nasir ad-Din al-Malik al-Mansur Ibrahim bin Asad ad-Din Shirkuh better known as al-Mansur Ibrahim (Arabic: المنصور إبراهيم d. June 28, 1246) was the emir ("governor") of the Homs principality from 1240 to 1246 under the Ayyubid dynasty. He held Hims with relative independence, but initially he was under the command of as-Salih Ismail of Damascus. He would later fight against as-Salih Ismail and his Khwarezemid allies—al-Mansur confronted the latter in 1241, 1242, 1244, and 1246.
In January 1241, al-Mansur was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied Ayyubid-Seljuk forces, and pursued any Khwarezimid army that crossed the Euphrates, pillaging several Syrian towns. Al-Mansur caught up with them at ar-Raqqah, but could not prevent them from retreating back to their base in Harran to regroup. On April 25, al-Mansur managed to draw the Khwarezemids into a pitched battle near Edessa and defeated them decisively. Surviving Khwarezemid soldiers fled to Harran where they gathered their families and moved south to territory controlled by the Abbasid Caliphate. Most of the captured territory was taken by the Ayyubids of Aleppo and the Seljuks, but al-Mansur annexed al-Khabur and Qarqisiyya to his own principality. He joined forces with the Seljuk army and together they overwhelmed the fortress of Amid held by the sultan as-Salih Ayyub who attempted to hold Syria and al-Jazira for his Ayyubid Egypt. In al-Mansur's campaign, all of Ayyub's possessions, except for Hisn Kayfa, were taken.
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Al-Mansur Muhammad
Al-Mansur Muhammad (1441 - March 4, 1505) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled in 1475-1504, in rivalry with other claimants for the imamate.
Muhammad bin Ali as-Siraji al-Washali was one of the three Sayyids who claimed the Yemeni imamate after the death of al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar in Dhamar in 1474. He was a seventh-generation descendant of the imam Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji (d. 1296). He took the honorific title al-Mansur Muhammad. The two other claimants were al-Hadi Izz ad-din (d. 1495) and an-Nasir Muhammad (d. 1488). A fourth imam, al-Mu’ayyad Muhammad posed as lord of San'a (Sahib San'a) since 1464. Al-Mansur Muhammad was thus only one of several leaders in the Zaidi lands of highland Yemen. At this time, the Sunni Tahiride dynasty ruled from Zabid and Ta'izz in the lowland and southern highland. The Tahiride sultans did not attempt to expand to the north after 1465, and their relations to the Zaidi imams oscillated between tolerance and enmity. A preserved text outlines the political situation in the Zaidi territory around 1500. Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad ruled San'a and the surrounding districts; the Kawkaban area stood under the sons of the old imam al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar; and the traditional Zaidi centre Sa'dah and its districts were divided between al-Mansur Muhammad and two other families.
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Al-Maqrizi
Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi (1364 – 1442); Arabic: تقى الدين أحمد بن على بن عبد القادر بن محمد المقريزى, was an Egyptian historian more commonly known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi. Although he was "a Mamluk-era historian and himself a Sunni Muslim, he is remarkable in this context for his unusually keen interest in the Ismaili Fatimid dynasty and its role in Egyptian history."
Al-Maqrizi was born in Cairo and spent most of his life in Egypt, where he was trained in the Hanifite school of law; however, he later became a Shafi'ite with an inclination to Zahirite views. Al-Maqrizi confessed to his contemporaries that he believed that he was related to the Fatimids through the son of imam al-Muizz. Ibn Hajar preserves the most memorable account: his father, as they entered the al-Hakim Mosque one day, told him "My son, you are entering the mosque of your ancestor." However, his father also instructed al-Maqrizi not to reveal this information to anyone he could not trust; Walker concludes:
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Al-Muzaffar Umar
Al-Muzaffar Taqi al-Din Umar (Arabic: المظفر تقي الدين عمر) (died 1191) was the Ayyubid prince of Hama from 1179 to 1191 and a general of Saladin. He was the son of Nur al-Din Shahanshah, the brother of Saladin.
After the conquest of Syria and northern Iraq, Saladin named al-Muzaffar Umar the sovereign of Ayyubid-ruled Mesopotamia. In the city of Edessa located in the Mesopotamian territory, al-Muzaffar Umar also built a madrasa. He particularly showed favor for those who worked in religious law and the Sufis. He was handed the principality of Hama four years after helping Saladin conquer it in 1175. His ascendancy ushered in an era of prosperity for Hama that lasted until the end of Ayyubid rule in 1341. During al-Muzaffar Umar's reign, the city was walled and palaces, markets, madrasas, and mosques were built.
In 1181, while in Manbij, he attempted to block the Zengid forces of Izz ad-Din Mas'ud from reaching Aleppo, but failed and was forced to retreat to Hama. Two years later, Saladin's brother and his deputy ruler in Egypt, al-Adil, was sent to besiege Kerak in southern Transjordan which was in Crusader hands. Saladin therefore sent al-Muzaffar Umar as al-Adil's replacement.
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Almohad
The Almohad Dynasty (Berber: Imweḥḥden, from Arabic الموحدون al-Muwaḥḥidun, "the monotheists" or "the Unitarians"), was a MoroccanBerber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.
The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his death in 1163, the Almohads defeated the ruling Almoravids, extending their power over all of the Maghreb. Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia (modern Portugal and southern Spain) under the Almoravid dynasty, followed the fate of Africa.
The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Córdoba and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.
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An-Nasir
An-Nasir li-Din Allah (1158–1225) (Arabic: الناصر لدين الله) was the 34th Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1180 until his death. His laqab literally means The Victor for the Religion of God. He attempted to restore the Caliphate to its ancient dominant role and achieved a surprising amount of success, despite the fact that the caliphate had long been militarily subordinated to other dynasties. He not only held Baghdad (the capital of the Abbasid empire), but extended his dominion into Mesopotamia and Persia.
Besides his occasional conquests, he consistently held Iraq from Tikrit to the Gulf without interruption. His long reign of forty-seven years is chiefly marked by ambitious and corrupt dealings with the Tartar chiefs, and by his hazardous invocation of the Mongols, which so soon brought his own dynasty to an end. But in his day, there was comparative peace at Baghdad; learning flourished; while refuges for the poor, and other works of public interest, were encouraged.
Al-Nasir's reign is unusual for the rise of the futuwwa groups in his reign, connected to Baghdad's long-standing ayyarun. These urban social groups had long existed in Baghdad and elsewhere, and they were often involved in urban conflicts, especially sectarian riots. Al-Nasir made them into an instrument of his government, reorganizing them along Sufi lines and ideology.
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An-Nasir Yusuf
An-Nasir Yusuf (Arabic: الناصر يوسف ) (Royal Name: al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf (Arabic: الملك الناصر صلاح الدين يوسف )
(1228–1260 ) was the Ayyubid ruler of most of Syria, including Aleppo (1236–1260) and Damascus (1250–1260). He was the last of the Ayyubid kings,he was also a great grandson of Saladin.
He became the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo when he was 7 years old after the death of his father al-Aziz. His grandmother Daifah Khatun, daughter of Al-Adil I, was his regent until her death in 1242.
When the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt as-Salih Ayyub died and his son Turanshah was murdered by the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt, Shajar al-Durr ( widow of as-Salih Ayuub ) seized the throne of Egypt (1250). An-Nasir Yusuf, being an Ayyubid, refused to recognize Shajar al-Durr as the Sultana of Egypt and, as a sign of support, the Emirs of Syria granted him the city of Damascus, in Syria.
Alarmed by these developments, the Mamluk leaders in Egypt decided to replace Shajar al Durr with the Atabek (commander in chief) Aybak. In October 1250 an-Nasir Yusuf sent forces to Gaza to conquer Egypt and overthrow Aybak, but Egyptian forces led by Faris ad-Din Aktai defeated them.
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Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs (Arabic: عرب, ʿarab), are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing an important part of Arab identity.
The word "Arab" has had several different, but overlapping, meanings over the centuries (and sometimes even today). In addition to including all Arabized people of the world (with language tending to be the acid test), it has also at times been used exclusively for bedouin (Arab nomads [although a related word, "`a-RAB," with the Arabic letter "alif" in the second syllable, once was sometimes used when this specific meaning was intended] and their now almost entirely settled descendants). It is sometimes used that way colloquially even today in some places. Townspeople once were sometimes called "sons of the Arabs." As in the case of other ethnicities or nations, people identify themselves (or are identified by others) as "Arabs" to varying degrees. This may not be one's primary identity (it tends to compete with country, religion, sect, etc.), and whether it is emphasized may depend upon one's audience.
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Artuqid
The Artquids or Artuqid dynasty (Modern Turkish: Artuklu Beyliği , sometimes also spelled as Artukid, Ortoqid or Ortokid; Turkish plural: Artukoğulları) was a Turkmen dynasty that ruled in Eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Two main branches of the dynasty ruled from Hasankeyf (Hısn-ı Keyf, Hısnkeyfa) between 1102–1231 and Mardin between 1106–1186 (and until 1409 as vassals). There was also a third branch that acquired Harput in 1112 and was independent between 1185–1233.
The dynasty was founded by Artuq, son of Eksük, a general originally under Malik Shah I and then under the Seljuq emir of Damascus, Tutush I. Tutush appointed Artuq governor of Jerusalem in 1086. Artuq died in 1091, and his sons Sokman and Ilghazi were expelled from Jerusalem by the Fatimid vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah in 1098; the Fatimids lost the city to the crusaders the following year.
Sokman and Ilghazi set themselves up in Diyarbakır, Mardin, and Hasankeyf in the Jezirah, where they came into conflict with the sultanate of Great Seljuq. Sokman, bey of Mardin, defeated the crusaders at the Battle of Harran in 1104. Ilghazi succeeded Sokman in Mardin and imposed his control over Aleppo at the request of the qadi Ibn al-Khashshab in 1118. In 1119 Ilgazi defeated the crusader Principality of Antioch at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis.
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As-Salih Ayyub
Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (Arabic: الملك الصالح نجم الدين ايوب) (Nickname: Abu al-Futuh أبو الفتوح ) (Cairo, c. 1205 – 22 November 1249 in Al Mansurah), also known as al-Malik al-Salih was the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249.
In 1221 he became a hostage at the end of the Fifth Crusade, while John of Brienne became a hostage of as-Salih's father Al-Kamil, until Damietta was reconstructed and restored to Egypt. In 1232 he was given Hisn Khayfa in the Jazirah (now part of Turkey), which his father had captured from the Ortoqids. In 1234 his father sent him to rule Damascus, removing him from the succession in Egypt after suspecting him of conspiring against him with the Mamluks. His uncle as-Salih Ismail soon expelled him from Damascus, and he fled to the Jazirah, where he allied with the Khwarezmians.
In 1238 al-Kamil died and was succeeded by his son Al-Adil II, as-Salih's brother; by 1240 as-Salih had overthrown him and taken control of Egypt. In 1244 the Khwarezmians sacked Jerusalem, which had been handed over to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor by al-Kamil during the Sixth Crusade. Later that year as-Salih and the Khwarezmians defeated as-Salih's uncle in Syria, who had allied with the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, at the Battle of La Forbie. In 1245 as-Salih captured Damascus, and was awarded the title of sultan by the caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad. The next year the combined forces of the Ayyubids defeated the unruly Khwarezmians, who no longer recognized as-Salih as their lord.
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As-Salih Ismail
Imad ad-Din al-Malik as-Salih Ismail bin Saif ad-Din Ahmad better known as as-Salih Ismail (Arabic: الصالح إسماعيل) was the Ayyubid sultan based in Damascus. He reigned twice, once in 1237 and then again from 1239-45.
In 1237, as-Salih Ismail's brother,al-Ashraf, the ruler of Damascus died. Ismail succeeded him and two months later, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, al-Kamil, sent forces to besiege the city. Ismail had the suburbs of Damascus burned to prevent the Egyptian forces shelter. On al-Kamil's death his son al-Adil II occupied Damascus after his brother as-Salih Ayyub, the ruler of al-Jazira, revealed his intentions to succeed al-Kamil as sultan in Egypt. Ayyub was invited to take over Damascus by some of the local governors of Syria and accomplished the conquest in December 1238. Initially, Ismail, who was already governor of Bosra and Baalbek, allied himself with Ayyub.
In August 1239, Ayyub began pressuring Ismail to join him at Nablus for the campaign to take over Egypt from al-Adil II. Ismail promised to come as soon as he could equip his forces, but meantime, he would send his son al-Mansur Mahmud with a small contingent. Eventually Ayyub began to grow suspicious of Ismail's perceived procrastination and sent a noted physician, Sa'd al-Din al-Dimashqi, to find out what his vassal was doing. Ismail's vizier discovered Ayyub's scheme and secretly forged al-Dimashqi's recordings to mislead Ayyub into thinking Ismail was indeed on his way to Nablus. When he felt ready enough, he requested from Ayyub the return of al-Mansur Mahmud to Baalbek where he would administer affairs while he was absent on the campaign for Egypt. Ayyub complied.
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Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty (Arabic: الأيوبيون) was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt. The dynasty ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they supplanted them under Saladin, Ayyub's son. In 1174, Saladin proclaimed himself Sultan following the death of Nur al-Din. The Ayyubids spent the next decade launching conquests throughout the region and by 1183, the territories under their control included Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and the North African coast up to the borders of modern-day Tunisia. Most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond Jordan River fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders regained control of Palestine's coastline in the 1190s.
After the death of Saladin, his sons contested control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually established himself as Sultan in 1200. In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and remained divided until Egyptian Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, excluding Aleppo, by 1247. By then, local Muslim dynasties had driven out the Ayyubids from Yemen, the Hejaz, and parts of Mesopotamia. After repelling a Crusader invasion of the Nile Delta, as-Salih Ayyub's Mamluk generals overthrew al-Mu'azzam Turanshah who succeeded Ayyub as Sultan after his death in 1250. This effectively ended Ayyubid power in Egypt and a number of attempts by the rulers of Syria, led by an-Nasir Yusuf of Aleppo, to recover it failed. In 1260, the Mongols sacked Aleppo and wrested control of what remained of the Ayyubid territories soon after. The Mamluks, who forced out the Mongols after the destruction of the Ayyubid dynasty, maintained the Ayyubid principality of Hama until deposing its last ruler in 1341.
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Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty (Arabic: الأيوبيون) was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt. The dynasty ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they supplanted them under Saladin, Ayyub's son. In 1174, Saladin proclaimed himself Sultan following the death of Nur al-Din. The Ayyubids spent the next decade launching conquests throughout the region and by 1183, the territories under their control included Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and the North African coast up to the borders of modern-day Tunisia. Most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond Jordan River fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders regained control of Palestine's coastline in the 1190s.
After the death of Saladin, his sons contested control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually established himself as Sultan in 1200. In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and remained divided until Egyptian Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, excluding Aleppo, by 1247. By then, local Muslim dynasties had driven out the Ayyubids from Yemen, the Hejaz, and parts of Mesopotamia. After repelling a Crusader invasion of the Nile Delta, as-Salih Ayyub's Mamluk generals overthrew al-Mu'azzam Turanshah who succeeded Ayyub as Sultan after his death in 1250. This effectively ended Ayyubid power in Egypt and a number of attempts by the rulers of Syria, led by an-Nasir Yusuf of Aleppo, to recover it failed. In 1260, the Mongols sacked Aleppo and wrested control of what remained of the Ayyubid territories soon after. The Mamluks, who forced out the Mongols after the destruction of the Ayyubid dynasty, maintained the Ayyubid principality of Hama until deposing its last ruler in 1341.
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Ayyubid Dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty (Arabic: الأيوبيون) was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt. The dynasty ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they supplanted them under Saladin, Ayyub's son. In 1174, Saladin proclaimed himself Sultan following the death of Nur al-Din. The Ayyubids spent the next decade launching conquests throughout the region and by 1183, the territories under their control included Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and the North African coast up to the borders of modern-day Tunisia. Most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond Jordan River fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders regained control of Palestine's coastline in the 1190s.
After the death of Saladin, his sons contested control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually established himself as Sultan in 1200. In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and remained divided until Egyptian Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, excluding Aleppo, by 1247. By then, local Muslim dynasties had driven out the Ayyubids from Yemen, the Hejaz, and parts of Mesopotamia. After repelling a Crusader invasion of the Nile Delta, as-Salih Ayyub's Mamluk generals overthrew al-Mu'azzam Turanshah who succeeded Ayyub as Sultan after his death in 1250. This effectively ended Ayyubid power in Egypt and a number of attempts by the rulers of Syria, led by an-Nasir Yusuf of Aleppo, to recover it failed. In 1260, the Mongols sacked Aleppo and wrested control of what remained of the Ayyubid territories soon after. The Mamluks, who forced out the Mongols after the destruction of the Ayyubid dynasty, maintained the Ayyubid principality of Hama until deposing its last ruler in 1341.
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Balian of Ibelin
Balian of Ibelin (French: Balian d'Ibelin; early 1140s–1193) was an important French noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century.
Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, a knight in the County of Jaffa, had been rewarded with the lordship of Ibelin after the revolt of Hugh II of Le Puiset. Barisan married Helvis of Ramla, heiress of the wealthy lordship of Ramla. Balian's name was also Barisan, but he seems to have adapted the name (found in Tuscany and Liguria) to the Old French "Balian" c. 1175–76; he is sometimes known as Balian the Younger or Balian II when his father is also referred to as Balian. He is also called Balian of Ramla or Balian of Nablus. In Latin his name appears variously as Balian, Barisan, Barisanus, Balianus, Balisan, and Balisanus. Arabic sources call him Balian ibn Barzan', which translates "Balian, son of Barzan (or Barisan). His precise year of birth is unknown, but he was of the age of majority (usually 15) by 1158, when he first appears in charters, having been described as under-age ("infra annos") in 1155.
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Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat (or Conrad I of Jerusalem) (Italian: Corrado del Monferrato; Piedmontese: Conrà ëd Monfrà) (mid-1140s – 28 April 1192) was a northern Italian nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the de facto King of Jerusalem, by marriage, from 24 November 1190, but officially elected only in 1192, days before his death. He was also marquis of Montferrat from 1191.
Conrad was the second son of Marquis William V of Montferrat, "the Elder", and his wife Judith of Babenberg. He was a first cousin of Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, Louis VII of France and Leopold V of Austria.
Conrad was born in Montferrat, which is now a region of Piedmont, in northwest Italy. The exact place and year are unknown. He is first mentioned in a charter in 1160, when serving at the court of his maternal uncle, Conrad, Bishop of Passau, later Archbishop of Salzburg. (He may have been named after him, or after his mother's half-brother, Conrad III of Germany.)
A handsome man, with great personal courage and intelligence, he was described in the Brevis Historia Occupationis et Amissionis Terræ Sanctæ ("A Short History of the Occupation and Loss of the Holy Land"):
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Edmund Allenby
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG, GCVO (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a British soldier and administrator most famous for his role during the First World War, in which he led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918.
Allenby, nicknamed the "Bloody Bull", was characterized by Lord Wavell, a British field marshal during the Second World War who had served under Allenby, as an intelligent, caring man and a consummate professional soldier. T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), whose efforts with the Arab Revolt were greatly aided by Allenby, thought similarly of him: "(He was) physically large and confident, and morally so great that the comprehension of our littleness came slow to him". Allenby was arguably one of the most successful British commanders of the war, utilising strategies he developed from his experiences in the Boer War and on the Western Front towards his Palestinian Campaigns of 1917–18. His management of the Battle of Megiddo in particular, with its brilliant use of aeroplanes, infantry, and mobile cavalry, is considered by many to be a precursor to the Blitzkrieg tactics so widely employed by Germany during the Second World War.
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Euclid
Euclid ( /ˈjuːklɪd/ EWK-lid; Ancient Greek: Εὐκλείδης Eukleidēs), fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I (323–283 BC). His Elements is one of the most influential works in the history of mathematics, serving as the main textbook for teaching mathematics (especially geometry) from the time of its publication until the late 19th or early 20th century. In the Elements, Euclid deduced the principles of what is now called Euclidean geometry from a small set of axioms. Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, number theory and rigor.
"Euclid" is the anglicized version of the Greek name Εὐκλείδης, meaning "Good Glory".
Little is known about Euclid's life, as there are only a handful of references to him. The date and place of Euclid's birth and the date and circumstances of his death are unknown, and only roughly estimated in proximity to contemporary figures mentioned in references. No likeness or description of Euclid's physical appearance made during his lifetime survived antiquity. Therefore, Euclid's depiction in works of art is the product of the artist's imagination.
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Franks
The Franks (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as populating a broad strip of land on the right bank of the Lower and Middle Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the Romans after 357. In the climate of the collapse of imperial authority in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians and conquered all of Gaul except Septimania in the 6th century. The Salian political elite was one of the most active forces in spreading Christianity over western Europe. The Franks had created one of the most strong and stable barbaric kingdoms.
The Merovingian dynasty, descended from the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies which replaced the Western Roman Empire from the fifth century. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over large parts of western Europe by the end of the eighth century, developing into the Carolingian Empire which dominated most of Western Europe. This empire would gradually evolve into France and the Holy Roman Empire.
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Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر حسين, IPA: [ɡæˈmæːl ʕæbdenˈnɑːsˤeɾ ħeˈseːn]; 15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of modernization, and socialist reform in Egypt together with a profound advancement of pan-Arab nationalism, including a short-lived union with Syria.
Nasser is seen as one of the most important political figures in both modern Arab history and politics in the 20th century. Under his leadership, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company and came to play a central role in anti-imperialist efforts in the Arab World and Africa. The imposed ending to the Suez Crisis made him a hero throughout the Arab world. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the international Non-Aligned Movement. He is well known for his nationalist policies and version of pan-Arabism, also referred to as Nasserism, which won a great following in the Arab World during the 1950s and 1960s. Although his status as "leader of the Arabs" was badly damaged by the Israeli victory over the Arab armies in the Six-Day War, as well as Egypt's failure to win the subsequent War of Attrition against Israel, many in the general Arab population still view Nasser as a symbol of Arab dignity and freedom.
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Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré (French pronunciation: [pɔl ɡystav dɔʁe]; January 6, 1832 – January 23, 1883) was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.
Doré was born in Strasbourg and his first illustrated story was published at the age of fifteen. His talent was evident even earlier, however. At age five he had been a prodigy troublemaker, playing pranks that were mature beyond his years. Seven years later, he began carving in cement. Subsequently, as a young man, he began work as a literary illustrator in Paris, winning commissions to depict scenes from books by Rabelais, Balzac, Milton and Dante.
In 1853, Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron. This commission was followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated English Bible. A decade later, he illustrated a French edition of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and his depictions of the knight and his squire, Sancho Panza, have become so famous that they have influenced subsequent readers, artists, and stage and film directors' ideas of the physical "look" of the two characters. Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", an endeavor that earned him 30,000 francs from publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.
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Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194) was a Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of the prominent Lusignan dynasty. He was king of the crusader state of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194. Having arrived in the Holy Land in the 1170s, Guy rose to prominence within the royal courts of Baldwin IV before marrying Sybilla in 1180 to prevent a political incident within the kingdom. As Baldwin's health deteriorated, Guy was appointed regent of Jerusalem; upon Sybilla's succession to the throne, Guy was crowned king-consort in 1186. Guy's reign was marked by increased hostilities with the Ayyubids ruled by Saladin, culminating in the disastrous Battle of Hattin in July 1187—during which Guy was captured—and the fall of Jerusalem itself three months later.
Following a year of imprisonment in Damascus, Guy was released by Saladin. After being denied entry to Tyre, one of the last crusader strongholds, by Conrad of Montferrat, Guy besieged Acre in 1189. The siege developed into a rallying point for the Third Crusade, led by Philip Augustus of France and Sibylla's first cousin once-removed, Richard the Lionheart. Guy entered a bitter row with Conrad over the kingship of Jerusalem; despite Richard's support for Guy, Conrad was elected king by the nobility of the kingdom. Conrad was assassinated by the Hashshashin days after the election; Richard's and Guy's involvement in the incident is suspected, but unproven. Nevertheless, Guy was compensated for the dispossession of his crown by being given lordship of Cyprus in 1192, which Richard had annexed from the Byzantine Empire en route to the Levant. Guy ruled the Kingdom of Cyprus until his death in 1194, when he was succeeded by his brother Amalric.
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H. A. R. Gibb
Sir Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb (2 January 1895 – 22 October 1971), also commonly referred to as "H. A. R. Gibb", was a Scottish historian on Orientalism.
Gibb was born on Wednesday, 2 January 1895, in Alexandria, Egypt, to Alexander Crawford Gibb (son of John Gibb of Gladstone, Renfrenshire, Scotland) and Jane Ann Gardner (of Greenock, Scotland). Alexander Crawford died in 1897, following which Gardner took up a teaching position in Alexandria. Hamilton returned to Scotland for his formal education at the age of five: first, four years of private tuition, after which he started at the Royal High School, Edinburgh in 1904, staying until 1912. His education was focused on classics, though it included French, German, and the physical sciences. In 1912, Hamilton matriculated at Edinburgh University, joining the new honors program in Semitic languages (Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic). Hamilton's mother died in 1913 as he was studying in his second year at the university.
During World War I Gibb broke off his studies at the University of Edinburgh to serve for the British Royal Regiment of Artillery in France (from February 1917) and for several months in Italy as a commissioned officer. (He was commissioned at the age of 19.)
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Ibn al-Athir
Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad, better known as Ali 'Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari(Arabic: عزالدین ابن الاثیر الجزری) (1233–1160) was a Kurdish-Islamic historian from the Ibn Athir family. According to the 1911 Edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, he was born in Jazirat Ibn Umar, Great Seljuq Empire.
He spent a scholarly life in Mosul, but often visited Baghdad. He was a Kurd, therefore for a time he was with Saladin's army in Syria and later lived in Aleppo and Damascus. His chief work was a history of the world, al-Kamil fi at-Tarikh (The Complete History). He includes some information on the Rus' people in his chronology.
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Ibn Jubair
Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217; Arabic: ابن جبير ) was a geographer, traveler and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to Mecca from 1183 to 1185, in the years preceding the Third Crusade. His chronicle describes Saladin's domains in Egypt and the Levant which he passed through on his way to Mecca. Further, on his return journey he passed through Christian Sicily, which had only been recaptured from the Muslims a century before, and he makes several observations on the hybrid polyglot culture which flourished there.
Born in Valencia in Spain, then the seat of an independent emirate. Ibn Jubayr was descendant of a tribe of Andalusian (Visigoth) origins, Jubayr was the son of a civil servant. He studied at Granada the Quran, hadith, law and literature, he composed many poems and later became secretary to the Almohad governor of that city. In the introduction we are reminded of the reasons for Ibn Jubayr's travels. A secretary for the ruler of Granada in 1182, he was forced by such ruler, under threat, to drink seven cups of wine. Seized by remorse, the ruler then filled seven cups of gold which he gave him. To expiate his godless act, although forced upon him, Ibn Jubayr decided to perform the duty of Hajj to Mecca. He left Granada on 1183 accompanied by a physician from the city.
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Ibn Jubayr
Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217; Arabic: ابن جبير ) was a geographer, traveler and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to Mecca from 1183 to 1185, in the years preceding the Third Crusade. His chronicle describes Saladin's domains in Egypt and the Levant which he passed through on his way to Mecca. Further, on his return journey he passed through Christian Sicily, which had only been recaptured from the Muslims a century before, and he makes several observations on the hybrid polyglot culture which flourished there.
Born in Valencia in Spain, then the seat of an independent emirate. Ibn Jubayr was descendant of a tribe of Andalusian (Visigoth) origins, Jubayr was the son of a civil servant. He studied at Granada the Quran, hadith, law and literature, he composed many poems and later became secretary to the Almohad governor of that city. In the introduction we are reminded of the reasons for Ibn Jubayr's travels. A secretary for the ruler of Granada in 1182, he was forced by such ruler, under threat, to drink seven cups of wine. Seized by remorse, the ruler then filled seven cups of gold which he gave him. To expiate his godless act, although forced upon him, Ibn Jubayr decided to perform the duty of Hajj to Mecca. He left Granada on 1183 accompanied by a physician from the city.
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Ibn Khallikan
Shams al-Dīn Abū Al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Khallikān (Arabic: شمس الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن محمد بن خلكان) (September 22, 1211 – October 30, 1282) was a 13th Century Shafi'i Islamic scholar of Kurdish origin.
Ibn Khallikan was born in Arbil, Iraq on September 22, 1211, studied there and in Aleppo and Damascus. He also studied jurisprudence at Mosul and then settled in Cairo. He gained prominence as a jurist, theologian and grammarian. Ibn Khallikan married in the year 1252.
He was an assistant to the chief judge in Egypt until 1261 when he assumed the position of chief judge in Damascus. Ibn Khallikan was removed from this position in 1271, returned to Egypt and taught there until being reinstated as judge in Damascus in the year 1278. He retired from this position in 1281 and died in Damascus on October 30, 1282.
Ibn Khallikan's most renowned work is the biographical dictionary entitled Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa-anbāʾ abnāʾ az-zamān (Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch). He began compiling this work in 1256 and continued until 1274, referencing the works of earlier scholars.Deaths of Eminent Men does not include biographies of individuals already sufficiently covered, such as the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and the caliphs. This work has been translated into English by William McGuckin de Slane, (1801–1878), and is over 2,700 pages long.
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Imad ad-Din Zengi
Imad ad-Din Zengi (c. 1085 – 14 September 1146) (also Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, or Zanki / Turkish: İmadeddin Zengi / Arabic: عماد الدین زنكي / Persian: عمادالدین زنگی) was the atabeg of Mosul, Aleppo, Hama and Edessa and founder of the Zengid dynasty, to which he gave his name.
Zengi's father, Aq Sunqur al-Hajib, governor of Aleppo under Malik Shah I, was beheaded for treason in 1094, and Zengi was brought up by Kerbogha, the governor of Mosul.
Following the death in 1128 of Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus, a power vacuum threatened to open Syria to renewed Crusader aggression.
Zengi became atabeg of Mosul in 1127, and of Aleppo in 1128, uniting the two cities under his personal rule, and was formally invested as their ruler by the Sultan Mahmud II of Great Seljuk. Zengi had supported the young sultan against his rival, the caliph Al-Mustarshid.
In 1130 he allied with Taj al-Mulk Buri of Damascus against the crusaders, but this was only a ruse to extend his power; he had Buri's son taken prisoner and seized Hama from him. He also besieged Homs, the governor of which was accompanying him at the time, but could not capture it, so he returned to Mosul, where Buri's son and the other prisoners from Damascus were ransomed for 50,000 dinars. In 1131 Zengi agreed to return the 50,000 dinars if Buri would deliver to him Dubays ibn Sadaqa, emir of al-Hilla in Iraq, who had fled to Damascus to escape al-Mustarshid. When an ambassador from the caliph arrived to bring Dubais back, Zengi attacked him and killed some of his retinue; the ambassador returned to Baghdad without Dubais.
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Ismat al-Din Khatun
ʿIṣmat ad-Dīn Khātūn (Arabic: عصمة الدين خاتون; died January 26, 1186), also known as Asimat, was the daughter of Mu'in ad-Din Unur, regent of Damascus, and wife of two of the greatest Muslim generals of the 12th century, Nur ad-Din Zangi and Saladin.
Ismat ad-Din is a laqab (the descriptive part of an Arabic name) meaning "purity of the faith"; Khatun is an honorific meaning "lady" or "noblewoman". Her given name (ism) is unknown. Her father became regent of Damascus in 1138, and ruled the city on behalf of a series of young emirs of the Burid dynasty. During this time, Damascus's chief rivals to the north, Aleppo and Mosul, were united under the rule of the Zengid dynasty. Damascus had maintained an unsteady alliance with the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, but in 1147, Mu'in ad-Din negotiated an alliance with the Zengid emir of Aleppo, Nur ad-Din, who married Ismat ad-Din as part of the agreement. The next year, the Second Crusade besieged Damascus, and Mu'in ad-Din was forced to recognize Nur ad-Din, who had come to his rescue against the crusaders, as overlord of the city. Ismat ad-Din Khatun's father died in 1149 and her husband gained complete control over Damascus by 1154.
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Jonathan Riley-Smith
Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith, K.St.J., Ph.D. MA, Litt.D., FRHistS (born 27 June 1938) is an historian of the Crusades, and a former Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his BA (1960), MA (1964), PhD (1964), and LittD (2001).
During his career, he has taught at the University of St Andrews, Queens' College, Cambridge, Royal Holloway College, London as well as at Trinity College.
He was a founder of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East. He is also a Knight of Grace and Devotion, Sovereign Military Order of Malta and a Knight of Justice, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
He is married with three children.
Books:
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Kenneth M. Setton
Kenneth Meyer Setton (New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA, June 17, 1914 — Princeton, New Jersey, USA, February 18, 1995) was an American historian and an expert on the history of medieval Europe.
Setton's childhood and adolescence were not easy. He supported himself from the age of 13. Setton received his bachelor's degree in 1936 as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Boston University. He received his masters degree in 1938 and PhD in 1941 at Columbia University. His dissertation Christian Attitude Toward the Emperor in the Fourth Century was written under the direction of Lynn Thorndike. He also received honorary degrees from Boston University and the University of Kiel. He claimed that knowledge of languages is the basis of knowledge of historical science, and he spoke Italian, French, German and Catalan, besides his favorites Latin and classical Greek.
Kenneth Setton spent nearly two decades finishing his classic work, the four-volume The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571. For the first two published volumes he received the Haskins Medal of the Medieval Academy of America in 1980.
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Kurd
The Kurdish people, or Kurds (Kurdish: کورد Kurd), are an Iranic people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They speak the Kurdish language, which is a member of the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. The Kurds number about 30 million, the majority living in the Middle East, with significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey, in Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Russia, Lebanon and, in recent decades, some European countries and the United States. The Kurds are an indigenous ethnic minority in countries where the Kurdistan region is located, although they have enjoyed partial autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991. An irredentist movement pushes for the creation of a Kurdish nation state.
The exact origins of the name, "Kurd", are unclear. Reynolds believes that the term Kurd is most likely related to the ancient term Qardu. The common root of Kurd and Qardu is first mentioned in a Sumerian tablet from the third millennium B.C. as the "land of Kar-da." Qardu is etymologically related to the Assyrian term Urartu corresponding to Ararat. According to Asatrian, the most reasonable explanation of this ethnonym is its possible connections with the Cyrtii (Cyrtaei)
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Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds (Kurdish: کورد Kurd), are an Iranic people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They speak the Kurdish language, which is a member of the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. The Kurds number about 30 million, the majority living in the Middle East, with significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey, in Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Russia, Lebanon and, in recent decades, some European countries and the United States. The Kurds are an indigenous ethnic minority in countries where the Kurdistan region is located, although they have enjoyed partial autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991. An irredentist movement pushes for the creation of a Kurdish nation state.
The exact origins of the name, "Kurd", are unclear. Reynolds believes that the term Kurd is most likely related to the ancient term Qardu. The common root of Kurd and Qardu is first mentioned in a Sumerian tablet from the third millennium B.C. as the "land of Kar-da." Qardu is etymologically related to the Assyrian term Urartu corresponding to Ararat. According to Asatrian, the most reasonable explanation of this ethnonym is its possible connections with the Cyrtii (Cyrtaei)
wn.com/Kurdish_people -
Kurds
The Kurdish people, or Kurds (Kurdish: کورد Kurd), are an Iranic people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They speak the Kurdish language, which is a member of the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. The Kurds number about 30 million, the majority living in the Middle East, with significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey, in Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Russia, Lebanon and, in recent decades, some European countries and the United States. The Kurds are an indigenous ethnic minority in countries where the Kurdistan region is located, although they have enjoyed partial autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991. An irredentist movement pushes for the creation of a Kurdish nation state.
The exact origins of the name, "Kurd", are unclear. Reynolds believes that the term Kurd is most likely related to the ancient term Qardu. The common root of Kurd and Qardu is first mentioned in a Sumerian tablet from the third millennium B.C. as the "land of Kar-da." Qardu is etymologically related to the Assyrian term Urartu corresponding to Ararat. According to Asatrian, the most reasonable explanation of this ethnonym is its possible connections with the Cyrtii (Cyrtaei)
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Moorish
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from Northern Africa, who came to conquer, occupy and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years.[citation needed] At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed other religions. They called the territory Al Andalus, comprising most of what is now Spain and Portugal.
" Moors" are not a distinct or self-defined people. Medieval and early modern Europeans applied the name primarily to Berbers, but also at various times to Arabs, Muslim Iberians and West Africans from Mali and Niger who had been absorbed into the Almoravid dynasty. Mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."
The Andalusian Moors of the late Medieval era inhabited the Iberian Peninsula after the Moorish conquests of the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates, and the final Umayyad conquest of Hispania.[citation needed] The Moors' rule stretched at times as far as modern-day Mauritania, West African countries, and the Senegal River. Earlier, the Classical Romans interacted with (and later conquered) parts of Mauretania, a state that covered northern portions of modern Morocco and much of north western and central Algeria during the classical period. The people of the region were noted in Classical literature as the Mauri.
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Muhammad
Muhammad (c. 26 April 570 – 8 June 632; also transliterated as Mohammad, Mohammed, or Muhammed; Arabic: محمد), full name: Muhammad Ibn `Abd Allāh Ibn `Abd al-Muttalib (Arabic: محمد بن عبدالله بن عبد المطلب ) was a leader from Mecca who unified the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity under Islam. He is believed by Muslims and Bahá'ís to be a messenger and prophet of God. Muslims believe that Islam was not his own invention but was revealed by God, and most consider him to be the last prophet of God Muslims thus consider him the restorer of an uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.
Born in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, he was orphaned at an early age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Being in the habit of periodically retreating to a cave in the surrounding mountains for several nights of meditation and prayer, he later reported that it was there, at age 40, that he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām) is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as other Islamic prophets.
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Najm ad-Din Ayyub
al-Malik al-Afdal Najm ad-Din Ayyub ibn Shadhi ibn Marawan (Arabic: الملك ألأفضل نجم الدين أيوب بن شاﺬي بن مروان)) (died August 9, 1173) was a Kurdish soldier and politician from Dvin, and the father of Saladin. He is eponymous of the Ayyubid dynasty founded by Saladin.
Ayyub was the son of Shadhi ibn Marwan and brother of Shirkuh. The family belonged to the tribe of Revend or Revendi, also Rawadiya, itself a branch of the Hadhabani tribe. The earliest form of the name is written "Rewend" in the Sharafname.
According to Vladimir Minorsky, it could have been a corruption of the Arabic name "Rawadiya", Minorsky thus leaves space for a possible Arabic influence on the tribe. Furthermore, Minorsky tells that the rulers of the tribe could have given their name to it, in other words, it's possible that the Rewend/Rawadiya rulers were of Arab origin, and arrived in the region in 758 CE from the Arbela (modern Arbil) region. They were closely connected to the Shaddadid dynasty, and when the last Shaddadid was deposed in Dvin in 1130, Shadhi moved the family first to Baghdad and then to Tikrit, where he was appointed governor by the regional administrator Bihruz. Ayyub succeeded his father as governor of Tikrit when Shadhi died soon after.
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Najm ad-Din Ayyubi
al-Malik al-Afdal Najm ad-Din Ayyub ibn Shadhi ibn Marawan (Arabic: الملك ألأفضل نجم الدين أيوب بن شاﺬي بن مروان)) (died August 9, 1173) was a Kurdish soldier and politician from Dvin, and the father of Saladin. He is eponymous of the Ayyubid dynasty founded by Saladin.
Ayyub was the son of Shadhi ibn Marwan and brother of Shirkuh. The family belonged to the tribe of Revend or Revendi, also Rawadiya, itself a branch of the Hadhabani tribe. The earliest form of the name is written "Rewend" in the Sharafname.
According to Vladimir Minorsky, it could have been a corruption of the Arabic name "Rawadiya", Minorsky thus leaves space for a possible Arabic influence on the tribe. Furthermore, Minorsky tells that the rulers of the tribe could have given their name to it, in other words, it's possible that the Rewend/Rawadiya rulers were of Arab origin, and arrived in the region in 758 CE from the Arbela (modern Arbil) region. They were closely connected to the Shaddadid dynasty, and when the last Shaddadid was deposed in Dvin in 1130, Shadhi moved the family first to Baghdad and then to Tikrit, where he was appointed governor by the regional administrator Bihruz. Ayyub succeeded his father as governor of Tikrit when Shadhi died soon after.
wn.com/Najm_ad-Din_Ayyubi -
Nur ad-Din Zangi
Nur ad-Din (February 1118 – 15 May 1174), also known as Nur ed-Din or Nur al-Din (Turkish: Nureddin Mahmud Zengi, Arabic: نور الدين / ISO 233: Nūr ad-Dīn / English: Light of the Faith), full name Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Imad ad-Din Zangi, was a member of the Turkish Zengid dynasty which ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174.
Nur ad-Din was the second son of Imad ad-Din Zengi, the Turkish atabeg of Aleppo and Mosul, who was a devoted enemy of the crusader presence in Syria. After the assassination of his father in 1146, Nur ad-Din and his older brother Saif ad-Din Ghazi I divided the kingdom between themselves, with Nur ad-Din governing Aleppo and Saif ad-Din Ghazi establishing himself in Mosul. The border between the two new kingdoms was formed by the Nahr al-Khabur River. Almost as soon as he began his rule, Nur ad-Din attacked the Principality of Antioch, seizing several castles in the north of Syria, while at the same time he defeated an attempt by Joscelin II to recover the County of Edessa, which had been conquered by Zengi in 1144. (See Siege of Edessa.) Nur ad-Din exiled the entire Christian population of the city, in punishment for assisting Joscelin in this attempt.
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Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Châtillon (also Reynald, Reynold, Renald, or Reginald; French: Renaud de Châtillon, old French: Reynaud de Chastillon) (c. 1125 – July 4, 1187) was a knight who served in the Second Crusade and remained in the Holy Land after its defeat. He ruled as Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 and through his second marriage became Lord of Oultrejordain. He was an enormously controversial character in his own lifetime and beyond.
Raynald's origins are obscure; Du Cange believed he was from Châtillon-sur-Marne, but according to Jean Richard, he was a son of Hervé II of Donzy, and he inherited Châtillon-sur-Loing sometime before joining the Second Crusade in 1147. In the east, he entered the service of Constance of Antioch, whose first husband had died in 1149. She married Raynald in secret in 1153, without consulting her first cousin and liege lord, Baldwin III of Jerusalem. Neither King Baldwin nor Aimery of Limoges, the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, approved of Constance's choice of a husband of such low birth. With Constance he had a daughter, Agnes of Châtillon, in 1154 (who later married the Hungarian Prince Béla, who was living at the court of Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus in Constantinople, and eventually became King Béla III of Hungary).
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Richard I of England
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was known as Cœur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart, even before his accession, because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. The Saracens called him Melek-Ric or Malek al-Inkitar – King of England.
By the age of sixteen, Richard was commanding his own army, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father, King Henry II. Richard was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade, effectively leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and scoring considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin, but was unable to reconquer Jerusalem.
Although speaking only langue d'oïl and langue d'oc and spending very little time in England (he lived in his Duchy of Aquitaine in the southwest of France, preferring to use his kingdom as a source of revenue to support his armies), he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects. He remains one of the very few Kings of England remembered by his epithet, rather than regnal number, and is an enduring, iconic figure in England and France.
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Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی, Selah'edînê Eyubî) (ca. 1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a KurdishMuslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant. At the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and parts of North Africa.
Under his personal leadership, his forces defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin, leading the way to his re-capture of Palestine, which had been seized from the Fatimid Egyptians by the Crusaders 88 years earlier. Though the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem would continue to exist for a period, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslims and Arabs. As such, Saladin is a prominent figure in Kurdish, Arab, and Muslim culture. Saladin was a strict adherent of Sunni Islam. His noble and chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the Siege of Kerak, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders, he won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart; rather than becoming a hated figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principles of chivalry.
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Seljuq dynasty
The House of Seljuq (Persian: سلجوقيان Saljūqīyān; Turkish Selçuklular) also Seljuq Turks, were a Turco-PersianSunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries. They established an empire, the Great Seljuq Empire, which at its height stretched from Anatolia through Persia and which was the target of the First Crusade. The dynasty had its origins in the Turcoman tribal confederations of Central Asia.
Prior to the ninth century, hordes of Turks had crossed the Volga River into the Black Sea steppes. Originally, the House of Seljuq was a branch of the Qinik (Kınık) Oghuz Turks who in the 9th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian and Aral seas in their Yabghu Khaganate of the Oghuz confederacy, in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan. In the 10th century the Seljuqs migrated from their ancestral homelands into mainland Persia, in the province of Khurasan, where they mixed with the local population and adopted the Persian culture and language in the following decades.
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Shawar
Shawar (Arabic: شاور بن مجير السعدي) (died January 18, 1169) was a ruler of Egypt, the vizier, from December 1162 until he was assassinated in 1169. He is best known for being part of the three-way power struggle during the Crusades between the Christian King Amalric I of Jerusalem and Shirkuh, a Syrian general and uncle of the man who was to become the famous Muslim leader, Saladin. Shawar was notorious for continually switching alliances, allying first with one side, and then the other, and even ordering the burning of his own capital city, Fustat, just so that the enemy could not have it.
Shawar was the vizier at the end of the Fatimid caliphate, while al-Adid was caliph (1160–1171).
In the mid-12th century, the Fatimid caliphate was crumbling, and Egypt had descended into a condition of near anarchy. The official head of state was the Caliph, but the true power was the Egyptian vizier, and various Egyptian governors competed with each other for the position, often with great violence. During the 1150s, Shawar was the Fatimid governor of Upper Egypt for five years, but he made a deal with the Sultan of Damascus, Nur ad-Din Zangi, deserted the Fatimids and joined the Seljuks in Syria. Shawar initially used the Sultan's aid, took control of Cairo, and quickly killed his predecessor and his predecessor's entire family. But nine months later, Shawar himself was overthrown by one of his lieutenants, Dirgham. He again sought assistance from Sultan Nur ad-Din, who sent one of his generals, Shirkuh, to settle the dispute. Dirgham was killed, and Shawar was restored to power. However, Shawar then argued with Shirkuh, and allied with the Crusader king, Amalric I of Jerusalem, who attacked Shirkuh at Bilbeis in August-October, 1164 (see Crusader invasion of Egypt). The siege ended with a stalemate, and both Shirkuh and Amalric agreed to withdraw from Egypt.
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Shirkuh
Asad ad-Din Shirkuh bin Shadhi (Arabic: أسد الدين شيركوه بن شاذي, Shêr-kuh literally means lion of the mountains in Kurdish), also known as Shêrko or "Shêrgo" (died 1169) was an important Kurdish military commander, and uncle of Saladin.
He was originally from a Kurdish village in Armenia near the town of Dvin. He was the son of Shadhi ibn Marwan, a Kurdish ruler, and was the brother of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, the ancestor of the Ayyubid dynasty. The family was closely connected to the Shaddadid dynasty, and when the last Shaddadid was deposed in Dvin in 1130, Shahdi moved the family first to Baghdad and then to Tikrit, where he was appointed governor by the regional administrator Bihruz. Ayyub succeeded his father as governor of Tikrit when Shahdi died soon after. When Shirkuh killed a Christian with whom he was quarrelling in Tikrit in 1138, the brothers were exiled (Shirkuh's nephew Yusuf, later known as Saladin, was supposedly born the night they left). They joined Zengi's army, and Shirkuh served under Nur ad-Din who succeeded Zengi in Mosul. Shirkuh was later given Homs as a vassal state of Mosul. Ayyub served as governor of Baalbek and later Damascus, and the two brothers negotiated the surrender of Damascus to Nur ad-Din in 1154.
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Stanley Lane-Poole
Stanley Lane-Poole (18 December 1854 - 29 December 1931) was a British orientalist and archaeologist. His uncle was Edward William Lane.
Born in London, England, from 1874 to 1892 he worked in the British Museum, and after that in Egypt researching on Egyptian archaeology. From 1897 to 1904 he had a chair as Professor of Arabic studies at Dublin University.
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Steven Runciman
Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH (7 July 1903 – 1 November 2000) — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages. His best known work is his three volume A History of the Crusades (1951-54).
Born in Northumberland, he was the second son of Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford, and Hilda Runciman, Viscountess Runciman of Doxford. Both of his parents were or became Members of Parliament for the Liberal Party. His father was created Viscount Runciman of Doxford in 1937. His paternal grandfather, Walter Runciman, 1st Baron Runciman, was a shipping magnate. He was named after his maternal grandfather, James Cochran Stevenson, the MP for South Shields.
It is said that he was reading Latin and Greek by age five. In the course of his long life he would master an astonishing number of languages, so that, for example, when writing about the Middle East, he relied not only on accounts in Latin and Greek and the Western vernaculars, but consulted Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Hebrew, Syriac, Armenian and Georgian sources as well. A King's Scholar at Eton College, he was an exact contemporary and close friend of George Orwell. While there, they both studied French under Aldous Huxley.
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Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: طارق علی), (born 21 October 1943), is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and regularly contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books.
He is the author of several books, including Pakistan: Military Rule or People's Power (1970), Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991), Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007), The Duel (2008) and The Obama Syndrome (2010).
Ali was born and raised in Lahore. The city was part of British India at the time of his birth in 1943, but became part of the newly independent nation of Pakistan four years later. He is the son of journalist Mazhar Ali Khan and activist mother Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan (daughter of Sir Sikandar Hyat Khan who led the Unionist Muslim League and was later Prime Minister of the Punjab from 1937–1942).
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Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time.
Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor.
Born in College Wynd in the Old Town of Edinburgh in 1771, the son of a solicitor, Scott survived a childhood bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame. To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Borders region at his paternal grandparents' farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower, the earlier family home. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that summer went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England, where they lived at 6 South Parade. In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a water cure at Prestonpans during the following summer.
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Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II or William II (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht von Preußen; English: Frederick William Victor Albert of Prussia) (27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe. Crowned in 1888, he dismissed the Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, in 1890 and launched Germany on a bellicose "New Course" in foreign affairs that culminated in his support for Austria-Hungary in the crisis of July 1914 that led to World War I. Bombastic and impetuous, he sometimes made tactless pronouncements on sensitive topics without consulting his ministers. He was humiliated by the Daily Telegraph affair in 1908 and lost most of his power. His generals dictated policy during World War I with little regard for the civilian government. An ineffective war leader, he lost the support of the army, abdicated in November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands.
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William of Tyre
William of Tyre (c. 1130 – 29 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines. He grew up in Jerusalem at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been established in 1099 after the First Crusade, and he spent twenty years studying the liberal arts and canon law in the universities of Europe.
Following William's return to Jerusalem in 1165, King Amalric I made him an ambassador to the Byzantine Empire. William became tutor to the king's son, the future King Baldwin IV, whom William discovered to be a leper. After Amalric's death, William became chancellor and archbishop of Tyre, two of the highest offices in the kingdom, and in 1179 William led the eastern delegation to the Third Council of the Lateran. As he was involved in the dynastic struggle that developed during Baldwin IV's reign, his importance waned when a rival faction gained control of royal affairs. He was passed over for the prestigious Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and died in obscurity, probably in 1186.
wn.com/William_of_Tyre
Famous quotes by Saladin:
"The greenest track I've seen for a long time,"
"Eighty-two percent of our expenses are personnel issues, ... The only thing we can control is employment numbers, which we don't want to reduce. We have to make sure we keep people in Reed City, when you lose teachers you lose students."
"The greenest track I've seen for a long time,"
"Eighty-two percent of our expenses are personnel issues, ... The only thing we can control is employment numbers, which we don't want to reduce. We have to make sure we keep people in Reed City, when you lose teachers you lose students."
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The Third Crusade: Saladin & Richard the Lionheart Documentary
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 88:54
- Updated: 21 Dec 2012
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart are two names that tend to dominate the Crusades. Both have gone down in Medieval history as great military leaders though their impact was limited to the Third Crusade. ___ Steam: steamcommunity.com Twitter: @Chris_IEC www.twitter.com/Chris_IEC Facebook: www.facebook.com/LordSealskin
http://wn.com/The_Third_Crusade_Saladin_Richard_the_Lionheart_Documentary
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart are two names that tend to dominate the Crusades. Both have gone down in Medieval history as great military leaders though their impact was limited to the Third Crusade. ___ Steam: steamcommunity.com Twitter: @Chris_IEC www.twitter.com/Chris_IEC Facebook: www.facebook.com/LordSealskin
Saladin the Movie Launch Trailer (2006)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:17
- Updated: 18 Dec 2012
This was the trailer that sparked the Saladin animation movie. It also created the buzz locally and internationally - won awards at the Tokyo International Animation Festival and at Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival. This was launched in April 2006 The movie is in the works right now. But we do have the TV series that is being show on JCC in Qatar for the Arab World. look for www.saladin.tv
http://wn.com/Saladin_the_Movie_Launch_Trailer_2006
This was the trailer that sparked the Saladin animation movie. It also created the buzz locally and internationally - won awards at the Tokyo International Animation Festival and at Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival. This was launched in April 2006 The movie is in the works right now. But we do have the TV series that is being show on JCC in Qatar for the Arab World. look for www.saladin.tv
- published: 15 Sep 2010
- views: 51762
- author: Hasnul Samsudin
Saladin part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:02
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
to view more videos goto www.umiCity.com
http://wn.com/Saladin_part_1
Kingdom of Heaven DC: Saladin Tribute [HD]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:55
- Updated: 21 Dec 2012
I do not own the video, nor the audio track used. I really liked Ghassan Massoud´s performance as Saladin in Ridley Scott´s Kingdom of Heaven (2005), so I thought it called for a tribute. Thumbs up if you want to see more of this brilliant actor! Music: "Saladin" (KOH OST) by Harry Gregson-Williams "Me Desea" (performed by Maria del Mar Bonet) by Luis Delgado "Family Feud" (Blade II OST) by Marco Beltrami Made with Pinnacle Studio 15 Ultimate
http://wn.com/Kingdom_of_Heaven_DC_Saladin_Tribute_HD_
I do not own the video, nor the audio track used. I really liked Ghassan Massoud´s performance as Saladin in Ridley Scott´s Kingdom of Heaven (2005), so I thought it called for a tribute. Thumbs up if you want to see more of this brilliant actor! Music: "Saladin" (KOH OST) by Harry Gregson-Williams "Me Desea" (performed by Maria del Mar Bonet) by Luis Delgado "Family Feud" (Blade II OST) by Marco Beltrami Made with Pinnacle Studio 15 Ultimate
- published: 05 Sep 2011
- views: 410186
- author: Jana Barborová
Saladin The Animated Series ep 1 [1/3]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:21
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe
http://wn.com/Saladin_The_Animated_Series_ep_1_1_3_
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe
- published: 05 Nov 2007
- views: 224368
- author: KaWaN860602
RICHARD THE LIONHEART AND SALADIN HOLY WARRIORS - Documentary
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 90:02
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
riffat73.wordpress.com http www.veoh.com www.dailymotion.com www.youtube.com www.youtube.com www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/RICHARD_THE_LIONHEART_AND_SALADIN_HOLY_WARRIORS_Documentary
riffat73.wordpress.com http www.veoh.com www.dailymotion.com www.youtube.com www.youtube.com www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
- published: 01 May 2012
- views: 5609
- author: causelofallah
Saladin (1963) Part (1/10)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:53
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
Part (2/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
http://wn.com/Saladin_1963_Part_1_10
Part (2/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
- published: 10 Feb 2008
- views: 277772
- author: zoom1177
Saladin (1963) Part (2/10)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:56
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
Part(3/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
http://wn.com/Saladin_1963_Part_2_10
Part(3/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
- published: 10 Feb 2008
- views: 98318
- author: zoom1177
1 [1/3] - Saladin - Animated Series (English Voice + Malaysian Subs)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:48
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Please, note that this is NOT the story of Salahuddin Al Ayoubi. This is an entertaining series for children with the character Saladin, wich has NOTHING to do with the Legend of Islam Salahuddin Al Ayoubi. If you want to watch the story of the Muslim hero Salahuddin Al Ayoubi, this is the link: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/1_1_3_Saladin_Animated_Series_English_Voice_+_Malaysian_Subs
Please, note that this is NOT the story of Salahuddin Al Ayoubi. This is an entertaining series for children with the character Saladin, wich has NOTHING to do with the Legend of Islam Salahuddin Al Ayoubi. If you want to watch the story of the Muslim hero Salahuddin Al Ayoubi, this is the link: www.youtube.com
- published: 21 May 2011
- views: 76514
- author: Cartoons4MuslimKids
Saladin The Animated Series ep 1 [2/3]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:01
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe
http://wn.com/Saladin_The_Animated_Series_ep_1_2_3_
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe
- published: 05 Nov 2007
- views: 114432
- author: KaWaN860602
Kingdom Of Heaven - Saladin last scene !
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:13
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
Kingdom of Heaven , Saladin last scene inside the holy land , Jerusalem ! song name is : Luis Delgado - La Aurora Noctuma Link to the full song : www.youtube.com --- watch TOP GEAR USA full episodes for free - Follow the Link below : www.topgearusa.freevar.com , enjoy the full episodes of TOP GEAR USA , each week updated ! all Seasons and Episodes on the website ! Enjoy.
http://wn.com/Kingdom_Of_Heaven_Saladin_last_scene_!
Kingdom of Heaven , Saladin last scene inside the holy land , Jerusalem ! song name is : Luis Delgado - La Aurora Noctuma Link to the full song : www.youtube.com --- watch TOP GEAR USA full episodes for free - Follow the Link below : www.topgearusa.freevar.com , enjoy the full episodes of TOP GEAR USA , each week updated ! all Seasons and Episodes on the website ! Enjoy.
- published: 28 Jul 2011
- views: 72736
- author: BestradHD
Ancient Islam Warrior [ Saladin The Kurd ] 2010
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:35
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
ancient islam warrior - Selahaddin Ayyubi better known as SALADIN the sultan of Islamic Ayyubi Dynasty born in Kurdistan iraq save the holy land jerusalem palestine from christian crusaders governate over all syria hijaz saudi arabia jemen egypt and part of turkey
http://wn.com/Ancient_Islam_Warrior_Saladin_The_Kurd_2010
ancient islam warrior - Selahaddin Ayyubi better known as SALADIN the sultan of Islamic Ayyubi Dynasty born in Kurdistan iraq save the holy land jerusalem palestine from christian crusaders governate over all syria hijaz saudi arabia jemen egypt and part of turkey
- published: 20 Jan 2010
- views: 117243
- author: TheIslamKurdistan
![Saladin The Animated Series ep 1 [3/3]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OHRQ4sfuAAE/default.jpg "Saladin The Animated Series ep 1 [3/3]")
Saladin The Animated Series ep 1 [3/3]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:04
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe
http://wn.com/Saladin_The_Animated_Series_ep_1_3_3_
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. credit to awe
- published: 05 Nov 2007
- views: 144696
- author: KaWaN860602
Saladin and Richard Lionheart 1/11
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:08
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart are two names that tend to dominate the Crusades. Both have gone down in Medieval history as great military leaders though their impact was limited to the Third Crusade.
http://wn.com/Saladin_and_Richard_Lionheart_1_11
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart are two names that tend to dominate the Crusades. Both have gone down in Medieval history as great military leaders though their impact was limited to the Third Crusade.
- published: 16 Jan 2010
- views: 40427
- author: utopianviews
Saladin and Richard Lionheart 2/11
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:49
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart are two names that tend to dominate the Crusades. Both have gone down in Medieval history as great military leaders though their impact was limited to the Third Crusade.
http://wn.com/Saladin_and_Richard_Lionheart_2_11
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart are two names that tend to dominate the Crusades. Both have gone down in Medieval history as great military leaders though their impact was limited to the Third Crusade.
- published: 16 Jan 2010
- views: 16723
- author: utopianviews
Saladin (1963) Part (3/10)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:51
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Part(4/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
http://wn.com/Saladin_1963_Part_3_10
Part(4/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
- published: 10 Feb 2008
- views: 140606
- author: zoom1177
Book Sniffing, The Magicians, & Saladin Ahmed - Sword & Laser ep. 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 30:47
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
Join our Goodreads forum! www.goodreads.com Subscribe to Geek and Sundry: full.sc CLICK "SHOW MORE" FOR DESCRIPTION & MORE INFO This week, we're wrapping up "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman (but don't despair if you haven't finished yet!) and we also speak with author Saladin Ahmed, finalist for the Nebula and Campbell awards and author of "Throne of the Crescent Moon." Learn more about our guest and book pick! Saladin Ahmed: www.saladinahmed.com Saladin on Twitter twitter.com The Magicians: www.goodreads.com Show Notes: io9.com io9.com boingboing.net www.sfsite.com www.worldswithoutend.com Video Review from Charles! youtu.be Producer / Host - Veronica Belmont Producer / Host - Tom Merritt Executive Producer - Felicia Day Executive Producer - Kim Evey Executive Producer - Sheri Bryant Special Guest - Saladin Ahmed Director - Geoffrey Orthwein Production Coordinator - Suzanne Llewellyn Live Graphics - Zachary Smith Camera Operator - Matthew Wright Camera Operator - Jill Newman Camera Assistant - John Ashley Audio - Keith Eggel Production Assistant - Riley Hagen Chief Troublemaker - Alex Lindsay Set Design - Fonco Creative Services Production Designer - Fon Davis Art Director - Martin MacDonald Fonco Producer - Wendy Rolon Creature Designer - Robert Barnes Set Builders - Hendric Vogel, Darren Wong, Brittany Barnes Model Makers - Pierre Maurer, John Duncan, Tyler Murray, Brandon Lee, Sabrina Wichner Post-production services provided by Pixel Corps Graphics and Animation ...
http://wn.com/Book_Sniffing,_The_Magicians,_Saladin_Ahmed_Sword_Laser_ep_2
Join our Goodreads forum! www.goodreads.com Subscribe to Geek and Sundry: full.sc CLICK "SHOW MORE" FOR DESCRIPTION & MORE INFO This week, we're wrapping up "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman (but don't despair if you haven't finished yet!) and we also speak with author Saladin Ahmed, finalist for the Nebula and Campbell awards and author of "Throne of the Crescent Moon." Learn more about our guest and book pick! Saladin Ahmed: www.saladinahmed.com Saladin on Twitter twitter.com The Magicians: www.goodreads.com Show Notes: io9.com io9.com boingboing.net www.sfsite.com www.worldswithoutend.com Video Review from Charles! youtu.be Producer / Host - Veronica Belmont Producer / Host - Tom Merritt Executive Producer - Felicia Day Executive Producer - Kim Evey Executive Producer - Sheri Bryant Special Guest - Saladin Ahmed Director - Geoffrey Orthwein Production Coordinator - Suzanne Llewellyn Live Graphics - Zachary Smith Camera Operator - Matthew Wright Camera Operator - Jill Newman Camera Assistant - John Ashley Audio - Keith Eggel Production Assistant - Riley Hagen Chief Troublemaker - Alex Lindsay Set Design - Fonco Creative Services Production Designer - Fon Davis Art Director - Martin MacDonald Fonco Producer - Wendy Rolon Creature Designer - Robert Barnes Set Builders - Hendric Vogel, Darren Wong, Brittany Barnes Model Makers - Pierre Maurer, John Duncan, Tyler Murray, Brandon Lee, Sabrina Wichner Post-production services provided by Pixel Corps Graphics and Animation ...
- published: 27 Apr 2012
- views: 51688
- author: geekandsundry
Saladin (1963) Part (4/10)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:52
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Part(5/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
http://wn.com/Saladin_1963_Part_4_10
Part(5/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
- published: 10 Feb 2008
- views: 70415
- author: zoom1177
Saladin Ahmed Bonus interview - Sword & Laser Episode 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:41
- Updated: 18 Dec 2012
Join our Goodreads forum! www.goodreads.com Subscribe to Geek and Sundry: full.sc CLICK "SHOW MORE" FOR DESCRIPTION & MORE INFO We ask author Saladin Ahmed more viewer questions. Plus he describes his new book and how he became a DM for Joe Abercrombie We want your feedback! Join our community at geekandsundry.com Email: feedback@swordandlaser.com
http://wn.com/Saladin_Ahmed_Bonus_interview_Sword_Laser_Episode_2
Join our Goodreads forum! www.goodreads.com Subscribe to Geek and Sundry: full.sc CLICK "SHOW MORE" FOR DESCRIPTION & MORE INFO We ask author Saladin Ahmed more viewer questions. Plus he describes his new book and how he became a DM for Joe Abercrombie We want your feedback! Join our community at geekandsundry.com Email: feedback@swordandlaser.com
- published: 03 May 2012
- views: 10581
- author: geekandsundry
Muslimgauze - Saladin Mercy (Gun Aramaic)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:06
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (c. 1138 — March 4, 1193) (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب, Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی, Selah'edînê Eyubî) Better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim who became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant. At the height of his power, he ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen. He led the Muslims against the Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin. As such, he is a notable figure in Kurdish, Arab, Persian, Turkish and Muslim culture. Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam. His chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Kerak in Moab, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders he won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart; rather than becoming a hated figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principles of chivalry. ----- ---------- -------------------- Another video I put together. I must have made 6 or 7 videos for this song. This is the only one that didn't get deleted. Enjoy! -------------------- ---------- ----- Artist: Muslimgauze Song: Saladin Mercy Album: Gun Aramaic Label: Soleilmoon Year: 1996 ---------- www.muslimgauze.org www.soleilmoon.com www.discogs.com
http://wn.com/Muslimgauze_Saladin_Mercy_Gun_Aramaic
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (c. 1138 — March 4, 1193) (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب, Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی, Selah'edînê Eyubî) Better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim who became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant. At the height of his power, he ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen. He led the Muslims against the Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin. As such, he is a notable figure in Kurdish, Arab, Persian, Turkish and Muslim culture. Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam. His chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Kerak in Moab, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders he won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart; rather than becoming a hated figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principles of chivalry. ----- ---------- -------------------- Another video I put together. I must have made 6 or 7 videos for this song. This is the only one that didn't get deleted. Enjoy! -------------------- ---------- ----- Artist: Muslimgauze Song: Saladin Mercy Album: Gun Aramaic Label: Soleilmoon Year: 1996 ---------- www.muslimgauze.org www.soleilmoon.com www.discogs.com
- published: 14 Dec 2009
- views: 9157
- author: unclecaintoad
Saladin (1963) Part (5/10)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:35
- Updated: 22 Jun 2012
Part(6/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
http://wn.com/Saladin_1963_Part_5_10
Part(6/10): www.youtube.com This movie promotes peace even between enemies during war time. A message much needed right now. The movie is considred the greatest historical epic of Egyptian cinema(considering the budget and the time) directed in 1963 by: Youssef Chahine. The movie was very hard to find and was incomplete, I apologize for the missing parts. I hope you enjoy it. Language: Arabic with English Subtitles. Here is a preview of the movie: www.youtube.com WHERE TO BUY THE MOVIE? Here is a link: arabfilm.com
- published: 10 Feb 2008
- views: 63848
- author: zoom1177
![QxGDestiny (Z) vs. Saladin (P) [Game 1] - Playhem $1000 Open Tournament](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Pm3H6uwRIjY/default.jpg "QxGDestiny (Z) vs. Saladin (P) [Game 1] - Playhem $1000 Open Tournament")
QxGDestiny (Z) vs. Saladin (P) [Game 1] - Playhem $1000 Open Tournament
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:34
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
Round of 32 - BO3 Brackets: playhem.com Destiny's in game view QxGDestiny (Z) is 1069 points, Master league www.sc2ranks.com Saladin (P) is 808 points, Grand Master league www.sc2ranks.com Destiny's live stream: www.justin.tv
http://wn.com/QxGDestiny_Z_vs_Saladin_P_Game_1_Playhem_1000_Open_Tournament
Round of 32 - BO3 Brackets: playhem.com Destiny's in game view QxGDestiny (Z) is 1069 points, Master league www.sc2ranks.com Saladin (P) is 808 points, Grand Master league www.sc2ranks.com Destiny's live stream: www.justin.tv
- published: 28 Nov 2011
- views: 11589
- author: remembertomorrow0
![Saladin The Animated Series ep 2 [1/3]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121221165705im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/r7rE012W3os/default.jpg "Saladin The Animated Series ep 2 [1/3]")
Saladin The Animated Series ep 2 [1/3]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:19
- Updated: 11 Aug 2012
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi.
http://wn.com/Saladin_The_Animated_Series_ep_2_1_3_
The great Muslim warrior - Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi.
- published: 05 Nov 2007
- views: 66635
- author: KaWaN860602
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
20 Dec 2012
Obama held a White House news conference on Wednesday to announce that Vice President Joe Biden will lead an interagency effort to craft new gun policies. The group is expected to offer its proposals in January. “We know this is a complex issue that stirs deeply held passions and political divides,” Obama said. “But the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing.” ... WAKE-UP CALL ... ....(size: 6.1Kb)
photo: AP / Charles Krupa
18 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Most people reason dramatically, not quantitatively." -Oliver Wendell Holmes. On the same day that a 20-year-old, described as brilliant but remote, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and massacred 26 children and adults, the school where I teach went on "lock-down." Four students with a handgun were arrested ... That morning before school, he had posted on Twitter and Facebook....(size: 14.0Kb)
photo: Creative Commons / Joachim Huber
18 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. When a Stanford geneticist, Gerald Crabtree, published a provocative and controversial new view on evolutionary change, namely that humans are actually getting dumber, he should have also added that humans are still developing an extermination gene ... Paleontologist Tim Flannery would more than likely agree with Crabtree ... Strange strings of gravel also overlaid some bones ... (1) Kane, Alex ... 195....(size: 9.4Kb)
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
19 Dec 2012
WASHINGTON. US President Barack Obama backs a new bill to revive an assault weapons ban and other new gun laws, the White House said Tuesday, fleshing out his nascent response to a shocking school massacre. Obama also called an ardently pro-gun senator who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut and has begun meeting top cabinet officials to consider his options, his spokesman Jay Carney said ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)
photo: AP / Mohammad Hannon
19 Dec 2012
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she accepts the findings of an independent panel that faulted the State Department over the deadly September attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. An inquiry into the attack on the US mission, which saw the US ambassador and three other US citizens killed, found that the State Department security arrangements there were "grossly inadequate" ... 390 Source. ... Share ... Jaws ... Anaheim....(size: 19.2Kb)
STL Today
21 Dec 2012
A TV station in Puerto Rico that broadcasts a popular news and gossip show featuring a puppet has announced that the program will now be prerecorded. Joe Ramos, president of WAPA TV, told reporters late Thursday that the SuperXclusivo show will be taped two hours before it is broadcast ... 30 killing of publicist Jose Enrique Gomez Saladin ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
The Washington Post
21 Dec 2012
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A TV station in Puerto Rico that broadcasts a popular news and gossip show featuring a puppet has announced that the program will now be prerecorded. Joe Ramos, president of WAPA TV, told reporters late Thursday that the SuperXclusivo show will be taped two hours before it is broadcast ... Loading... Comments Weigh In Corrections?. Recommend. Personal Post ... 30 killing of publicist Jose Enrique Gomez Saladin ... ....(size: 3.8Kb)
Newsday
20 Dec 2012
Photos. JERUSALEM - (AP) -- No other city in the world exudes spirituality and inspires devotion like Jerusalem, home to important shrines of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Virtually every stone of the walled fortress-like Old City seems to tell the story of a biblical figure or battle ... And many of these sites are free. SACRED SITES ... THE MAHANE YEHUDA MARKET ... From the hotel, walk toward the Old City through Saladin Street, the of Arab ... ....(size: 6.5Kb)
Seattle Post
20 Dec 2012
JERUSALEM (AP) — No other city in the world exudes spirituality and inspires devotion like Jerusalem, home to important shrines of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Virtually every stone of the walled fortress-like Old City seems to tell the story of a biblical figure or battle ... And many of these sites are free. SACRED SITES ... DAMASCUS GATE. From the hotel, walk toward the Old City through Saladin Street, the heart of Arab East Jerusalem ... ....(size: 5.5Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
20 Dec 2012
JERUSALEM - No other city in the world exudes spirituality and inspires devotion like Jerusalem, home to important shrines of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Virtually every stone of the walled fortress-like Old City seems to tell the story of a biblical figure or battle ... And many of these sites are free. SACRED SITES ... DAMASCUS GATE. From the hotel, walk toward the Old City through Saladin Street, the heart of Arab East Jerusalem ... ....(size: 5.6Kb)
Antiwar
17 Dec 2012
“Palestine, from the Jordan to the Sea, belongs to us!” declared Khaled Meshal last week at the huge victory rally in Gaza. “Eretz Israel, from the sea to the Jordan, belongs to us!” declare right-wing Israelis on every occasion ... The direction ... There were three waves ... (The Mongols came here after destroying Iraq, and were beaten decisively by the Muslim general Baybars, heir of Saladin, in one of the most decisive battles in history.)....(size: 10.0Kb)
The New York Times
12 Dec 2012
Joseph Schwartz has sophisticated, loving parents. When they noticed their son’s aversion to sports and attraction to dolls, they didn’t assume Joseph was gay; they just knew he was different. When Joseph referred to Saladin, the well-dressed 12th-century Sultan of Egypt and Syria, as “the fabulous Muslim leader,” they simply embraced their son’s panache ... Enlarge This Image. Will van Overbeek. John Schwartz ... ....(size: 12.2Kb)
New York Daily News
11 Dec 2012
OAS Rowe Fund Awards Scholarships to Seven Peruvian Students (OAS - Organization of American States)
noodls06 Dec 2012
In the scholarship award ceremony, held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, the Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the OAS, Ambassador Roberto Saladin; Raul Salazar, Minister of the Mission of Peru to the organization; Marcelo Rojas, Alternate Representative of Chile; Indalecio Vallejos, of the Mission of the United States, ......(size: 2.3Kb)
Newstrack India
05 Dec 2012
Every newspaper on the island carried on its front page the case of advertising agent Jose Enrique Gomez Saladin, who disappeared last Thursday night after taking part in a business meeting in the capital's Condado district. Gomez Saladin was killed, ... Gomez Saladin's body was found after one of the two suspects in his disappearance confessed....(size: 2.4Kb)
noodls
02 Dec 2012
2 Dec 2012 The Palestinian Authority's one-sided step at the UN constitutes a gross violation of the agreements that have been signed with the State of Israel; accordingly, the Government of Israel rejects the UN General Assembly decision. (Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser) ... 1 ... These are not my words ... I would like to reiterate ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... * The Popular Resistance Committees and its military arm, the Saladin Brigade ... 5....(size: 9.0Kb)
PR Newswire
26 Nov 2012
26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On November 16th ambassadors from gathered at the Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square for the fourth annual Embassy Celebration Dinner Series where Ambassador Roberto Saladin-Selin, Permanent Representative of the to the OAS, was honored with the GWHCC Public Service Award ... Saladin spoke about importance of the trade relations between the U.S....(size: 4.1Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
26 Nov 2012
26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On November 16th ambassadors from Latin America gathered at the Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square for the fourth annual Embassy Celebration Dinner Series where Ambassador Roberto Saladin-Selin, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the OAS, was honored with the GWHCC Public Service Award ... Saladin spoke about importance of the trade relations between the U.S....(size: 3.0Kb)
For other uses see Saladin (disambiguation).
| Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb | |
|---|---|
| Sultan of Egypt and Syria | |
 Artistic representation of Saladin. |
|
| Reign | 1174–1193 |
| Coronation | 1174, Cairo |
| Full name | Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb |
| Born | ca. 1137–1138 |
| Birthplace | Tikrit, Iraq[1] |
| Died | March 4, 1193 CE (aged 55–56) |
| Place of death | Damascus, Syria |
| Buried | Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria |
| Predecessor | Nur ad-Din Zangi |
| Successor | Al-Afdal (Syria) Al-Aziz Uthman (Egypt) |
| Dynasty | Ayyubid |
| Father | Najm ad-Dīn Ayyūb |
| Religious beliefs | Sunni Islam |
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی, Selah'edînê Eyubî) (ca. 1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish[2][3][4] Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant. At the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and parts of North Africa.
Under his personal leadership, his forces defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin, leading the way to his re-capture of Palestine, which had been seized from the Fatimid Egyptians by the Crusaders 88 years earlier. Though the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem would continue to exist for a period, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslims and Arabs. As such, Saladin is a prominent figure in Kurdish, Arab, and Muslim culture. Saladin was a strict adherent of Sunni Islam.[5] His noble and chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the Siege of Kerak, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders, he won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart; rather than becoming a hated figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principles of chivalry.[6]
Sources[link]
There are many contemporary and near-contemporary sources available for Saladin's career. Among Saladin's admirers who produced personal biographies are the historians: Qadi al-Fadil from Ascalon; Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, and Ibn Shaddad, a jurist from Mosul. Ibn al-Athir (d. 1233), on the other hand, produced a more hostile picture.
Early life[link]
Saladin was born in Tikrit, Iraq. His personal name was Yusuf, the Arabic form of Joseph; Salah ad-Din is a laqab, a descriptive epithet, meaning "Righteousness of the Faith".[7] His family was of Arabized Kurdish background and ancestry,[2] and had originated from the city of Dvin, in medieval Armenia.[8][9] His father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub, was banished from Tikrit and in 1139, he and his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh, moved to Mosul. He later joined the service of Imad ad-Din Zengi who made him commander of his fortress in Baalbek. After the death of Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din, became the regent of Aleppo and the leader of the Zengids.[10]
Saladin, who now lived in Damascus, was reported to have a particular fondness of the city, but information on his early childhood is scarce. About education, Saladin wrote "children are brought up in the way in which their elders were brought up." According to one of his biographers, al-Wahrani, Saladin was able to answer questions on Euclid, the Almagest, arithmetic, and law, but this was an academic ideal and it was study of the Qur'an and the "sciences of religion" that linked him to his contemporaries.[10] Several sources claim that during his studies he was more interested in religion than joining the military.[11] Another factor which may have affected his interest in religion was that during the First Crusade, Jerusalem was taken in a surprise attack by the Christians.[11] In addition to Islam, Saladin had a knowledge of the genealogies, biographies, and histories of the Arabs, as well as the bloodlines of Arabian horses. More significantly, he knew the Hamasah of Abu Tammam by heart.[10]
Early expeditions[link]
Saladin's military career began under the tutelage of his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh, an important military commander under Nur ad-Din. In 1163, the vizier to the Fatimid caliph al-Adid, Shawar, had been driven out of Egypt by rival Dirgham, a member of the powerful Banu Ruzzaik tribe. He asked for military backing from Nur ad-Din, who complied and in 1164, sent Shirkuh to aid Shawar in his expedition against Dirgham. Saladin, at age 26, went along with them.[12] After Shawar was successfully reinstated as vizier, he demanded that Shirkuh withdraw his army from Egypt for a sum of 30,000 dinars, but he refused insisting it was Nur ad-Din's will that he remain. Saladin's role in this expedition was minor, and it is known that he was ordered by Shirkuh to collect stores from Bilbais prior to its siege by a combined force of Crusaders and Shawar's troops.[13]
After the sacking of Bilbais, the Crusader-Egyptian force and Shirkuh's army were to engage in a battle on the desert border of the Nile River, just west of Giza. Saladin played a major role, commanding the right wing of the Zengid army, while a force of Kurds commanded the left, and Shirkuh stationed in the center. Muslim sources at the time, however, put Saladin in the "baggage of the center" with orders to lure the enemy into a trap by staging a false retreat. The Crusader force enjoyed early success against Shirkuh's troops, but the terrain was too steep and sandy for their horses, and commander Hugh of Caesarea was captured while attacking Saladin's unit. After scattered fighting in little valleys to the south of the main position, the Zengid central force returned to the offensive; Saladin joined in from the rear.[14]
The battle ended in a Zengid victory, and Saladin is credited to have helped Shirkuh in one of the "most remarkable victories in recorded history", according to Ibn al-Athir, although more of Shirkuh's men were killed and the battle is considered by most sources as not a total victory. Saladin and Shirkuh moved towards Alexandria where they were welcomed, given money, arms, and provided a base.[15] Faced by a superior Crusader-Egyptian force who attempted to besiege the city, Shirkuh split his army. He and the bulk of his force withdrew from Alexandria, while Saladin was left with the task of guarding the city.[16]
In Egypt[link]
Main article: Saladin in Egypt
Emir of Egypt[link]
Shirkuh engaged in a power struggle over Egypt with Shawar and Amalric I of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, in which Shawar requested Amalric's assistance. In 1169, Shawar was reportedly assassinated by Saladin, and Shirkuh died later that year.[17] Nur ad-Din chose a successor for Shirkuh, but al-Adid appointed Saladin to replace Shawar as vizier.[18]
The reasoning behind the Shia caliph al-Adid's selection of Saladin, a Sunni, varies. Ibn al-Athir claims that the caliph chose him after being told by his advisers that "there is no one weaker or younger" than Saladin, and "not one of the emirs obeyed him or served him." However, according to this version, after some bargaining, he was eventually accepted by the majority of emirs. Al-Adid's advisers were also suspected of attempting to split the Syria-based Zengid ranks. Al-Wahrani wrote that Saladin was selected because of the reputation of his family in their "generosity and military prowess." Imad ad-Din wrote that after the brief mourning period of Shirkuh, during which "opinions differed", the Zengid emirs decided upon Saladin and forced the caliph to "invest him as vizier." Although positions were complicated by rival Muslim leaders, the bulk of the Syrian rulers supported Saladin due to his role in the Egyptian expedition, in which he gained a record of military qualifications.[19]
Inaugurated as Emir on March 26, Saladin repented "wine-drinking and turned from frivolity to assume the dress of religion." Having gained more power and independence than ever before in his career, he still faced the issue of ultimate loyalty between al-Adid and Nur ad-Din. The latter was rumored to be clandestinely hostile towards Saladin's appointment and was quoted as saying, "how dare he [Saladin] do anything without my orders?" He wrote several letters to Saladin, who dismissed them without abandoning his allegiance to Nur ad-Din.[20]
Later in the year, a group of Egyptian soldiers and emirs attempted to assassinate Saladin, but having already known of their intentions, thanks to his intelligence chief Ali bin Safyan, he had the chief conspirator, Naji, Mu'tamin al-Khilafa—the civilian controller of the Fatimid Palace—arrested, and killed. The day after, 50,000 black African soldiers from the regiments of the Fatimid army opposed to Saladin's rule along with a number of Egyptian emirs and commoners staged a revolt. By August 23, Saladin had decisively quelled the uprising, and never again had to face a military challenge from Cairo.[21]
Towards the end of 1169, Saladin—with reinforcements from Nur ad-Din—defeated a massive Crusader-Byzantine force near Damietta. Afterward, in the spring of 1170, Nur ad-Din sent Saladin's father to Egypt in compliance with Saladin's request, as well as encouragement from the Baghdad-based Abbasid caliph, al-Mustanjid, who aimed to pressure Saladin in deposing his rival caliph, al-Adid.[22] Saladin himself had been strengthening his hold on Egypt and widening his support base there. He began granting his family members high-ranking positions in the region and increased Sunni influence in Cairo; he ordered the construction of a college for the Maliki branch of Sunni Islam in the city, as well as one for the Shafi'i denomination to which he belonged in al-Fustat.[23]
After establishing himself in Egypt, Saladin launched a campaign against the Crusaders, besieging Darum in 1170.[24] Amalric withdrew his Templar garrison from Gaza to assist him in defending Darum, but Saladin evaded their force and fell on Gaza instead. He destroyed the town built outside the city's castle and killed most of its inhabitants after they were refused entry into the castle.[25] It is unclear exactly when, but during that same year, he attacked and captured the Crusader castle of Eilat, built on an island off the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. It did not pose a threat to the passage of the Muslim navy, but could harass smaller parties of Muslim ships and Saladin decided to clear it from his path.[24]
Sultan of Egypt[link]
According to Imad ad-Din, Nur ad-Din wrote to Saladin in June 1171, telling him to reestablish the Abbasid caliphate in Egypt, which Saladin coordinated two months later after additional encouragement by Najm ad-Din al-Khabushani, the Shafi'i faqih, who vehemently opposed Shia rule in the country. Several Egyptian emirs were thus killed, but al-Adid was told that they were killed for rebelling against him. He then fell ill, or was poisoned according to one account. While ill, he asked Saladin to pay him a visit to request that he take care of his young children, but Saladin refused, fearing treachery against the Abbasids, and is said to have regretted his action after realizing what al-Adid had wanted.[26] He died on September 13 and five days later, the Abbasid khutba was pronounced in Cairo and al-Fustat, proclaiming al-Mustadi as caliph.[27]
On September 25, Saladin left Cairo to take part in a joint attack on Kerak and Montreal, the desert castles of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with Nur ad-Din who would attack from Syria. Prior to arriving at Montreal, Saladin withdrew, realizing that if he met Nur ad-Din at Shaubak, he would be refused return to Egypt because of Nur ad-Din's reluctance to consolidate such massive territorial control to Saladin. Also, there was a chance that the Crusader kingdom—which acted as a buffer state between Syria and Egypt—could have collapsed had the two leaders attacked it from the east and the coast. This would have given Nur ad-Din the opportunity to annex Egypt. Saladin claimed he withdrew amid Fatimid plots against him, but Nur ad-Din did not accept "the excuse."[27]
During the summer of 1172, a Nubian army along with a contingent of Armenian refugees were reported on the Egyptian border, preparing for a siege against Aswan. The emir of the city had requested Saladin's assistance and was given reinforcements under Turan-Shah—Saladin's brother. Consequently, the Nubians departed, but returned in 1173 and were again driven off. This time Egyptian forces advanced from Aswan and captured the Nubian town of Ibrim. Seventeen months after al-Adid's death, Nur ad-Din had not taken any action regarding Egypt, but expected some return for the 200,000 dinars he had allocated to Shirkuh's army which seized the country. Saladin paid this debt with 60,000 dinars, "wonderful manufactured goods", some jewels, an ass of the finest breed, and an elephant. While transporting these goods to Damascus, Saladin took the opportunity to ravage the Crusader countryside. He did not press an attack against the desert castles, but attempted to drive out the Muslim Bedouins who lived in Crusader territory with the aim of depriving the Franks of guides.[28]
On July 31, 1173, Saladin's father Ayyub was wounded in a horse-riding accident, ultimately causing his death on August 9.[29] In 1174, Saladin sent Turan-Shah to conquer Yemen to allocate it and its port Aden to the territories of the Ayyubid Dynasty. Yemen also served as an emergency territory, to which Saladin could flee in the event of an invasion by Nur ad-Din.
Acquisition of Syria[link]
Capture of Damascus[link]
In the early summer of 1174, Nur ad-Din was mustering an army, sending summons to Mosul, Diyarbakir, and al-Jazira in an apparent preparation of attack against Saladin's Egypt. The Ayyubid dynasty held a council upon the revelation of his preparations to discuss the possible threat and Saladin collected his own troops outside Cairo. On May 15, Nur ad-Din died after being poisoned the previous week and his power was handed to his eleven-year-old son as-Salih Ismail al-Malik. His death left Saladin with political independence and in a letter to as-Salih, he promised to "act as a sword" against his enemies and referred to the death of his father as an "earthquake shock."[30]
In the wake of Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin faced a difficult decision; he could move his army against the Crusaders from Egypt or wait until invited by as-Salih in Syria to come to his aid and launch a war from there. He could also take it upon himself to annex Syria before it could possibly fall into the hands of a rival, but feared that attacking a land that formerly belonged to his master—which is forbidden in the Islamic principles he followed—could portray him as hypocritical and thus, unsuitable for leading the war against the Crusaders. Saladin saw that in order to acquire Syria, he either needed an invitation from as-Salih or warn him that potential anarchy and danger from the Crusaders could rise.[31]
When as-Salih was removed to Aleppo in August, Gumushtigin, the emir of the city and a captain of Nur ad-Din's veterans assumed guardianship over him. The emir prepared to unseat all of his rivals in Syria and al-Jazira, beginning with Damascus. In this emergency, the emir of Damascus appealed to Saif al-Din (a cousin of Gumushtigin) of Mosul for assistance against Aleppo, but he refused, forcing the Syrians to request the aid of Saladin who complied.[32] Saladin rode across the desert with 700 picked horsemen, passing through al-Kerak then reaching Bosra and according to him, was joined by "emirs, soldiers, Kurds, and Bedouins—the emotions of their hearts to be seen on their faces."[33] On November 23, he arrived in Damascus amid general acclamations and rested at his father's old home there, until the gates of the Citadel of Damascus were opened to him four days later. He installed himself in the castle and received the homage and salutations of the citizens.[32]
Further conquests[link]
Leaving his brother Tughtigin as Governor of Damascus, Saladin proceeded to reduce other cities that had belonged to Nur ad-Din, but were now practically independent. His army conquered Hamah with relative ease, but avoided attacking Homs because of the strength of its citadel.[34] Saladin moved north towards Aleppo, besieging it on December 30 after Gumushtigin refused to abdicate his throne.[35] As-Salih, fearing capture by Saladin, came out of his palace and appealed to the inhabitants not to surrender him and the city to the invading force. One of Saladin's chroniclers claimed "the people came under his spell."[36]
Gumushtigin requested from Rashid ad-Din Sinan, grand-master of the Assassins of Syria, who were already at odds with Saladin since he replaced the Fatimids of Egypt, to assassinate Saladin in his camp.[37] A group of thirteen Assassins easily gained admission into Saladin's camp, but were detected immediately before they carried out their attack. One was killed by a general of Saladin and the others were slain while trying to escape.[36][38] To deter Saladin's progress, Raymond of Tripoli gathered his forces by Nahr al-Kabir where they were well-placed for an attack on Muslim territory. Saladin later moved toward Homs instead, but retreated after being told a relief force was being sent to the city by Saif al-Din.[39]
Meanwhile, Saladin's rivals in Syria and Jazira waged a propaganda war against him, claiming he had "forgotten his own condition [servant of Nur ad-Din]" and showed no gratitude for his old master by besieging his son, rising "in rebellion against his Lord." Saladin aimed to counter this propaganda by ending the siege, claiming he was defending Islam from the Crusaders; his army returned to Hama to engage a Crusader force there. The Crusaders withdrew beforehand and Saladin proclaimed it "a victory opening the gates of men's hearts."[39] Soon after, Saladin entered Homs and captured its citadel in March 1175, after stubborn resistance from its defenders.[40]
Saladin's successes alarmed Saif al-Din. As head of the Zengids, including Gumushtigin, he regarded Syria and Mesopotamia as his family estate and was angered when Saladin attempted to usurp his dynasty's holdings. Saif al-Din mustered a large army and dispatched it to Aleppo whose defenders anxiously had awaited them. The combined forces of Mosul and Aleppo marched against Saladin in Hama. Heavily outnumbered, Saladin initially attempted to make terms with the Zengids by abandoning all conquests north of the Damascus province, but they refused, insisting he return to Egypt. Seeing that confrontation was unavoidable, Saladin prepared for battle, taking up a superior position on the hills by the gorge of the Orontes River. On April 13, 1175, the Zengid troops marched to attack his forces, but soon found themselves surrounded by Saladin's Ayyubid veterans who crushed them. The battle ended in a decisive victory for Saladin who pursued the Zengid fugitives to the gates of Aleppo, forcing as-Salih's advisers to recognize Saladin's control of the provinces of Damascus, Homs and Hama, as well as a number of towns outside Aleppo such as Ma'arat al-Numan.[41]
After his victory against the Zengids, Saladin proclaimed himself king and suppressed the name of as-Salih in Friday prayers and Islamic coinage. From then on, he ordered prayers in all the mosques of Syria and Egypt as the sovereign king and he issued at the Cairo mint gold coins bearing his official title—al-Malik an-Nasir Yusuf Ayyub, ala ghaya "the King Strong to Aid, Joseph son of Job; exalted be the standard." The Abbasid caliph in Baghdad graciously welcomed Saladin's assumption of power and declared him "Sultan of Egypt and Syria."[42]
The Battle of Hama did not end the contest for power between the Ayyubids and the Zengids, with the final confrontation occurring in the spring of 1176. Saladin had gathered massive reinforcements from Egypt while Saif al-Din was levying troops among the minor states of Diyarbakir and al-Jazira.[43] When Saladin crossed the Orontes, leaving Hama, the sun was eclipsed. He viewed this as an omen, but he continued his march north. He reached the Sultan's Mound, c. 25 km from Aleppo, where his forces encountered Saif al-Din's army. A hand-to-hand fight ensued and the Zengids managed to plow Saladin's left wing, driving it before him, when Saladin himself charged at the head of the Zengid guard. The Zengid forces panicked and most of Saif al-Din's officers ended up being killed or captured—Saif al-Din narrowly escaped. The Zengid army's camp, horses, baggage, tents, and stores were seized by the Ayyubids. The Zengid prisoners of war, however, were given gifts and freed. All of the booty from the Ayyubid victory was accorded to the army, Saladin not keeping anything himself.[44]
He continued towards Aleppo which still closed its gates to him, halting before the city. On the way, his army took Buza'a, then captured Manbij. From there they headed west to besiege the fortress of A'zaz on May 15. A few days later, while Saladin was resting in one of his captain's tents, an assassin rushed forward at him and struck at his head with a knife. The cap of his head armor was not penetrated and he managed to grip the assassin's hand—the dagger only slashing his gambeson—and the assailant was soon killed. Saladin was unnerved at the attempt on his life, which he accused Gumushtugin and the Assassins of plotting, and so increased his efforts in the siege.[45]
A'zaz capitulated on June 21, and Saladin then hurried his forces to Aleppo to punish Gumushtigin. His assaults were again resisted, but he managed to secure not only a truce, but a mutual alliance with Aleppo, in which Gumushtigin and as-Salih were allowed to continue their hold on the city and in return, they recognized Saladin as the sovereign over all of the dominions he conquered. The emirs of Mardin and Keyfa, the Muslim allies of Aleppo, also recognized Saladin as the King of Syria. When the treaty was concluded, the younger sister of as-Salih came to Saladin and requested the return of the Fortress of A'zaz; he complied and escorted her back to the gates of Aleppo with numerous presents.[45]
Campaign against Assassins[link]
Saladin had by now agreed truces with his Zengid rivals and the Kingdom of Jerusalem (latter occurred in the summer of 1175), but faced a threat from the Hashshashin sect or "Assassins" led by Rashid ad-Din Sinan. Based in the al-Nusayri Mountains, they commanded nine fortresses built atop high elevations. As soon as he dismissed the bulk of his troops to Egypt, Saladin led his army into the al-Nusayri range in August 1176. He retreated the same month, after laying waste to the countryside, but failing to conquer any of the forts. Most Muslim historians claim that Saladin's uncle mediated a peace agreement between him and Sinan.[46] However, the latter's panegyrist claims Saladin departed due to fears for his own life at the hands of the Assassins. He had his guards supplied with link lights and had chalk and cinders strewed around his tent outside Masyaf—which he was besieging—to detect any footsteps by the Assassins.[47]
According to this version, one night, Saladin's guards noticed a spark glowing down the hill of Masyaf and then vanishing among the Ayyubid tents. Presently, Saladin awoke from his sleep to find a figure leaving the tent. He then saw that the lamps were displaced and beside his bed laid hot scones of the shape peculiar to the Assassins with a note at the top pinned by a poisoned dagger. The note threatened that he would be killed if he didn't withdraw from his assault. Saladin gave a loud cry, exclaiming that Sinan himself was the figure that left the tent. As such, Saladin told his guards to settle an agreement with Sinan.[47] Realizing he was unable to subdue the Assassins, he sought to align himself with them, consequently depriving the Crusaders of aligning themselves against him.[48]
Return to Cairo and forays in Palestine[link]
After leaving the al-Nusayri Mountains, Saladin returned to Damascus and had his Syrian soldiers return home. He left Turan Shah in command of Syria, and left for Egypt with only his personal followers, reaching Cairo on September 22. Having been absent roughly two years, he had much to organize and supervise in Egypt, namely fortifying and reconstructing Cairo. The city walls were repaired and their extensions laid out, while the construction of the Cairo Citadel was commenced.[48] The 280 feet (85 m) deep Bir Yusuf ("Joseph's Well") was built on Saladin's orders. The chief public work he commissioned outside of Cairo was the large bridge at Giza, which intended to form an outwork of defense against a potential Moorish invasion.[49]
Saladin remained in Cairo supervising its improvements, building colleges such as the Madrasa of the Sword Makers and ordering the internal administration of the country. In November 1177, he set out upon a raid into Palestine; the Crusaders had recently forayed into the territory of Damascus and so Saladin saw the truce was no longer worth preserving. The Christians sent a large portion of their army to besiege the fortress of Harim north of Aleppo and so southern Palestine bore few defenders.[49] Saladin found the situation ripe, and so marched to Ascalon, which he referred to as the "Bride of Syria." William of Tyre recorded that the Ayyubid army consisted of 26,000 soldiers, of which 8,000 were elite forces and 18,000 were black slave soldiers from the Sudan. This army proceeded to raid the countryside, sack Ramla and Lod, and dispersed themselves as far as the Gates of Jerusalem.[50]
Battles and truce with Baldwin[link]
The Ayyubids did allow King Baldwin to enter Ascalon with his Gaza-based Templars without taking any precautions against a sudden attack. Although the Crusader force consisted only of 375 knights, Saladin hesitated to ambush them due to the presence of highly skilled generals. On November 25, while the greater part of the Ayyubid army was absent, Saladin and his men were surprised near Ramla in the battle of Montgisard. Before they could form up, the Templar force hacked the Ayyubid army down. Initially, Saladin attempted to organize his men into battle order, but as his bodyguards were being killed, he saw that defeat was inevitable and so with a small remnant of his troops mounted a swift camel, riding all the way to the territories of Egypt.[51]
Not discouraged by his defeat at Tell Jezer, Saladin was prepared to fight the Crusaders once again. In the spring of 1178, he was encamped under the walls of Homs and a few skirmishes occurred between his generals and the Crusader army. His forces in Hama won a victory over their enemy and brought the spoils, together with many prisoners of war to Saladin who ordered the captives to be beheaded for "plundering and laying waste the lands of the Faithful." He spent the rest of the year in Syria without a confrontation with his enemies.[52]
Saladin's intelligence services reported to him that the Crusaders were planning a raid into Syria. As such, he ordered one of his generals, Farrukh-Shah, to guard the Damascus frontier with a thousand of his men to watch for an attack, then to retire avoiding battle and lighting warning beacons on the hills on which Saladin would march out. In April 1179, the Crusaders led by King Baldwin expected no resistance and waited to launch a surprise attack on Muslim herders grazing their herds and flocks east of the Golan Heights. Baldwin advanced too rashly in pursuit of Farrukh-Shah's force which was concentrated southeast of Quneitra and was subsequently defeated by the Ayyubids. With this victory, Saladin decided to call in more troops from Egypt; he requested 1,500 horsemen to be sent by al-Adil.[53]
In the summer of 1179, King Baldwin had set up an outpost on the road to Damascus and aimed to fortify a passage over the Jordan River, known as Jacob's Ford, that commanded the approach to the Banias plain (the plain was divided by the Muslims and the Christians). Saladin had offered 100,000 gold pieces for Baldwin to abandon the project which was peculiarly offensive to the Muslims, but to no avail. He then resolved to destroy the fortress, called Chastellet and manned by the Templars, moving his headquarters to Banias. As the Crusaders hurried down to attack the Muslim forces, they fell into disorder, with the infantry falling behind. Despite early success, they pursued the Muslims far enough to become scattered and Saladin took advantage by rallying his troops and charged at the Crusaders. The engagement ended in a decisive Ayyubid victory and many high-ranking knights were captured. Saladin then moved to besiege the fortress which fell on August 30, 1179.[54]
In the spring of 1180, while Saladin was in the area of Safad, anxious to commence a vigorous campaign against the Kingdom of Jerusalem, King Baldwin sent messengers to him with proposals of peace. Due to droughts and bad harvests hampering his commissariat, Saladin agreed to a truce. Raymond of Tripoli denounced the truce, but was compelled to accept after an Ayyubid raid in his territory in May and upon the appearance of Saladin's naval fleet off the port of Tartus.[55]
Domestic issues[link]
In June 1180, Saladin hosted a reception for Nur al-Din Muhammad, the Artuqid emir of Keyfa, at Geuk Su, in which he presented him and his brother Abu Bakr presents, valued at over 100,000 dinars according to Imad al-Din. This was intended to cement an alliance with the Artuqids and to impress other emirs in Mesopotamia and Anatolia. Previously, Saladin offered to mediate relations between Nur al-Din and Kilij Arslan II—the Seljuk Sultan of Rum—after the two came into conflict. The latter demanded Nur al-Din return the lands given to him as a dowry for marrying his daughter when he received reports that she was being abused and used by him to gain Seljuk territory. Nur al-Din requested Saladin mediate the issue but Arslan refused.[56]
After Nur al-Din and Saladin met at Geuk Su, the top Seljuk emir, Ikhtiyar al-Din al-Hasan, confirmed Arslan's submission, after which an agreement was drawn up. Saladin was later enraged when he received a message from Arslan accusing Nur al-Din of more abuses against his daughter. He threatened to attack the city of Malatya, saying, "it is two days march for me and I shall not dismount [my horse] until I am in the city."[56] Alarmed at the threat, the Seljuks pushed for negotiations. Saladin felt that Arslan was correct to care for his daughter, but Nur al-Din had taken refuge with him, and therefore he could not betray his trust. It was finally agreed that Arslan's daughter would be sent away for a year and if Nur al-Din failed to comply, Saladin would move to abandon his support for him.[56]
Leaving Farrukh-Shah in charge of Syria, Saladin returned to Cairo at the beginning of 1181. According to Abu-Shama, he intended to spend the fast of Ramadan in Egypt and then make the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in the summer. For an unknown reason he apparently changed his plans regarding the pilgrimage and was seen inspecting the Nile River banks in June. He was again embroiled with the Bedouin; he removed two-thirds of their fiefs to use as compensation for the fief-holders at Fayyum. The Bedouin were also accused of trading with the Crusaders and consequently, their grain was confiscated and they were forced to migrate westward. Later, Ayyubid warships were waged against Bedouin river pirates who were plundering the shores of Lake Tanis.[57]
In the summer of 1181, Saladin's former palace administrator Qara-Qush led a force to arrest Majd al-Din—a former deputy of Turan-Shah in the Yemeni town of Zabid—while he was entertaining Imad ad-Din at his estate in Cairo. Saladin's intimates accused Majd al-Din of misappropriating the revenues of Zabid, but Saladin himself believed there was no evidence to back the allegations. He had Majd al-Din released in return for a payment of 80,000 dinars. In addition, other sums were to be paid to Saladin's brothers al-Adil and Taj al-Muluk Bari. The controversial detainment of Majd al-Din was a part of the larger discontent associated with the aftermath of Turan-Shah's departure from Yemen. Although his deputies continued to send him revenues from the province, centralized authority was lacking and internal quarrel arose between Izz al-Din Uthman of Aden and Hittan of Zabid. Saladin wrote in a letter to al-Adil: "this Yemen is a treasure house ... We conquered it, but up to this day we have had no return and no advantage from it. There have been only innumerable expenses, the sending out of troops ... and expectations which did not produce what was hoped for in the end."[58]
Imperial expansions[link]
Conquest of Mesopotamian hinterland[link]
Saif al-Din had died earlier in June 1181 and his brother Izz al-Din inherited leadership of Mosul.[59] On December 4, the crown-prince of the Zengids, as-Salih, died in Aleppo. Prior to his death, he had his chief officers swear an oath of loyalty to Izz al-Din, as he was the only Zengid ruler strong enough to oppose Saladin. Izz al-Din was welcomed in Aleppo, but possessing it and Mosul put too great of a strain on his abilities. He thus, handed Aleppo to his brother Imad al-Din Zangi, in exchange for Sinjar. Saladin offered no opposition to these transactions in order to respect the treaty he previously made with the Zengids.[60]
On May 11, 1182, Saladin along with half of the Egyptian Ayyubid army and numerous non-combatants left Cairo for Syria. On the evening before he departed, he sat with his companions and the tutor of one of his sons quoted a line of poetry: "enjoy the scent of the ox-eye plant of Najd, for after this evening it will come no more." Saladin took this as an evil omen and he never saw Egypt again.[59] Knowing that Crusader forces were massed upon the frontier to intercept him, he took the desert route across the Sinai Peninsula to Ailah at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Meeting no opposition, Saladin ravaged the countryside of Montreal, whilst Baldwin's forces watched on, refusing to intervene.[61] He arrived in Damascus in June to learn that Farrukh-Shah had attacked the Galilee, sacking Daburiyya and capturing Habis Jaldek, a fortress of great importance to the Crusaders. In July, Saladin dispatched Farrukh-Shah to attack Kawkab al-Hawa. Later, in August, the Ayyubids launched a naval and ground assault to capture Beirut; Saladin led his army in the Bekaa Valley. The assault was leaning towards failure and Saladin abandoned the operation to focus on issues in Mesopotamia.[62]
Kukbary, the emir of Harran, invited Saladin to occupy the Jazira region, making up northern Mesopotamia. He complied and the truce between him and the Zengids officially ended in September 1182.[63] Prior to his march to Jazira, tensions had grown between the Zengid rulers of the region, primarily concerning their unwillingness to pay deference to Mosul.[64] Before he crossed the Euphrates, Saladin besieged Aleppo for three days, signaling that the truce was over.[63]
Once he reached Bira, near the river, he was joined by Kukbary and Nur al-Din of Hisn Kayfa and the combined forces captured the cities of Jazira, one after the other. First, Edessa fell, followed by Saruj, then ar-Raqqah, Karkesiya and Nusaybin.[63] Ar-Raqqah was an important crossing point and held by Qutb al-Din Inal, who had lost Manbij to Saladin in 1176. Upon seeing the large size of Saladin's army, he made little effort to resist and surrendered on the condition that he would retain his property. Saladin promptly impressed the inhabitants of the town by publishing a decree that ordered a number of taxes to be canceled and erased all mention of them from treasury records, stating "the most miserable rulers are those whose purses are fat and their people thin." From ar-Raqqah, he moved to conquer al-Fudain, al-Husain, Maksim, Durain, 'Araban, and Khabur—all of which swore allegiance to him.[65]
Saladin proceeded to take Nusaybin which offered no resistance. A medium-sized town, Nusaybin was not of great importance, but it was located in a strategic position between Mardin and Mosul and within easy reach of Diyarbakir.[66] In the midst of these victories, Saladin received word that the Crusaders were raiding the villages of Damascus. He replied "Let them... whilst they knock down villages, we are taking cities; when we come back, we shall have all the more strength to fight them."[63] Meanwhile, in Aleppo, the emir of the city Zangi raided Saladin's cities to the north and east, such as Balis, Manbij, Saruj, Buza'a, al-Karzain. He also destroyed his own citadel at A'zaz to prevent it from being used by the Ayyubids if they were to conquer it.[66]
Possession of Aleppo[link]
Saladin turned his attention from Mosul to Aleppo, sending his brother Taj al-Mulk Buri to capture Tell Khalid, 130 kmnortheast of the city. A siege was set, but the governor of Tell Khalid surrendered upon the arrival of Saladin himself on May 17 before a siege could take place. According to Imad ad-Din, after Tell Khalid, Saladin took a detour northwards to Ain Tab, but he gained possession of it when his army turned towards it, allowing to quickly move backward another c. 100 km towards Aleppo. On May 21, he camped outside the city, positioning himself east of the Citadel of Aleppo, while his forces encircles the suburb of Banaqusa to the northeast and Bab Janan to the west. He stationed his men dangerously close to the city, hoping for an early success.[67]
Zangi did not offer long resistance. He was unpopular with his subjects and wished to return to his Sinjar, the city he governed previously. An exchange was negotiated where Zangi would hand over Aleppo to Saladin in return for the restoration of his control of Sinjar, Nusaybin, and ar-Raqqa. Zangi would hold these territories as Saladin's vassals on terms of military service. On June 12, Aleppo was formally placed in Ayyubid hands.[68] The people of Aleppo had not known about these negotiations and were taken by surprise when Saladin's standard was hoisted over the citadel. Two emirs, including an old friend of Saladin, Izz al-Din Jurduk, welcomed and pledged their service to him. Saladin replaced the Hanafi courts with Shafi'i administration, despite a promise he would not interfere in the religious leadership of the city. Although he was short of money, Saladin also allowed the departing Zangi to take all the stores of the citadel that he could travel with and to sell the remainder—which Saladin purchased himself.[69]
In spite of his earlier hesitation to go through with the exchange, he had no doubts about his success, stating that Aleppo was "the key to the lands" and "this city is the eye of Syria and the citadel is its pupil."[70] For Saladin, the capture of the city marked the end of over eight years of waiting since he told Farrukh-Shah "we have only to do the milking and Aleppo will be ours." From his standpoint, he could now threaten the entire Crusader coast.[71]
After spending one night in Aleppo's citadel, Saladin marched to Harim, near the Crusader-held Antioch. The city was held by Surhak, a "minor mamluk." Saladin offered him the city of Busra and property in Damascus in exchange for Harim, but when Surhak asked for more, his own garrison in Harim forced him out.[71] He was then arrested by Saladin's deputy Taqi al-Din on allegations that he was planning to cede Harim to Bohemond III of Antioch. When Saladin received its surrender, he proceeded to arrange the defense of Harim from the Crusaders. He reported to the caliph and his own subordinates in Yemen and Baalbek that was going to attack the Armenians. Before he could move, however, there were a number of administrative details to be settled. Saladin agreed to a truce with Bohemond in return for Muslim prisoners being held by him and then he gave A'zaz to Alam ad-Din Suleiman and Aleppo to Saif al-Din al-Yazkuj—the former was an emir of Aleppo who joined Saladin and the latter was a former mamluk of Shirkuh who helped rescue him from the assassination attempt at A'zaz.[72]
Fight for Mosul[link]
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As Saladin approached Mosul, he faced the issue of taking over a large city and justifying the action.[73] The Zengids of Mosul appealed to an-Nasir, the Abbasid caliph at Baghdad whose vizier favored them. An-Nasir sent Badr al-Badr (a high-ranking religious figure) to mediate between the two sides. Saladin arrived at the city on November 10, 1182. Izz al-Din would not accept his terms because he considered them disingenuous and extensive, and Saladin immediately laid siege to the heavily fortified city.[74]
After several minor skirmishes and a stalemate in the siege that was initiated by the caliph, Saladin intended to find a way to withdraw from the siege without damage to his reputation while still keeping up some military pressure. He decided to attack Sinjar which was now held by Izz al-Din's brother Sharaf al-Din. It fell after a 15-day siege on December 30.[75] Saladin's commanders and soldiers broke their discipline, plundering the city; Saladin only managed to protect the governor and his officers by sending them to Mosul. After establishing a garrison at Sinjar, he awaited a coalition assembled by Izz al-Din consisting of his forces, those from Aleppo, Mardin, and Armenia.[76] Saladin and his army met the coalition at Harran in February 1183, but on hearing of his approach, the latter sent messengers to Saladin asking for peace. Each force returned to their cities and al-Fadil writes "They [Izz al-Din's coalition] advanced like men, like women they vanished."
On March 2, al-Adil from Egypt wrote to Saladin that the Crusaders had struck the "heart of Islam." Raynald de Châtillon had sent ships to the Gulf of Aqaba to raid towns and villages off the coast of the Red Sea. It was not an attempt to extend the Crusader influence into that sea or to capture its trade routes, but merely a piratical move.[77] Nonetheless, Imad al-Din writes the raid was alarming to the Muslims because they were not accustomed to attacks on that sea and Ibn al-Athir adds that the inhabitants had no experience with the Crusaders either as fighters or traders.[78]
Ibn Jubair was told that sixteen Muslim ships were burnt by the Crusaders who then captured a pilgrim ship and caravan at Aidab. He also reported they intended to attack Medina and remove Muhammad's body. Al-Maqrizi added to the rumor by claiming Muhammad's tomb was going to be relocated to Crusader territory so Muslims would make pilgrimages there. Fortunately for Saladin, al-Adil had his warships moved from Fustat and Alexandria to the Red Sea under the command of an Armenian mercenary Lu'lu. They broke the Crusader blockade, destroyed most of their ships, and pursued and captured those who anchored and fled into the desert.[79] The surviving Crusaders, numbered at 170, were ordered to be killed by Saladin in various Muslim cities.[80]
From Saladin's own point of view, in terms of territory, the war against Mosul was going well, but he still failed to achieve his objectives and his army was shrinking; Taqi al-Din took his men back to Hama, while Nasir al-Din Muhammad and his forces had left. This encouraged Izz al-Din and his allies to take the offensive. The previous coalition regrouped at Harzam some 140 km from Harran. In early April, without waiting for Nasir al-Din, Saladin and Taqi al-Din commenced their advance against the coalition, marching eastward to Ras al-Ein unhindered.[81] By late April, after three days of "actual fighting" according to Saladin, the Ayyubids had captured Amid. He handed the city Nur al-Din Muhammad together with its stores—which consisted of 80,000 candles, a tower full of arrowheads, and 1,040,000 books. In return for a diploma granting him the city, Nur al-Din swore allegiance to Saladin, promising to follow him in every expedition in the war against the Crusaders and repairing damage done to the city. The fall of Amid, in addition to territory, convinced Il-Ghazi of Mardin to enter the service of Saladin, weakening Izz al-Din's coalition.[82]
Saladin attempted to gain the Caliph an-Nasir's support against Izz al-Din by sending him a letter requesting a document that would give him legal justification for taking over Mosul and its territories. Saladin aimed to persuade the caliph claiming that while he conquered Egypt and Yemen under the flag of the Abbasids, the Zengids of Mosul openly supported the Seljuks (rivals of the caliphate) and only came to the caliph when in need. He also accused Izz al-Din's forces of disrupting the Muslim "Holy War" against the Crusaders, stating "they are not content not to fight, but they prevent those who can." Saladin defended his own conduct claiming that he had come to Syria to fight the Crusaders, end the heresy of the Assassins, and to end the wrong-doing of the Muslims. He also promised that if Mosul was given to him, it would lead to the capture of Jerusalem, Constantinople, Georgia, and the lands of the Almohads in the Maghreb, "until the word of God is supreme and the Abbasid caliphate has wiped the world clean, turning the churches into mosques." Saladin stressed that all this would happen by the will of God and instead of asking for financial or military support from the caliph, he would capture and give the caliph the territories of Tikrit, Daquq, Khuzestan, Kish Island, and Oman.[83]
Wars against Crusaders[link]
On September 29, 1182 Saladin crossed the Jordan River to attack Beisan which was found to be empty. The next day his forces sacked and burned the town and moved westwards. They intercepted Crusader reinforcements from Karak and Shaubak along the Nablus road and took a number of prisoners. Meanwhile, the main Crusader force under Guy of Lusignan moved from Sepphoris to al-Fula. Saladin sent out 500 skirmishers to harass their forces and he himself marched to Ain Jalut. When the Crusader force—reckoned to be the largest the kingdom ever produced from its own resources, but still outmatched by the Muslims—advanced, the Ayyubids unexpectedly moved down the stream of Ain Jalut. After a few Ayyubid raids—including attacks on Zir'in, Forbelet, and Mount Tabor—the Crusaders still were not tempted to attack their main force, and Saladin led his men back across the river once provisions and supplies ran low.[72]
However, Crusader attacks provoked further responses by Saladin. Raynald of Châtillon, in particular, harassed Muslim trading and pilgrimage routes with a fleet on the Red Sea, a water route that Saladin needed to keep open. In response, Saladin built a fleet of 30 galleys to attack Beirut in 1182. Raynald threatened to attack the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In retaliation, Saladin twice besieged Kerak, Raynald's fortress in Oultrejordain, in 1183 and 1184. Raynald responded by looting a caravan of pilgrims on the Hajj in 1185. According to the later thirteenth century Old French Continuation of William of Tyre, Raynald captured Saladin's sister in a raid on a caravan, although this claim is not attested in contemporary sources, Muslim or Frankish, instead stating that Raynald had attacked a preceding caravan, and Saladin set guards to ensure the safety of his sister and her son, who came to no harm.
Following the failure of his Kerak sieges, Saladin temporarily turned his attention back to another long-term project and resumed attacks on the territory of ʻIzz ad-Dīn (Masʻūd ibn Mawdūd ibn Zangi), around Mosul, which he had begun with some success in 1182. However, since then, Masʻūd had allied himself with the powerful governor of Azerbaijan and Jibal, who in 1185 began moving his troops across the Zagros Mountains, causing Saladin to hesitate in his attacks. The defenders of Mosul, when they became aware that help was on the way, increased their efforts, and Saladin subsequently fell ill, so in March 1186 a peace treaty was signed.[84]
In July 1187 Saladin captured most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On July 4, 1187, at the Battle of Hattin, he faced the combined forces of Guy of Lusignan, King Consort of Jerusalem and Raymond III of Tripoli. In this battle alone the Crusader force was largely annihilated by Saladin's determined army. It was a major disaster for the Crusaders and a turning point in the history of the Crusades. Saladin captured Raynald de Châtillon and was personally responsible for his execution in retaliation for his attacks against Muslim caravans. The members of these caravans had, in vain, besought his mercy by reciting the truce between the Muslims and the Crusaders, but he ignored this and insulted their prophet Muhammad before murdering and torturing a number of them. Upon hearing this, Saladin swore an oath to personally execute Raynald.[85]
Guy of Lusignan was also captured. Seeing the execution of Raynald, he feared he would be next. However, his life was spared by Saladin, who said of Raynald:
It is not the wont of kings, to kill kings; but that man had transgressed all bounds, and therefore did I treat him thus.[86]
Capture of Jerusalem[link]
Saladin had captured almost every Crusader city. Jerusalem capitulated to his forces on October 2, 1187, after a siege. When the siege had started, Saladin was unwilling to promise terms of quarter to the Frankish inhabitants of Jerusalem until Balian of Ibelin threatened to kill every Muslim hostage, estimated at 5000, and to destroy Islam's holy shrines of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque if quarter was not given. Saladin consulted his council and these terms were accepted. An unusually low ransom for the times (around $50 in modern money) was to be paid for each Frank in the city whether man, woman or child but Saladin, against the wishes of his treasurers, allowed many families who could not afford the ransom to leave.[87][88] Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem organised, and contributed to a collection which paid the ransoms for about 18,000 of the poorer citizens, leaving another 15,000 to be enslaved, Saladins brother al-Adil, "asked Saladin for a thousand of them for his own use and then released them on the spot." Most of the foot soldiers were sold into slavery.[89] Upon the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin summoned the Jews and permitted them to resettle in the city.[90] In particular, the residents of Ashkelon, a large Jewish settlement, responded to his request.[91]
Tyre, on the coast of modern-day Lebanon, was the last major Crusader city that was not captured by Muslim forces (strategically, it would have made more sense for Saladin to capture Tyre before Jerusalem—however, Saladin chose to pursue Jerusalem first because of the importance of the city to Islam). The city was now commanded by Conrad of Montferrat, who strengthened Tyre's defences and withstood two sieges by Saladin. In 1188, at Tortosa, Saladin released Guy of Lusignan and returned him to his wife, Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem. They went first to Tripoli, then to Antioch. In 1189, they sought to reclaim Tyre for their kingdom, but were refused admission by Conrad, who did not recognize Guy as king. Guy then set about besieging Acre.
Third Crusade[link]
It is equally true that his generosity, his piety, devoid of fanaticism, that flower of liberality and courtesy which had been the model of our old chroniclers, won him no less popularity in Frankish Syria than in the lands of Islam.
René Grousset (writer)[92]
Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem prompted the Third Crusade, financed in England by a special "Saladin tithe". Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) led Guy's siege of Acre, conquered the city and executed 3,000 Muslim prisoners, including women and children.[93] Saladin retaliated by killing all Franks captured from August 28 – September 10. Bahā' ad-Dīn writes, "Whilst we were there they brought two Franks to the Sultan (Saladin) who had been made prisoners by the advance guard. He had them beheaded on the spot."[94] Bahā' ad-Dīn also wrote:
The motives of this massacre are differently told; according to some, the captives were slain by way of reprisal for the death of those Christians whom the Musulmans had slain. Others again say that the king of England, on deciding to attempt the conquest of Ascalon, thought it unwise to leave so many prisoners in the town after his departure. God alone knows what the real reason was.[93]
The armies of Saladin engaged in combat with the army of King Richard at the Battle of Arsuf on September 7, 1191, at which Saladin's forces were defeated. After the battle of Arsuf, Richard moved his forces towards Ascalon. Anticipating Richard's next move, Saladin emptied the city and camped a few miles away from the city. When Richard arrived at the city, he was stunned to see the city abandoned and the towers demolished. The next day when Richard was preparing to retreat to Jaffa, Saladin attacked his Army. After a furious battle, Richard managed to save some of his troops and retreated to Ascalon. This was the last major battle between the two forces. All military attempts and battles made by Richard the Lionheart to re-take Jerusalem were defeated and failed. Richard only had 2,000 fit soldiers and 50 fit knights to use in battle. With such a small force, Richard could not hope to take Jerusalem even though he got near enough to see the Holy City. However, Saladin's relationship with Richard was one of chivalrous mutual respect as well as military rivalry. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two replacements. Richard proposed that his sister, Joan of England, Queen of Sicily, should marry Saladin's brother and that Jerusalem could be their wedding gift.[95] However, the two men never met face to face and communication was either written or by messenger.
As leaders of their respective factions, the two men came to an agreement in the Treaty of Ramla in 1192, whereby Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands but would be open to Christian pilgrimages. The treaty reduced the Latin Kingdom to a strip along the coast from Tyre to Jaffa.
Death[link]
A Knight without fear or blame who often had to teach his opponents the right way to practice chivalry.
An inscription written by Kaiser Wilhelm II on a wreath he laid on Saladin's Tomb.[92]
Saladin died of a fever on March 4, 1193, at Damascus, not long after Richard's departure. In Saladin’s possession at the time of his death were 1 piece of gold and 47 pieces of silver. He had given away his great wealth to his poor subjects and there was none left to pay for his funeral.[96] He was buried in a mausoleum in the garden outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
Seven centuries later, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany donated a new marble sarcophagus to the mausoleum. Saladin was, however, not placed in it. Instead the mausoleum, which is open to visitors, now has two sarcophagi: the empty one made of marble and the original wooden one, which holds Saladin.
Family[link]
According to Imad al-Din, Saladin had fathered five sons before he left Egypt in 1174. Saladin's eldest son, al-Afdal was born in 1170 and Uthman was born in 1172 to Shamsa who accompanied Saladin to Syria. Saladin had a third son named, Az-Zahir Ghazi, who later became Lord of Aleppo.[97] Al-Afdal's mother bore Saladin another child in 1177. A letter preserved by Qalqashandi records that a twelfth son was born in May 1178, while on Imad al-Din's list, he appears as Saladin's seventh son. Mas'ud was born in 1175 and Yaq'ub in 1176, the latter to Shamsa. Nur al-Din's widow, Ismat al-Din Khatun, remarried to Saladin in September 1176. Ghazi and Da'ud were born to the same mother in 1173 and 1178, respectively, and the mother of Ishaq who was born in 1174 also gave birth to another son in July 1182.[98]
Recognition and legacy[link]
Muslim world[link]
In 1898 German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Saladin's tomb to pay his respects. The visit, coupled with anti-colonial sentiments, led nationalist Arabs to reinvent the image of Saladin and portray him as a hero of the struggle against the West. The image of Saladin they used was the romantic one created by Walter Scott and other Europeans in the West at the time. It replaced Saladin's reputation as a figure who had been largely forgotten in the Muslim world, eclipsed by more successful figures such as Baybars of Egypt.[99]
Modern Arab states have sought to commemorate Saladin through various measures, often based on the image created of him in the 19th century west[citation needed]. A governorate centered around Tikrit and Samarra in modern-day Iraq, Salah ad Din Governorate, is named after him, as is Salahaddin University in Arbil, the largest city of Iraqi Kurdistan. A suburb community of Arbil, Masif Salahaddin, is also named after him.
Few structures associated with Saladin survive within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the Citadel of Cairo (1175–1183), which had been a domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more peaceful times. In Syria, even the smallest city is centred on a defensible citadel, and Saladin introduced this essential feature to Egypt.
Although the Ayyubid dynasty that he founded would only outlive him by 57 years, the legacy of Saladin within the Arab World continues to this day. With the rise of Arab nationalism in the Twentieth Century, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Saladin's heroism and leadership gained a new significance. Saladin's recapture of Palestine from the European Crusaders is considered inspiration for the modern-day Arabs' opposition to Zionism.
Moreover, the glory and comparative unity of the Arab World under Saladin was seen as the perfect symbol for the new unity sought by Arab nationalists, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser. For this reason, the Eagle of Saladin became the symbol of revolutionary Egypt, and was subsequently adopted by several other Arab states (United Arab Emirates, Iraq, the Palestinian Territory, and Yemen).
Western world[link]
His fierce struggle against the crusaders was where Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits. Though Saladin faded into history after the Middle Ages, he appears in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Talisman (1825). It is mainly from this novel that the contemporary view of Saladin originates. According to Jonathan Riley-Smith, Scott's portrayal of Saladin was that of a "modern [19th Century] liberal European gentlemen, beside whom medieval Westerners would always have made a poor showing."[100] Despite the Crusaders' slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay the aforementioned ransom (the Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders). An interesting view of Saladin and the world in which he lived is provided by Tariq Ali's novel The Book of Saladin.[101] Notwithstanding the differences in beliefs, the Muslim Saladin was respected by Christian lords, Richard especially. Richard once praised Saladin as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world.[102] Saladin in turn stated that there was not a more honorable Christian lord than Richard. After the treaty, Saladin and Richard sent each other many gifts as tokens of respect, but never met face to face.
In April 1191, a Frankish woman's three month old baby had been stolen from her camp and had been sold on the market. The Franks urged her to approach Saladin herself with her grievance. According to Bahā' al-Dīn, Saladin used his own money to buy the child back:
He gave it to the mother and she took it; with tears streaming down her face, and hugged the baby to her chest. The people were watching her and weeping and I (Ibn Shaddad) was standing amongst them. She suckled it for some time and then Saladin ordered a horse to be fetched for her and she went back to camp.[103]
At the end of World War I British Commander General Edmund Allenby had succeeded in capturing Damascus from Turkish troops . According to some sources, after his triumphal entry into the city, Allenby raised his sword in salute to the famous statue of Saladin and proudly declared "Today the wars of the Crusaders are completed." This quotation was incorrectly attributed to Allenby, and throughout his life he vehemently protested against his conquest of Palestine in 1917 having been called a "Crusade". In 1933 Allenby reiterated this stance by saying: "The importance of Jerusalem lay in its strategic importance, there was no religious impulse in this campaign".[104] Never the less, as if to thumb their nose at Allenby the British press continued to celebrate his victory over the Ottoman Empire by printing cartoons of Richard the Lionheart looking down on Jerusalem from the heavens with the caption reading "At last my dream has come true."[105][106]
After marching into Damascus in July 1920 to put down an anti-colonial rising, French General Henri Gouraud is reputed have stood at Saladin's grave, kicked it and said: "The Crusades have ended now! Awake Saladin, we have returned! My presence here consecrates the victory of the Cross over the Crescent." There are a number of accounts of this, but the anecdote seems of fairly recent provenance. See: Waiting for Saladin, Dawn (newspaper), Irfan Husain, 5 April 2003. Joining hands politically, Dawn (newspaper), Anwar Syed, 27 March 2005. Another Gulf War, another al-Qaeda, Asia Times, Ahmad Faruqui, 20 March 2003. Syriana, or The Godfather, Part I, World Policy Journal, Karl E. Meyer, Volume XXIII, No 1, Winter 2006. Tariq Ali, The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity. Verso, 2002, p.43. Memories of war, fear and friendship in my home city, where time has stood still, The Independent, Robert Fisk, 19 March 2005.
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ History – Saladin[dead link]
- ^ a b A number of contemporary sources make note of this. The biographer Ibn Khallikan writes, "Historians agree in stating that [Saladin's] father and family belonged to Duwin [Dvin]....They were Kurds and belonged to the Rawādiya (sic), which is a branch of the great tribe al-Hadāniya": Minorsky (1953), p. 124. The medieval historian Ibn Athir relates a passage from another commander: "...both you and Saladin are Kurds and you will not let power pass into the hands of the Turks": Minorsky (1953), p. 138.
- ^ Steed, Brian L., Piercing the Fog of War: Recognizing Change on the Battlefield, (Zenith Press, 2009), 176;"Saladin was a Kurd from Tikrit.".
- ^ "Encyclopedia of World Biography on Saladin". http://www.bookrags.com/biography/saladin/. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
- ^ Moors' Islamic Cultural Home souvenir III, 1970–1976 Islamic Cultural Home, 1978, p. 7.
- ^ "Saladin, Richard the Lionheart and the legacy of the Crusades". Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/i-m/lionheart.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ H. A. R. Gibb, "The Rise of Saladin", in A History of the Crusades, vol. 1: The First Hundred Years, ed. Kenneth M. Setton (University of Wisconsin Press, 1969). p. 563.
- ^ Bahā' al-Dīn (2002), p 17.
- ^ Ter-Ghevondyan 1965, p. 218
- ^ a b c Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 3
- ^ a b "Who2 Biography: Saladin, Sultan / Military Leader". Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/saladin. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 6–7
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 8
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 14
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 15
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 16
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 25
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 28
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 28–29
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 32–33
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 34, 36
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 38
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 41
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 43
- ^ Pringle, 1993, p.208.
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 45
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 46–47
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 60–62
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 64
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 73–74
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 74–75
- ^ a b Lane-Poole 1906, p. 136
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 81
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 13
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 137
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 87
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 138
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 139
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 88–89
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 140
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 141
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 141–142
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 143
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 144
- ^ a b Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 144–146
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 148
- ^ a b Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 149–150
- ^ a b Lane-Poole 1906, p. 151
- ^ a b Lane-Poole 1906, p. 153
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 154
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 155
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 156
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 136
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 157–159
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 160–161
- ^ a b c Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 148
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 156
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 158–159
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 149
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 164–165
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 167
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 168–169
- ^ a b c d Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 169–170
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 164
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 176
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 177
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 195
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, pp. 172–173
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 198–199
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 199
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 201
- ^ a b Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 202–203
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 178
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 179
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 180–181
- ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 171
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 184
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 185
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 186
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 187
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 188
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 191
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 192–194
- ^ Bosworth, 1989, p. 781
- ^ Saladin Or What Befell Sultan Yusuf by Beha Ed-din, Baha' Al-Din Yusuf Ib Ibn Shaddad, Kessinger Publishing, 2004, p.42, p.114
- ^ Saladin Or What Befell Sultan Yusuf by Beha Ed-din, Baha' Al-Din Yusuf Ib Ibn Shaddad, Kessinger Publishing, 2004, p.115.
- ^ Runciman (1990), p 465.
- ^ E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. Brill. 1993. ISBN 978-90-04-09790-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC&pg=PA1101&dq=saladin+balian+jerusalem+siege+-wikipedia+-%22Kingdom+of+Heaven%22+destroy+temple+mount&sig=lu0RI7bOVMyPYmxqHXVUiaWTkkw.
- ^ The era of the Second and Third Crusades » The Crusader states to 1187, Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Scharfstein and Gelabert, 1997, p. 145.
- ^ Rossoff, 2001, p. 6.
- ^ a b Grousset (1970).
- ^ a b Richard The Lionheart Massacres The Saracens, 1191, Beha-ed-Din, his account appears in Archer, T.A., The Crusade of Richard I (1889); Gillingham, John, The Life and Times of Richard I (1973).
- ^ Bahā' al-Dīn (2002) pp 169–170
- ^ Bishop, Morris (2001). The Middle Ages. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 102. ISBN 0-618-05703-X.
- ^ Bahā' al-Dīn (2002) pp 25 & 244.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. XI, Ed. P.J.Bearman, T.Bianquis, C.E.Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P.Heinrichs, (E.J.Brill, 2002), 392.
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 135
- ^ Riley Smith, Jonathan, "The Crusades, Christianity and Islam", (Columbia 2008), p. 63-66
- ^ Riley Smith, Jonathan, "The Crusades, Christianity and Islam", (Columbia 2008), p. 67
- ^ (London: Verso, 1998)
- ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 357
- ^ Bahā' al-Dīn (2002), pp. 147–148.; Lyons & Jackson 1982, pp. 325–326
- ^ Jonathan Phillips, Holy Warriors: a modern History of the Crusades (London, 2009), pp.327–331.
- ^ Andrew Curry, "The First Holy War", U.S. News and World Report, April 8, 2002.
- ^ "Bundan iyisi Şam'da kayısı / Gezi – Tatil / Milliyet Blog". Blog.milliyet.com.tr. http://blog.milliyet.com.tr/Blog.aspx?BlogNo=225248. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
Saladin in fiction[link]
- A heavily fictionalized version of Saladin is played by Ghassan Massoud in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven.
- Saladin was portrayed by Milind Soman in the Swedish 2007 film Arn – The Knight Templar and 2008 sequel Arn – The Kingdom at Road's End.
Bibliography[link]
Primary sources[link]
- Bahā' al-Dīn Ibn Shaddād (2002). The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-3381-5.
- Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani (1888). C. Landberg. ed (in French). Conquête de la Syrie et de la Palestine par Salâh ed-dîn. Brill.
Secondary sources[link]
- Bosworth, Clifford (1989). Van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P.; Pellat, Ch.. eds. Mahk-Mid. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. VI. E. J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-08112-7. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PvwUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA781&lpg=PA781&dq=%22Salah+al-Din%22+pahlavan+OR+pahlawan&source=web&ots=vLzdvFPf4b&sig=_3D6G6BCDM3V6Sg4siHpW_8SuG0&hl=en. Retrieved May 18, 2008.
- Gabrieli, Francesco; Costello, E. J. (1984). Arab historians of the crusades. London: Routledge & Kegan. p. 362. ISBN 978-0-7102-0235-2.
- Gillingham, John (1999). Richard I. Yale English Monarchs. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-300-07912-8.
- Grousset, René (1970). The epic of the Crusades. tr. Lindsay, Noël. New York: Orion Press.
- Lane-Poole, Stanley (1906). Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Heroes of the Nations. London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. http://books.google.com/books?id=M7pIVpjuyw0C.
- Lyons, M. C.; Jackson, D.E.P. (1982). Saladin: the Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31739-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=hGR5M0druJIC.
- Minorsky, Vladimir (1953). Studies in Caucasian history. London: Cambridge University Press.
- Rossoff, Dovid (2001). Linas, Eli. ed. Where heaven touches earth : Jewish life in Jerusalem from medieval times to the present. Jerusalem: Guardian. ISBN 978-0-87306-879-6.
- Runciman, Steven (1990). A History of the Crusades: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East 1100–1187. 2 (2nd ed. ed.). London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-013704-0.
- (Armenian) Ter-Ghevondyan, Aram N. (1965). Արաբական Ամիրայությունները Բագրատունյաց Հայաստանում (The Arab Emirates in Bagratuni Armenia). Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences.
Further reading[link]
- Bowman, Alan K. (1986). Egypt after the pharaohs 332 BC-AD 642 : from Alexander to the Arab conquest. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05930-6.
- Gibb, H.A.R. (1973). The Life of Saladin: From the Works of Imad ad-Din and Baha ad-Din. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-86356-928-9.
- Hindley, Geoffrey (2007). Saladin: Hero of Islam. Pen & Sword. ISBN 1-84415-499-8.
- Husain, Shahnaz (1998). Muslim heroes of the crusades : Salahuddin and Nuruddin. London: Ta-Ha. ISBN 978-1-897940-71-6.
- Reston, James (2001). Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-49562-5.
- Scharfstein, Sol; Gelabert, Dorcas (1997). Chronicle of Jewish history : from the patriarchs to the 21st century. Hoboken, N.J. : KTAV Pub. House. ISBN 0-88125-606-4.
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saladin |
 |
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Saladin. |
- Stanley Lane-Poole, "The Life of Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem", in "btm" format
- Rosebault Ch.J. Saladin. Prince of Chivalri
- De expugnatione terrae sanctae per Saladinum A European account of Saladin's conquests of the Crusader states. (Latin)
- Saladin: The Sultan and His Times, 1138–1193
- Richard and Saladin: Warriors of the Third Crusade
- Saladin Grave on www.findagrave.com http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8092624
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Al-'Āḍid Fatimid Caliph of Egypt |
Sultan of Egypt 1171–1193 |
Succeeded by Al-Aziz Uthman |
| Preceded by As-Salih Ismail al-Malik |
Emir of Damascus 1174–1186 |
Succeeded by Al-Afdal ibn Salah al-din |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ayyūb, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | ca. 1137–1138 |
| Place of birth | Tikrit, Iraq |
| Date of death | March 4, 1193 AD (aged 55–56) |
| Place of death | Damascus, Syria |
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
"Richard I" redirects here. For others of the same name, see Richard I (disambiguation).
| Richard the Lionheart | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Effigy (c. 1199) of Richard I at Fontevraud Abbey, Anjou | |
|
|
|
| Reign | 6 July 1189 – 6 April 1199 |
| Coronation | 3 September 1189 |
| Predecessor | Henry II |
| Successor | John |
| Regent | Eleanor of Aquitaine; William Longchamp (Third Crusade) |
| Consort | Berengaria of Navarre |
| Issue | |
| Philip of Cognac | |
| House | House of Plantagenet |
| Father | Henry II of England |
| Mother | Eleanor of Aquitaine |
| Born | (1157-09-08)8 September 1157 Beaumont Palace, Oxford |
| Died | 6 April 1199(1199-04-06) (aged 41) Châlus, Limousin |
| Burial | Fontevraud Abbey, France |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
.svg)
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was known as Cœur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart, even before his accession, because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior.[1] The Saracens called him Melek-Ric or Malek al-Inkitar – King of England.[2]
By the age of sixteen, Richard was commanding his own army, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father, King Henry II.[1] Richard was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade, effectively leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and scoring considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin, but was unable to reconquer Jerusalem.[3]
Although speaking only langue d'oïl and langue d'oc[4] and spending very little time in England (he lived in his Duchy of Aquitaine in the southwest of France, preferring to use his kingdom as a source of revenue to support his armies),[5] he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects.[6] He remains one of the very few Kings of England remembered by his epithet, rather than regnal number, and is an enduring, iconic figure in England and France.[7]
Contents |
Early life and accession in Aquitaine[link]
Family and youth[link]
Richard was born on 8 September 1157,[8] probably at Beaumont Palace.[9] He was a younger brother of William IX, Count of Poitiers; Henry the Young King; and Matilda, Duchess of Saxony.[10] As the third legitimate son of King Henry II of England, he was not expected to ascend the throne.[11] He was also an elder brother of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany; Leonora of England, Queen of Castile; Joan of England; and John, Count of Mortain, who succeeded him as king. Richard was the younger maternal half-brother of Marie de Champagne and Alix of France.[10] Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine's oldest son, William IX, Count of Poitiers, died in 1156, before Richard's birth.[10] Richard is often depicted as having been the favourite son of his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine.[12] His father, Henry, was Norman-Angevin and great-grandson of William the Conqueror. The closest English relation in Richard's family tree was Edith, wife of Henry I of England. Contemporary historian Ralph of Diceto traced his family's lineage through Edith to the Anglo-Saxon kings of England and Alfred the Great, and from there linked them to Noah and Woden. According to Angevin legend, there was even infernal blood in the family.[9]
While his father visited his lands from Scotland to France, Richard probably stayed in England. He was wet-nursed by a woman called Hodierna, and when he became king he gave her a generous pension.[13] Little is known about Richard's education.[14] Although born in Oxford, Richard could speak no English; he was an educated man who composed poetry and wrote in Limousin (lenga d'òc) and also in French.[15] He was said to be very attractive; his hair was between red and blond, and he was light-eyed with a pale complexion. He was apparently of above average height, according to Clifford Brewer he was 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m)[16] but his remains have been lost since at least the French Revolution, and his exact height is unknown. From an early age he showed significant political and military ability, becoming noted for his chivalry and courage as he fought to control the rebellious nobles of his own territory. His elder brother Henry was crowned king of England during his father's lifetime.
The practice of marriage alliances was common among medieval royalty: it allowed families to stake claims of succession on each other's lands, and led to political alliances and peace treaties. In March 1159 it was arranged that Richard would marry one of the daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona; however, these arrangements failed, and the marriage never took place. Richard's older brother Henry was married to Margaret, daughter of Louis VII of France, on 2 November 1160.[17] Despite this alliance between the Plantagenets and the Capetians, the dynasty on the French throne, the two houses were sometimes in conflict. In 1168, the intercession of Pope Alexander III was necessary to secure a truce between them. Henry II had conquered Brittany and taken control of Gisors and the Vexin, which had been part of Margaret's dowry.[18] Early in the 1160s there had been suggestions Richard should marry Alys (Alice), fourth daughter of Louis VII; because of the rivalry between the kings of England and France, Louis obstructed the marriage. A peace treaty was secured in January 1169 and Richard's betrothal to Alys was confirmed.[19] Henry II planned to divide his and his wife's territories between their sons, of which there were three at the time; Henry would become King of England and have control of Anjou, Maine, and Normandy, while Richard would inherit Aquitaine from his mother and become Count of Poitiers, and Geoffrey would get Brittany through marriage alliance with Constance, the heiress to the region. At the ceremony where Richard's betrothal was confirmed, he paid homage to the King of France for Aquitaine, thus securing ties of vassalage between the two.[20]
After he fell seriously ill in 1170, Henry II put in place his plan to divide his kingdom, although he would retain overall authority of his sons and their territories. In 1171 Richard left for Aquitaine with his mother and Henry II gave him the duchy of Aquitaine at the request of Eleanor.[21] Richard and his mother embarked on a tour of Aquitaine in 1171 in an attempt to placate the locals.[22] Together they laid the foundation stone of St Augustine's Monastery in Limoges. In June 1172 Richard was formally recognised as the Duke of Aquitaine when he was granted the lance and banner emblems of his office; the ceremony took place in Poitiers and was repeated in Limoges where he wore the ring of St Valerie, who was the personification of Aquitaine.[23]
Revolt against Henry II[link]
Main article: Revolt of 1173–1174
According to Ralph of Coggeshall Henry the Young King was the instigator of rebellion against Henry II; he wanted to reign independently over at least part of the territory his father had promised him, and to break away from his dependence on Henry II, who controlled the purse strings.[24] Jean Flori, a historian who specialises in the medieval period, believes that Eleanor manipulated her sons to revolt against their father.[25] Henry the Young King abandoned his father and left for the French court seeking the protection of Louis VII; he was soon followed by his younger brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, while the 5-year-old John remained with Henry II. Louis gave his support to the three sons and even knighted Richard, tying them together through vassalage.[26] The rebellion was described by Jordan Fantosme, a contemporary poet, as a "war without love".[27]
The three brothers made an oath at the French court that they would not make terms with Henry II without the consent of Louis VII and the French barons.[29] With the support of Louis, Henry the Young King attracted many barons to his cause through promises of land and money; one such baron was Philip, Count of Flanders, who was promised £1,000 and several castles. The brothers had supporters in England, ready to rise up; led by Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, the rebellion in England from Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk, Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, and William I of Scotland. The alliance was initially successful, and by July 1173 they were besieging Aumale, Neuf-Marché, and Verneuil[disambiguation needed 
] and Hugh de Kevelioc had captured Dol in Brittany.[30] Richard went to Poitou and raised the barons who were loyal to himself and his mother in rebellion against his father. Eleanor was captured, so Richard was left to lead his campaign against Henry II's supporters in Aquitaine on his own. He marched to take La Rochelle, but was rejected by the inhabitants; he withdrew to the city of Saintes which he established as a base of operations.[31][32]
In the meantime Henry II had raised a very expensive army of over 20,000 mercenaries with which to face the rebellion.[30] He marched on Verneuil, and Louis retreated from his forces. The army proceeded to recapture Dol and subdued Brittany. At this point Henry II made an offer of peace to his sons; on the advice of Louis the offer was refused.[33] Henry II's forces took Saintes by surprise and captured much of its garrison, although Richard was able to escape with a small group of soldiers. He took refuge in Château de Taillebourg for the rest of the war.[31] Henry the Young King and the Count of Flanders planned to land in England to assist the rebellion led by the Earl of Leicester. Anticipating this, Henry II returned to England with 500 soldiers and his prisoners (including Eleanor and his sons' wives and fiancées),[34] but on his arrival found out that the rebellion had already collapsed. William I of Scotland and Hugh Bigod were captured on 13 July and 25 July respectively. Henry II returned to France where he raised the siege of Rouen, where Louis VII had been joined by Henry the Young King after he had abandoned his plan to invade England. Louis was defeated and a peace treaty was signed in September 1174,[33] with the Treaty of Montlouis.[35]
When Henry II and Louis VII made a truce on 8 September 1174, Richard was specifically excluded.[34][36] Abandoned by Louis and wary of facing his father's army in battle, Richard went to Henry II's court at Poitiers on 23 September and begged for forgiveness, weeping and falling at the feet of Henry, who gave Richard the kiss of peace.[34][36] Several days later, Richard's brothers joined him in seeking reconciliation with their father.[34] The terms the three brothers accepted were less generous than those they had been offered earlier in the conflict (when Richard was offered four castles in Aquitaine and half of the income from the duchy)[29] and Richard was given control of two castles in Poitou and half the income of Aquitaine; Henry the Young King was given two castles in Normandy; and Geoffrey was permitted half of Brittany. Eleanor remained Henry II's prisoner until his death, partly as insurance for Richard's good behaviour.[37]
Under Henry II's reign[link]
After the conclusion of the war began the process of pacifying the provinces that had rebelled against Henry II. He travelled to Anjou for this purpose and Geoffrey dealt with Brittany. In January 1175 Richard was dispatched to Aquitaine to punish the barons who had fought for him. According to Roger of Howden's chronicle of Henry's reign, most of the castles belonging to rebels were to be returned to the state they were in 15 days before the outbreak of war, while others were to be razed.[38] Given that by this time it was common for castles to be built in stone, and that many barons had expanded or refortified their castles, this was not an easy task.[39] Gillingham notes that Roger of Howden's chronicle is the main source for Richard's activities in this period, although he notes that it records the successes of the campaign;[38] it was on this campaign that Richard acquired the name "Richard the Lionheart".[39] The first such success was the siege of Castillon-sur-Agen. The castle was "notoriously strong", but in a two-month siege the defenders were battered into submission by Richard's siege engines.[40]
Henry seemed unwilling to entrust any of his sons with resources that could be used against him. It was suspected that Henry had appropriated Princess Alys, Richard's betrothed, the daughter of Louis VII of France by his second wife, as his mistress. This made a marriage between Richard and Alys technically impossible in the eyes of the Church, but Henry prevaricated: Alys's dowry, the Vexin, was valuable. Richard was discouraged from renouncing Alys because she was the sister of King Philip II of France, a close ally.
After his failure to overthrow his father Richard concentrated on putting down internal revolts by the nobles of Aquitaine, especially the territory of Gascony. The increasing cruelty of his reign led to a major revolt there in 1179. Hoping to dethrone Richard, the rebels sought the help of his brothers Henry and Geoffrey. The turning point came in the Charente Valley in spring 1179. The fortress of Taillebourg was well defended and was considered impregnable. The castle was surrounded by a cliff on three sides and a town on the fourth side with a three-layer wall. Richard first destroyed and looted the farms and lands surrounding the fortress, leaving its defenders no reinforcements or lines of retreat. The garrison sallied out of the castle and attacked Richard; he was able to subdue the army and then followed the defenders inside the open gates, where he easily took over the castle in two days. Richard's victory at Taillebourg deterred many barons thinking of rebelling and forced them to declare their loyalty to him. It also won Richard a reputation as a skilled military commander.
In 1181–1182 Richard faced a revolt over the succession to the county of Angoulême. His opponents turned to Philip II of France for support, and the fighting spread through the Limousin and Périgord. Richard was accused of numerous cruelties against his subjects, including rape.[41] However, with support from his father and from the Young King, Richard succeeded in bringing the Viscount Aimar V of Limoges and Count Elie of Périgord to terms.
After Richard subdued his rebellious barons he again challenged his father for the throne. From 1180 to 1183 the tension between Henry and Richard grew, as King Henry commanded Richard to pay homage to Henry the Young King, but Richard refused. Finally, in 1183 Henry the Young King and Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany invaded Aquitaine in an attempt to subdue Richard. Richard's barons joined in the fray and turned against their duke. However, Richard and his army were able to hold back the invading armies, and they executed any prisoners. The conflict took a brief pause in June 1183 when the Young King died. With the death of Henry the Young King, Richard became the eldest son and so heir to the English crown. King Henry demanded that Richard give up Aquitaine (which he was planning to give to his youngest son John as his inheritance). Richard refused, and conflict continued between them. Henry II soon gave John permission to invade Aquitaine.
To strengthen his position, in 1187, Richard allied himself with 22-year-old Philip II, the son of Eleanor's ex-husband Louis VII by Adele of Champagne. Roger of Hoveden wrote:
- "The King of England was struck with great astonishment, and wondered what [this alliance] could mean, and, taking precautions for the future, frequently sent messengers into France for the purpose of recalling his son Richard; who, pretending that he was peaceably inclined and ready to come to his father, made his way to Chinon, and, in spite of the person who had the custody thereof, carried off the greater part of his father's treasures, and fortified his castles in Poitou with the same, refusing to go to his father."[42]
Overall, Hoveden is chiefly concerned with the politics of the relationship between Richard and King Philip. The historian John Gillingham has suggested that theories that Richard was homosexual probably stemmed from an official record announcing that, as a symbol of unity between the two countries, the kings of France and England had slept overnight in the same bed. He expressed the view that this was "an accepted political act, nothing sexual about it; ... a bit like a modern-day photo opportunity".[43]
In exchange for Philip's help against his father, Richard promised to concede to him his rights to both Normandy and Anjou. Richard paid homage to Philip in November of the same year. With news arriving of the Battle of Hattin, he took the cross at Tours in the company of other French nobles.
In 1188 Henry II planned to concede Aquitaine to his youngest son John. The following year, Richard attempted to take the throne of England for himself by joining Philip's expedition against his father. On 4 July 1189, Richard and Philip's forces defeated Henry's army at Ballans. Henry, with John's consent, agreed to name Richard his heir apparent. Two days later Henry II died in Chinon, and Richard succeeded him as King of England, Duke of Normandy, and Count of Anjou. Roger of Hoveden claimed that Henry's corpse bled from the nose in Richard's presence, which was taken as a sign that Richard had caused his death.
King and Crusader[link]
Coronation and anti-Jewish violence[link]
Richard I was officially crowned duke on 20 July 1189 and king in Westminster Abbey on 3 September 1189.[44] When he was crowned, Richard barred all Jews and women from the ceremony, but some Jewish leaders arrived to present gifts for the new king.[45] According to Ralph of Diceto, Richard's courtiers stripped and flogged the Jews, then flung them out of court.[46]
When a rumour spread that Richard had ordered all Jews to be killed, the people of London began a massacre.[46] Many Jews were beaten to death, robbed, and burned alive.[46] Many Jewish homes were burned down, and several Jews were forcibly baptised.[46] Some sought sanctuary in the Tower of London, and others managed to escape. Among those killed was Jacob of Orléans, a respected Jewish scholar.[47] Roger of Hoveden, in his Gesta Regis Ricardi, claimed that the rioting was started by the jealous and bigoted citizens, and that Richard punished the perpetrators, allowing a forcibly converted Jew to return to his native religion. Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury reacted by remarking, "If the King is not God's man, he had better be the devil's".[48]
Realising that the assaults could destabilise his realm on the eve of his departure on crusade, Richard ordered the execution of those responsible for the most egregious murders and persecutions, including rioters who had accidentally burned down Christian homes.[49] He distributed a royal writ demanding that the Jews be left alone. The edict was loosely enforced, however, and the following March there was further violence including a massacre at York.
Crusade plans[link]
Richard had already taken the cross as Count of Poitou in 1187. His father and Philip II had done so at Gisors on 21 January 1188 after receiving news of the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin. Having become king, Richard, together with Philip, agreed to go on the Third Crusade, since each feared that during his absence, the other might usurp his territories.[50]
Richard swore an oath to renounce his past wickedness in order to show himself worthy to take the cross. He started to raise and equip a new crusader army. He spent most of his father's treasury (filled with money raised by the Saladin tithe), raised taxes, and even agreed to free King William I of Scotland from his oath of subservience to Richard in exchange for 10,000 marks. To raise still more finances he sold official positions, rights, and lands to those interested in them.[51] Those already appointed were forced to pay huge sums to retain their posts. William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely and the King's Chancellor, made a show of bidding £3,000 to remain as Chancellor. He was apparently outbid by a certain Reginald the Italian, but that bid was refused.
Richard made some final arrangements on the continent.[52] He reconfirmed his father's appointment of William Fitz Ralph to the important post of seneschal of Normandy. In Anjou, Stephen of Tours was replaced as seneschal and temporarily imprisoned for fiscal mismanagement. Payn de Rochefort, an Angevin knight, was elevated to the post of seneschal of Anjou. In Poitou the ex-provost of Benon, Peter Bertin, was made seneschal, and finally in Gascony the household official Helie de La Celle was picked for the seneschalship there. After repositioning the part of his army he left behind to guard his French possessions, Richard finally set out on the crusade in summer 1190.[52] (His delay was criticised by troubadours such as Bertran de Born.) He appointed as regents Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham, and William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex—who soon died and was replaced by Richard's chancellor William Longchamp.[53] Richard's brother John was not satisfied by this decision and started scheming against William.
Some writers have criticised Richard for spending only six months of his reign in England and siphoning the kingdom's resources to support his crusade. According to William Stubbs:
| “ | He was a bad king: his great exploits, his military skill, his splendour and extravagance, his poetical tastes, his adventurous spirit, do not serve to cloak his entire want of sympathy, or even consideration, for his people. He was no Englishman, but it does not follow that he gave to Normandy, Anjou, or Aquitaine the love or care that he denied to his kingdom. His ambition was that of a mere warrior: he would fight for anything whatever, but he would sell everything that was worth fighting for. The glory that he sought was that of victory rather than conquest.[54] | ” |
Richard claimed that England was "cold and always raining," and when he was raising funds for his crusade, he was said to declare, "I would have sold London if I could find a buyer." However, although England was a major part of his territories—particularly important in that it gave him a royal title with which to approach other kings as an equal—it faced no major internal or external threats during his reign, unlike his continental territories, and so did not require his constant presence there. Like most of the Plantagenet kings before the 14th century, he had no need to learn the English language. Leaving the country in the hands of various officials he designated (including his mother, at times), Richard was far more concerned with his more extensive French lands. After all his preparations he had an army of 4,000 men-at-arms, 4,000 foot-soldiers and a fleet of 100 ships.
Occupation of Sicily[link]
In September 1190 Richard and Philip arrived in Sicily.[55] After the death of King William II of Sicily his cousin Tancred of Lecce had seized power and had been crowned early in 1190 as King Tancred I of Sicily, although the legal heir was William's aunt Constance, wife of the new Emperor Henry VI. Tancred had imprisoned William's widow, Queen Joan, who was Richard's sister, and did not give her the money she had inherited in William's will. When Richard arrived he demanded that his sister be released and given her inheritance; she was freed on 28 September, but without the inheritance.[56] The presence of foreign troops also caused unrest: in October, the people of Messina revolted, demanding that the foreigners leave.[57] Richard attacked Messina, capturing it on 4 October 1190.[57] After looting and burning the city Richard established his base there, but this created tension between Richard and Philip Augustus. He remained there until Tancred finally agreed to sign a treaty on 4 March 1191. The treaty was signed by Richard, Philip and Tancred.[58] Its main terms were:
- Joan was to receive 20,000 ounces of gold as compensation for her inheritance, which Tancred kept.
- Richard officially proclaimed his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, son of Geoffrey, as his heir, and Tancred promised to marry one of his daughters to Arthur when he came of age, giving a further twenty thousand ounces of gold that would be returned by Richard if Arthur did not marry Tancred's daughter.
The two kings stayed on in Sicily for a while, but this resulted in increasing tensions between them and their men, with Philip Augustus plotting with Tancred against Richard.[59] The two kings finally met to clear the air and reached an agreement, including the end of Richard's betrothal to Philip's sister Alys (who had supposedly been the mistress of Richard's father Henry II).[60]
Conquest of Cyprus[link]
In April 1191 Richard, with a large fleet, left Messina in order to reach Acre.[61] But a storm dispersed the fleet. After some searching, it was discovered that the boat carrying his sister and his fiancée Berengaria was anchored on the south coast of Cyprus together with the wrecks of several other ships, including the treasure ship. Survivors of the wrecks had been taken prisoner by the island's despot Isaac Komnenos.[62]
On 1 May 1191 Richard's fleet arrived in the port of Lemesos (Limassol) on Cyprus.[62] He ordered Isaac to release the prisoners and the treasure.[62] Isaac refused, so Richard landed his troops and took Limassol.[63]
Various princes of the Holy Land arrived in Limassol at the same time, in particular Guy of Lusignan. All declared their support for Richard provided that he support Guy against his rival Conrad of Montferrat.[64]
The local barons abandoned Isaac, who considered making peace with Richard, joining him on the crusade and offering his daughter in marriage to the person named by Richard.[65] But Isaac changed his mind and tried to escape. Richard then proceeded to conquer the whole island, his troops being led by Guy de Lusignan. Isaac surrendered and was confined with silver chains because Richard had promised that he would not place him in irons. By 1 June Richard had conquered the whole island. He named Richard de Camville and Robert of Thornham as governors. He later sold the island to the Knights Templar and it was subsequently acquired, in 1192, by Guy of Lusignan and became a stable feudal kingdom.[66]
The rapid conquest of the island by Richard is more important than it seems. The island occupies a key strategic position on the maritime lanes to the Holy Land, whose occupation by the Christians could not continue without support from the sea.[66] Cyprus remained a Christian stronghold until the battle of Lepanto (1571).[67] Richard's exploit was well publicised and contributed to his reputation. Richard also derived significant financial gains from the conquest of the island.[67]
Richard left for Acre on 5 June with his allies.[67]
Marriage[link]
Before leaving Cyprus Richard married Berengaria of Navarre, first-born daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre. Richard first grew closer to her at a tournament held in Berengaria's native Navarre.[68] The wedding was held in Limassol on 12 May 1191 at the Chapel of St. George. It was attended by his sister Joan, whom Richard had brought from Sicily. The marriage was celebrated with great pomp and splendour and many feasts and entertainments, and public parades, and celebrations followed, to commemorate the event. Among the other grand ceremonies was a double coronation. Richard caused himself to be crowned King of Cyprus, and Berengaria Queen of England and of Cyprus, too. When Richard married Berengaria he was still officially betrothed to Alys, and Richard pushed for the match in order to obtain Navarre as a fief like Aquitaine for his father. Further, Eleanor championed the match, as Navarre bordered on Aquitaine, thereby securing her ancestral lands' borders to the south. Richard took his new wife with him briefly on this episode of the crusade. However, they returned separately. Berengaria had almost as much difficulty in making the journey home as her husband did, and she did not see England until after his death. After his release from German captivity Richard showed some regret for his earlier conduct, but he was not reunited with his wife.[69]
In the Holy Land[link]
King Richard landed at Acre on 8 June 1191. He gave his support to his Poitevin vassal Guy of Lusignan, who had brought troops to help him in Cyprus. Guy was the widower of his father's cousin Sibylla of Jerusalem and was trying to retain the kingship of Jerusalem, despite his wife's death during the Siege of Acre the previous year. Guy's claim was challenged by Conrad of Montferrat, second husband of Sibylla's half-sister, Isabella: Conrad, whose defence of Tyre had saved the kingdom in 1187, was supported by Philip of France, son of his first cousin Louis VII of France, and by another cousin, Duke Leopold V of Austria. Richard also allied with Humphrey IV of Toron, Isabella's first husband, from whom she had been forcibly divorced in 1190. Humphrey was loyal to Guy and spoke Arabic fluently, so Richard used him as a translator and negotiator.
Richard and his forces aided in the capture of Acre, despite the king's serious illness. At one point, while sick from scurvy, Richard is said to have picked off guards on the walls with a crossbow, while being carried on a stretcher. Eventually Conrad of Montferrat concluded the surrender negotiations with Saladin and raised the banners of the kings in the city. Richard quarrelled with Leopold V of Austria over the deposition of Isaac Komnenos (related to Leopold's Byzantine mother) and his position within the crusade. Leopold's banner had been raised alongside the English and French standards. This was interpreted as arrogance by both Richard and Philip, as Leopold was a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor (although he was the highest-ranking surviving leader of the imperial forces). Richard's men tore the flag down and threw it in the moat of Acre. Leopold left the crusade immediately. Philip also left soon afterwards, in poor health and after further disputes with Richard over the status of Cyprus (Philip demanded half the island) and the kingship of Jerusalem. Richard, suddenly, found himself without allies.
Richard had kept 2,700 Muslim prisoners as hostages against Saladin fulfilling all the terms of the surrender of the lands around Acre. Philip, before leaving, had entrusted his prisoners to Conrad, but Richard forced him to hand them over to him. Richard feared his forces being bottled up in Acre as he believed his campaign could not advance with the prisoners in train. He therefore ordered all the prisoners executed. He then moved south, defeating Saladin's forces at the Battle of Arsuf on 7 September 1191. He attempted to negotiate with Saladin, but, this was unsuccessful. In the first half of 1192 he and his troops refortified Ascalon.
An election forced Richard to accept Conrad of Montferrat as King of Jerusalem, and he sold Cyprus to his defeated protégé, Guy. Only days later, on 28 April 1192, Conrad was stabbed to death by Hashshashin (Assassins) before he could be crowned. Eight days later Richard's own nephew Henry II of Champagne was married to the widowed Isabella, although she was carrying Conrad's child. The murder has never been conclusively solved, and Richard's contemporaries widely suspected his involvement.
Realising that he had no hope of holding Jerusalem even if he took it, Richard ordered a retreat. There commenced a period of minor skirmishes with Saladin's forces while Richard and Saladin negotiated a settlement to the conflict, as both realised that their respective positions were growing untenable. Richard knew that both Philip and his own brother John were starting to plot against him. However, Saladin insisted on the razing of Ascalon's fortifications, which Richard's men had rebuilt, and a few other points. Richard made one last attempt to strengthen his bargaining position by attempting to invade Egypt—Saladin's chief supply-base—but failed. In the end, time ran out for Richard. He realised that his return could be postponed no longer since both Philip and John were taking advantage of his absence. He and Saladin finally came to a settlement on 2 September 1192; this included the provisions demanding the destruction of Ascalon's, as well as an agreement allowing Christian pilgrims and merchants access to Jerusalem. It also included a three-year truce.[70]
Captivity and return[link]
Bad weather forced Richard's ship to put in at Corfu, in the lands of the Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos, who objected to Richard's annexation of Cyprus, formerly Byzantine territory. Disguised as a Knight Templar, Richard sailed from Corfu with four attendants, but his ship was wrecked near Aquileia, forcing Richard and his party into a dangerous land route through central Europe.
On his way to the territory of his brother-in-law Henry of Saxony, Richard was captured shortly before Christmas 1192 near Vienna by Leopold V, Duke of Austria who accused Richard of arranging the murder of his cousin Conrad of Montferrat. Moreover Richard had personally offended Leopold by casting down his standard from the walls of Acre. Richard and his retainers had been travelling in disguise as low-ranking pilgrims, but he was identified either because he was wearing an expensive ring, or because of his insistence on eating roast chicken, an aristocratic delicacy.
Duke Leopold kept him prisoner at Dürnstein Castle under the care of Leopold's ministerialis Hadmar of Kuenring.[71] His mishap was soon known to England, but the regents were for some weeks uncertain of his whereabouts. While in prison, Richard wrote Ja nus hons pris or Ja nuls om pres ("No man who is imprisoned"), which is addressed to his half-sister Marie de Champagne. He wrote the song, in French and Occitan versions, to express his feelings of abandonment by his people and his sister. The detention of a crusader was contrary to public law,[72][73] and on these grounds Pope Celestine III excommunicated Duke Leopold.
On 28 March 1193 Richard was brought to Speyer and handed over to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who was aggrieved both by the support which the Plantagenets had given to the family of Henry the Lion, and also by Richard's recognition of Tancred in Sicily,[72] and who imprisoned him in Trifels Castle. Henry VI, needing money to raise an army and assert his rights over southern Italy, continued to hold Richard for ransom. In response Pope Celestine III excommunicated Henry VI, as he had Duke Leopold, for the continued wrongful imprisonment of Richard.
Richard famously refused to show deference to the emperor and declared to him, "I am born of a rank which recognises no superior but God".[74] Despite his complaints, the conditions of his captivity were not severe.
The emperor demanded that 150,000 marks (65,000 pounds of silver) be delivered to him before he would release the king, the same amount raised by the Saladin tithe only a few years earlier,[75] and 2–3 times the annual income for the English Crown under Richard. The historian David Boyle has estimated this sum as being equivalent to around £2 bn at 2011 prices.[76] Eleanor of Aquitaine worked to raise the ransom. Both clergy and laymen were taxed for a quarter of the value of their property, the gold and silver treasures of the churches were confiscated, and money was raised from the scutage and the carucage taxes. At the same time, John, Richard's brother, and King Philip of France offered 80,000 marks for the Emperor to hold Richard prisoner until Michaelmas 1194. The emperor turned down the offer. The money to rescue the King was transferred to Germany by the emperor's ambassadors, but "at the king's peril" (had it been lost along the way, Richard would have been held responsible), and finally, on 4 February 1194 Richard was released. Philip sent a message to John: "Look to yourself; the devil is loose".[77]
The affair had a lasting influence on Austria, since part of the money from King Richard's ransom was used by Duke Leopold V to finance the founding in 1194 of the new city of Wiener Neustadt, which had a significant role in various periods of subsequent Austrian history up to the present.
Later years and death[link]
In Richard's absence, his brother John revolted with the aid of Philip; amongst Philip's conquests in the period of Richard's imprisonment was Normandy.[78] Richard forgave John when they met again and, bowing to political necessity, named him as his heir in place of Arthur, whose mother Constance of Brittany was perhaps already open to the overtures of Philip II.[citation needed]
Richard began his reconquest of Normandy. The fall of Château de Gisors to the French in 1196 opened a gap in the Norman defences. The search began for a fresh site for a new castle to defend the duchy of Normandy and act as a base from which Richard could launch his campaign to take back the Vexin from French control.[79] A naturally defensible position was identified perched high above the River Seine, an important transport route, in the manor of Andeli. Under the terms of the Peace of Louviers (December 1195) between Richard and Philip II, neither king was allowed to fortify the site; despite this, Richard intended to build the vast Chateau Gaillard.[80] Richard tried to obtain the manor through negotiation. Walter de Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen, was reluctant to sell the manor as it was one of the diocese's most profitable, and other lands belonging to the diocese had recently been damaged by war.[80] When Philip besieged Aumale in Normandy, Richard grew tired of waiting and seized the manor,[80][81] although the act was opposed by the Church.[82] Walter de Coutances issued an interdict against the duchy of Normandy which prohibited church services from being performed in the region. Roger of Howden detailed "the unburied bodies of the dead lying in the streets and square of the cities of Normandy". Construction began with the interdict hanging over Normandy, but it was later repealed in April 1197 by Pope Celestine III, after Richard made gifts of land to Walter de Coutances and the diocese of Rouen, including two manors and the prosperous port of Dieppe.[83][84]
During Richard's reign, royal expenditure on castles declined from the levels spent under Henry II, Richard's father. This has been attributed to a concentration of resources on Richard's war with the king of France.[85] However, the work at Château Gaillard was some of the most expensive of its time and cost an estimated £15,000 to £20,000 between 1196 and 1198.[86] This was more than double Richard's spending on castles in England, an estimated £7,000.[87] Unprecedented in its speed of construction, the castle was mostly complete in just two years, when most construction on such a scale would have taken the best part of a decade.[86] According to William of Newburgh, in May 1198 Richard and the labourers working on the castle were drenched in a "rain of blood". While some of his advisers thought the rain was an evil omen, Richard was undeterred:[88]
the king was not moved by this to slacken one whit the pace of work, in which he took such keen pleasure that, unless I am mistaken, even if an angel had descended from heaven to urge its abandonment he would have been roundly cursed.—William of Newburgh[89]
As no master-mason is mentioned in the otherwise detailed records of the castle's construction, military historian Allen Brown has suggested that Richard himself was the overall architect; this is supported by the interest Richard showed in the work through his frequent presence.[90] In his final years, the castle became Richard's favourite residence, and writs and charters were written at Château Gaillard bearing "apud Bellum Castrum de Rupe" (at the Fair Castle of the Rock).[91] Château Gaillard was ahead of its time, featuring innovations that would be adopted in castle architecture nearly a century later.[91] Richard later boasted that he could hold the castle "were the walls made of butter".[92] Allen Brown described Château Gaillard as "one of the finest castles in Europe"[91] and military historian Sir Charles Oman wrote that:
Château Gaillard ... was considered the masterpiece of its time. The reputation of its builder, Coeur de Lion, as a great military engineer might stand firm on this single structure. He was no mere copyist of the models he had seen in the East, but introduced many original details of his own invention into the stronghold.—Oman 1924[93]
Determined to resist Philip's designs on contested Angevin lands such as the Vexin and Berry, Richard poured all his military expertise and vast resources into war on the French King. He constructed an alliance against Philip, including Baldwin IX of Flanders, Renaud, Count of Boulogne, and his father-in-law King Sancho VI of Navarre, who raided Philip's lands from the south. Most importantly, he managed to secure the Welf inheritance in Saxony for his nephew, Henry the Lion's son Otto of Poitou, who was elected Otto IV of Germany in 1198.
Partly as a result of these and other intrigues, Richard won several victories over Philip. At Freteval in 1194, just after Richard's return from captivity and money-raising in England to France, Philip fled, leaving his entire archive of financial audits and documents to be captured by Richard. At the battle of Gisors (sometimes called Courcelles) in 1198 Richard took "Dieu et mon Droit"—"God and my Right"—as his motto (still used by the British monarchy today), echoing his earlier boast to the Emperor Henry that his rank acknowledged no superior but God.
In March 1199, Richard was in the Limousin suppressing a revolt by Viscount Aimar V of Limoges. Although it was Lent, he "devastated the Viscount's land with fire and sword".[94] He besieged the puny, virtually unarmed castle of Chalus-Chabrol. Some chroniclers claimed that this was because a local peasant had uncovered a treasure trove of Roman gold,[95] which Richard claimed from Aimar in his position as feudal overlord.
In the early evening of 25 March 1199, Richard was walking around the castle perimeter without his chainmail, investigating the progress of sappers on the castle walls. Missiles were occasionally shot from the castle walls, but these were given little attention. One defender in particular amused the king greatly—a man standing on the walls, crossbow in one hand, the other clutching a frying pan which he had been using all day as a shield to beat off missiles. He deliberately aimed at the king, which the king applauded; however, another crossbowman then struck the king in the left shoulder near the neck. He tried to pull this out in the privacy of his tent but failed; a surgeon, called a 'butcher' by Hoveden, removed it, 'carelessly mangling' the King's arm in the process. The wound swiftly became gangrenous. Accordingly, Richard asked to have the crossbowman brought before him; called alternatively Pierre (or Peter) Basile, John Sabroz, Dudo,[96][97] and Bertrand de Gurdon (from the town of Gourdon) by chroniclers, the man turned out (according to some sources, but not all) to be a boy. This boy claimed that Richard had killed the boy's father and two brothers, and that he had killed Richard in revenge. The boy expected to be executed; Richard, as a last act of mercy, forgave the boy of his crime, saying, "Live on, and by my bounty behold the light of day," before ordering the boy to be freed and sent away with 100 shillings.[98] Richard then set his affairs in order, bequeathing all his territory to his brother John and his jewels to his nephew Otto.
Richard died on 6 April 1199 in the arms of his mother; it was later said that "As the day was closing, he ended his earthly day." Due to the nature of Richard's death, he was later referred to as 'the Lion (that) by the Ant was slain'. According to one chronicler, Richard's last act of chivalry proved fruitless; in an orgy of medieval brutality, the infamous mercenary captain Mercadier had the crossbowman flayed alive and hanged as soon as Richard died.[99]
Richard's heart was buried at Rouen in Normandy, the entrails in Châlus (where he died) and the rest of his body was buried at the feet of his father at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou.[100]
A 13th-century Bishop of Rochester wrote that Richard spent 33 years in purgatory as expiation for his sins, eventually ascending to Heaven in March 1232.[101]
Sexuality[link]
Since the 1950s, Richard's sexuality has become an issue of controversy. Victorian and Edwardian historians had rarely addressed this question, but in 1948 historian John Harvey challenged what he perceived as "the conspiracy of silence" surrounding Richard's homosexuality.[102] This argument drew primarily on available chronicler accounts of Richard's behaviour, chronicler records of Richard's two public confessions and penitences, and Richard's childless marriage.[103] This material is complicated by accounts of Richard having had at least one illegitimate child (Philip of Cognac), and allegations that Richard had sexual relations with local women during his campaigns.[104]
Leading historians remain divided on the question of Richard's sexuality.[105] Harvey's argument has gained considerable support;[106] however, this view has been disputed by other historians, most notably John Gillingham.[107] Drawing on other chronicler accounts, he argues that Richard was probably heterosexual.[108]
Historian Jean Flori states that contemporary historians quite generally accept that Richard was homosexual.[106][109] Flori also analysed contemporaneous accounts; he refuted Gillingham's arguments and concluded that Richard's two public confessions and penitences (in 1191 and 1195) must have referred to the "sin of sodomy".[110] Flori cites contemporaneous accounts of Richard taking women by force[111] and concludes that Richard was probably bisexual.[112]
Flori and Gillingham agree that the contemporaneous accounts do not support the allegation that Richard had a homosexual relation with King Philip II of France, as suggested by some modern authors.[113]
Legacy[link]
Richard's reputation over the years has "fluctuated wildly", according to historian John Gillingham.[114] Richard's contemporaneous image was that of a king who was also a knight, and that was apparently the first such instance of this combination.[115] He was known as a valiant and competent military leader and individual fighter: courageous and generous. That reputation has come down through the ages and defines the popular image of Richard.[115] He left an indelible imprint on the imagination extending to the present, in large part because of his military exploits. This is reflected in Steven Runciman's final verdict of Richard I: "he was a bad son, a bad husband and a bad king, but a gallant and splendid soldier." ("History of the Crusades" Vol. III) Meanwhile, Muslim writers [116] during the Crusades period and after wrote of him: "Never have we had to face a bolder or more subtle opponent."[117]
Richard, however, also received negative portrayals. During his life, he was criticised by chroniclers for having taxed the clergy both for the Crusade and for his ransom, whereas the church and the clergy were usually exempt from taxes.[118] Victorian England was divided on Richard: "Many of them admired him as a crusader and man of God, erecting an heroic statue to him outside the Houses of Parliament; Stubbs, on the other hand, thought him 'a bad son, a bad husband, a selfish ruler, and a vicious man'. Though born in Oxford, he spoke no English. During his ten years' reign, he was in England for no more than six months, and was totally absent for the last five years.[114]
Richard produced no legitimate heirs and acknowledged only one illegitimate son, Philip of Cognac. As a result, he was succeeded by his brother John as King of England. However, his French territories initially rejected John as a successor, preferring his nephew Arthur of Brittany, the son of their late brother Geoffrey, whose claim was by modern standards better than John's. Significantly, the lack of any direct heirs from Richard was the first step in the dissolution of the Angevin Empire. While Kings of England continued to press claims to properties on the continent, they would never again command the territories Richard I inherited.
Medieval folklore[link]
Main article: Matter of England
Around the middle of the 13th century, various legends developed that, after Richard's capture, his minstrel Blondel travelled Europe from castle to castle, loudly singing a song known only to the two of them (they had composed it together).[119] Eventually, he came to the place where Richard was being held, and Richard heard the song and answered with the appropriate refrain, thus revealing where the king was incarcerated. The story was the basis of André Ernest Modeste Grétry's opera Richard Coeur-de-Lion and seems to be the inspiration for the opening to Richard Thorpe's film version of Ivanhoe. It seems unconnected to the real Jean 'Blondel' de Nesle, an aristocratic trouvère. It also does not correspond to the historical reality, since the king's jailers did not hide the fact; on the contrary, they publicised it.[120]
At some time around the 16th century, tales of Robin Hood started to mention him as a contemporary and supporter of King Richard the Lionheart, Robin being driven to outlawry, during the misrule of Richard's evil brother John, while Richard was away at the Third Crusade. Although this view has become increasingly popular,[121] it is certainly not supported by the earliest ballads.[122]
Modern fiction[link]
Richard appears as a major or minor character in many works of fiction, both written and audio-visual. As noted above, Richard appears in connection with Robin Hood in Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe and the many works derived from the novel, and in numerous films about Robin Hood. The opera Riccardo Primo by George Frideric Handel is based on Richard's invasion of Cyprus. He is one of the main character in Scott's The Talisman, which is set during the Third Crusade. He appears in many other fictional accounts of the Third Crusade and its sequel, for example Graham Shelby's The Kings of Vain Intent and The Devil is Loose. He is the main character in Norah Lofts' novel The Lute Player (which focuses on his sexuality). Richard is a major character in James Goldman's The Lion in Winter, in which there are references to the alleged homosexual relation between Richard and Philip of France. James Rado created the role on Broadway in 1966, and Anthony Hopkins played it in Anthony Harvey's 1968 film.
Ancestors[link]
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See also[link]
- Cultural depictions of Richard I of England
- List of English monarchs
- The Crusade and Death of Richard I
References[link]
- Notes
- ^ a b Turner & Heiser 2000, p. 71
- ^ Maalouf 1984, p. 318 cites Bahaeddine, p. 239
- ^ Addison 1842, pp. 141–149.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 20.
- ^ Harvey 1948, pp. 62–64
- ^ Turner & Heiser[page needed]
- ^ Harvey 1948, p. 58.
- ^ Flori 1999, p. 1.
- ^ a b Gillingham 2002, p. 24.
- ^ a b c Flori 1999, p. ix.
- ^ Flori 1999, p. 2.
- ^ Flori 1999, p. 28.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 28.
- ^ Flori 1999, p. 10.
- ^ Leese 1996, p. 57.
- ^ Brewer 2000, p. 41.
- ^ Flori 1999, pp. 23–25.
- ^ Flori 1999, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Flori 1999, pp. 25, 28.
- ^ Flori 1999, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Flori 1999, p. 29.
- ^ Flori 1999, pp. 29–30.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 40.
- ^ Flori 1999, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Flori 1999, p. 32.
- ^ Flori 1999, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 41.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, pp. 49–50.
- ^ a b Gillingham 2002, p. 48.
- ^ a b Flori 1999, p. 33.
- ^ a b Flori 1999, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 49.
- ^ a b Flori 1999, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b c d Flori 1999, p. 35.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, pp. 50–51.
- ^ a b Gillingham 2002, p. 50.
- ^ Flori 1999, p. 36.
- ^ a b Gillingham 2002, p. 52.
- ^ a b Flori, p. 41.
- ^ Flori, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Roger of Hoveden, Gesta Henrici II Benedicti Abbatis, vol. 1, p. 292
- ^ Roger of Hoveden & Riley 1853, p. 64
- ^ Martin 18 March 2008
- ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 107.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 94–95.
- ^ a b c d Flori 1999 (French), p. 95.
- ^ Graetz (1902)[page needed]
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 465–466. As cited by Flori, the chronicler Giraud le Cambrien reports that Richard was fond of telling a tale according to which he was a descendant of a countess of Anjou who was in fact the fairy Melusine, concluding that his whole family "came from the devil and would return to the devil".
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 319–320.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 100.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 97–101
- ^ a b Flori 1999 (French), p. 101
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 99
- ^ Stubbs, William, "'The Constitutional History of England, vol. 1, pp.550–551
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 111
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 114
- ^ a b Flori 1999 (French), p. 116
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 117
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 124–126
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 127–128
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 131.
- ^ a b c Flori 1999 (French), p. 132.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 133–134.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 134.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 134–136.
- ^ a b Flori 1999 (French), p. 137.
- ^ a b c Flori 1999 (French), p. 138.
- ^ Abbott, Jacob, History of King Richard the First of England, Harper & Brothers 1877
- ^ Richard I. by Jacob Abbot, New York and London Harper & Brothers 1902
- ^ Richard I. by Jacob Abbott, New York and London Harper & Brothers 1902
- ^ Arnold, p. 128
- ^ a b
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Richard I". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. - ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 188–189.
- ^ Longford 1989, p. 85.
- ^ Madden 2005, p. 96[verification needed]
- ^ Geoghegan, Tom (1 March 2011). "BBC News - Why is King John the classic villain?". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12603356. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ Purser 2004, p. 161.
- ^ Gillingham 2004.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, pp. 303–305.
- ^ a b c Gillingham 2002, p. 301.
- ^ Turner 1997, p. 10.
- ^ Packard 1922, p. 20.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, pp. 302–304
- ^ Allen Brown 2004, p. 112.
- ^ Allen Brown 1955, pp. 355–356.
- ^ a b McNeill 1992, p. 42.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 304.
- ^ Gillingham 2002, p. 303.
- ^ Liddiard 2005, pp. 112–113.
- ^ Allen Brown 2004, p. 113.
- ^ a b c Allen Brown 1976, p. 62.
- ^ Oman 1991, p. 32.
- ^ Oman 1991, p. 33.
- ^ Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum, p. 94
- ^ "King Richard I of England Versus King Philip II Augustus". Historynet.com. 23 August 2006. http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3717336.html?page=4&c=y. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ Gillingham 1989, p. 16.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 233–254.
- ^ Although there are numerous variations of the story's details, it is not disputed that Richard did pardon the person who shot the bolt, see Flori 1999 (French), p. 234.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 238.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 235.
- ^ Gillingham 1979, p. 8.
- ^ Harvey, pp.33–4. There is a mention of this question in Richard, A., Histoire des comtes de Poitout, 778–1204, vol. I–II, Paris, 1903, t. II, p. 130, cited Flori 1999 (French), p. 448, however.
- ^ Summarised in McLynn, pp.92–3.
- ^ McLynn, p.93; see also Gillingham 1994, pp. 119–139.
- ^ Burgwinkle, pp.73–4.
- ^ a b As cited in Flori 1999 (French), p. 448 see for example Brundage, Richard Lion Heart, New York, 1974, pp. 38, 88, 202, 212, 257; Runciman, S., A History of the Crusade, Cambridge, 1951–194, t. III, pp. 41ff.; and Boswell, J., Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, Chicago, 1980, p. 231ff.
- ^ Gillingham 1994, pp. 119–139.
- ^ Gillingham 1994, pp. 119–139
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 448. According to Flori, this change is due to greater social acceptance of homosexuality.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 456–462.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 463.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 464.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 454–456. Contemporaneous accounts refer to various signs of friendship between the two when Richard was at Philip's court in 1187 during his rebellion against his father Henry II, including sleeping in the same bed. But, according to Flori and Gillingham, such signs of friendship were part of the customs of the time and cannot be interpreted as indicating homosexuality of either man.
- ^ a b John Gillingham, Kings and Queens of Britain: Richard I; Cannon (2001),[page needed]
- ^ a b Flori 1999 (French), pp. 484–485.
- ^ Andrew Holt. "Jonathan Phillips". Crusades-encyclopedia.com. http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/jonathanphillips.html. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ Andrew Holt. "Jonathan Phillips". Crusades-encyclopedia.com. http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/jonathanphillips.html. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 322.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), pp. 191–192.
- ^ Flori 1999 (French), p. 192.
- ^ See for example Ivanhoe and most Robin Hood movies
- ^ See the article on Robin Hood.
- Bibliography
- Addison, Charles (1842), The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, http://www.masonicsourcebook.com/king_richard_lionheart_knights_templar.htm
- Arnold, B (1999) [1985], German Knighthood 1050–1300, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-821960-1
- Allen Brown, R (1976) [1954], Allen Brown's English Castles, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, ISBN 1-84383-069-8
- Brewer, Clifford (2000), The Death of Kings, London: Abson Books, ISBN 978-0-902920-99-6
- Cannon, John & Hargreaves, Anne (eds). Kings and Queens of Britain, Oxford University Press 2001, 2004, ISBN 0-19-860956-6. Richard I, by John Gillingham
- Flori, Jean (1999), Richard the Lionheart: Knight and King, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2047-0
- Flori, Jean (1999 (French)), Richard Coeur de Lion: le roi-chevalier, Paris: Biographie Payot, ISBN 978-2-228-89272-8
- Gillingham, John (1979), Richard the Lionheart, New York: Times Books, ISBN 0-8129-0802-3
- Gillingham, John (1989), Richard the Lionheart, Butler and Tanner Ltd
- Gillingham, John (1994), Richard Coeur De Lion: Kingship, Chivalry And War In The Twelfth Century, London
- Gillingham, John (2002) [1999], Richard I, London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09404-3
- Gillingham, John (2004), "Richard I (1157–1199), king of England", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23498, retrieved 22 December 2009
- Graetz, H. Bella Löwy; Bloch, Philipp (1902), History of the Jews, Jewish Publication Society of America
- Harvey, John (1948), The Plantagenets, Fontana/Collins, ISBN 0-00-632949-7
- Leese, Thelma Anna (1996), Royal: Issue of the Kings and Queens of Medieval England, 1066–1399, Heritage Books Inc, ISBN 978-0-7884-0525-9
- Liddiard, Robert (2005), Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500, Macclesfield: Windgather Press Ltd, ISBN 0-9545575-2-2
- Longford, Elizabeth (1989), The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-214153-8, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Z4cYAAAAIAAJ&q=%22I+am+born+of+a+rank+which+recognizes+no+superior+but+God%22&dq=%22I+am+born+of+a+rank+which+recognizes+no+superior+but+God%22&pgis=1
- Maalouf, Amin (1984), "L'impossible rencontre", in J'ai lu (in French), Les Croisades vues par les Arabes, p. 318, ISBN 2-290-11916-4
- Madden, Thomas F. (2005), Crusades: The Illustrated History (annotated, illustrated ed.), University of Michigan Press, ISBN 0-472-03127-9
- Martin, Nicole (18 March 2008). "Richard I slept with French king 'but not gay'". The Daily Telegraph. p. 11. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/18/ngay118.xml. See also "Bed-heads of state". The Daily Telegraph. 18 March 2008. p. 25. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/03/18/dl1803.xml.
- McNeill, Tom (1992), English Heritage Book of Castles, London: English Heritage and B. T. Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-7025-9
- Oman, Charles (1991) [1924], A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages, Volume Two: 1278–1485 AD, Greenhill Books
- Packard, Sydney (1922), "King John and the Norman Church", The Harvard Theological Review (Cambridge University Press) 15 (1): 15–40
- Purser, Toby (2004), Medieval England 1042–1228 (illustrated ed.), Heinemann, ISBN 0-435-32760-7
- Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum
- Roger of Hoveden; Riley, Henry T. (translator) (1853), The annals of Roger de Hoveden: comprising The history of England and of other countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201, 2, London: H.G. Bohn
- Roger of Hoveden, Gesta Regis Henrici II & Gesta Regis Ricardi Benedicti Abbatis, ed. William Stubbs, 2 vols, (London, 1867), available at Gallica.
- Roger of Hoveden, Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Houedene, ed. William Stubbs, 4 vols, (London, 1868–71), available at Gallica.
- Turner, Ralph (1997), "Richard Lionheart and English Episcopal Elections", Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies (The North American Conference on British Studies) 29 (1): 1–13
- Turner, Ralph V.; Heiser, Richard R (2000), The Reign of Richard Lionheart, Ruler of the Angevin empire, 1189–1199, Harlow: Longman, ISBN 0-582-25659-3
Further reading[link]
- Ralph of Diceto, Radulfi de Diceto Decani Lundoniensis Opera Historica, ed. William Stubbs, 2 vols (London, 1876)
- Berg, Dieter. Richard Löwenherz. Darmstadt, 2007.
- Edbury, Peter W. The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation. Ashgate, 1996. [Includes letters by Richard reporting events of the Third Crusade (pp. 178–182).] ISBN 1-84014-676-1
- Gabrieli, Francesco. (ed.) Arab Historians of the Crusades, English translation 1969, ISBN 0-520-05224-2
- Gillingham, John, Richard Coeur de Lion: Kingship, Chivalry and War in the Twelfth Century, 1994, ISBN 1-85285-084-1
- Nelson, Janet L. (ed.) Richard Coeur de Lion in History and Myth, 1992, ISBN 0-9513085-6-4
- Nicholson, Helen J. (ed.) The Chronicle of the Third Crusade: The Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, 1997, ISBN 0-7546-0581-7
- Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades, 1951–54, vols. 2–3.
- Stubbs, William (ed.), Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi (London, 1864), available at Gallica. (PDF of anon. translation, Itinerary of Richard I and others to the Holy Land (Cambridge, Ontario, 2001))
- William of Tyre, French continuation of. Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum (external link to text in mediæval French).
- Williams, Patrick A. "The Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat: Another Suspect?", Traditio, vol. XXVI, 1970.
- Reston, James Jr. "Warriors of God", 2001, ISBN 0-385-49562-5
External links[link]
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Richard I of England |
- Richard I "Lionheart" BY JACOB ABBOTT in "btm" format
- Roger of Hoveden on Richard the Lion-Hearted and King Philip II of France
- Richard and Saladin: Warriors of the Third Crusade
- Richard I, Ja nuls om pres non dira sa razon (Occitan version of lyric)
- Richard I, Ja nus hons pris ne dira sa reson (French version of lyric, with English translation by James H. Donalson)
- The Lion roars in France
- King Richard a Middle English metrical romance from the Auchinleck manuscript (edited by David Burnley and Alison Wiggins) at the National Library of Scotland
- "Richard I, King Of England". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Richard I". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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Richard the Lionheart
Born: 1157 8 September Died: 1199 6 April |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry II |
King of England 1189–1199 |
Succeeded by John |
| Count of Anjou 1189–1199 |
Succeeded by Arthur I |
|
| Duke of Normandy 1189–1199 |
Succeeded by Eleanor and John |
|
| Count of Maine 1186–1199 |
||
| Preceded by Eleanor and Henry I |
Duke of Aquitaine 1189–1199 with Eleanor |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Richard I |
| Alternative names | Richard I of England |
| Short description | King of England |
| Date of birth | 8 September 1157 |
| Place of birth | Beaumont Palace, Oxford |
| Date of death | 6 April 1199 |
| Place of death | Châlus, Limousin |
http://wn.com/Richard_I_of_England
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Riccardo I d'Inghilterra
http://cs.wn.com/Richard I. Lví srdce
http://id.wn.com/Richard I dari Inggris
http://es.wn.com/Ricardo I de Inglaterra
http://ru.wn.com/Ричард I Львиное Сердце
http://nl.wn.com/Richard I van Engeland
http://pl.wn.com/Ryszard I Lwie Serce
http://fr.wn.com/Richard Ier d'Angleterre
http://de.wn.com/Richard Löwenherz
http://pt.wn.com/Ricardo I de Inglaterra
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I_of_England
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Saladin Ahmed | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 Detroit |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Genres | Science Fiction |
|
www.saladinahmed.com |
|
Saladin Ahmed (born 1975) is an Arab-American science fiction and fantasy writer and poet. He has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. His fiction has been published in book anthologies and magazines such as Strange Horizons, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, Clockwork Phoenix 2, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. His novel trilogy The Crescent Moon Kingdoms will be published shortly by DAW Books.
Contents |
Life[link]
Ahmed was born in 1975 in Detroit, Michigan to parents of Lebanese/Egyptian/Irish/Polish descent.[1] His father, formerly in the merchant marine, worked both in a factory and as a community organizer. His mother was a political activist.
After graduating high school Ahmed attended Henry Ford Community College before transferring to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.[1] After receiving his B.A. in American Studies, Ahmed earned an MFA at Brooklyn College and an MA in English from Rutgers University.
In 2007 Ahmed married songwriter/research psychologist Hayley Thompson. They have twins, and live in a suburb of Detroit.
Writings[link]
Ahmed's science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in a number of magazines and book anthologies, including Strange Horizons, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, Clockwork Phoenix 2, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. In 2010, he was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.[2]
Ahmed's story "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela," originally published in Clockwork Phoenix 2, was a finalist for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story.[3] His story "Where Virtue Lives," originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, was a finalist for the 2009 Harper’s Pen Award.
His novel trilogy The Crescent Moon Kingdoms will be published by DAW Books.[4] The novels are fantasies inspired by One Thousand and One Nights.[5] The first book in the series, Throne of the Crescent Moon, is forthcoming from DAW Books in February 2012.[6]
Ahmed's poetry has been published in various literary journals and books and has been awarded fellowships from the University of Michigan, Brooklyn College, and the Bronx Council on the Arts.
Bibliography[link]
Novels[link]
- Throne of the Crescent Moon (2012), DAW Books
Short stories[link]
- "The Faithful Soldier, Prompted" - Apex Magazine 18, Nov 2010
-
- podcast by StarShipSofa
- "Mister Hadj's Sunset Ride” - Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2010
- "General Akmed's Revenge?" - Expanded Horizons 16, Mar 2010
- "Doctor Diablo Goes Through The Motions" - Strange Horizons, Feb 2010
- podcast by DrabbleCast
- "Judgment of Swords and Souls" - Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show
- "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela" - Clockwork Phoenix 2, ed. by Mike Allen (Norilana Books, Jul 2009)
-
- Finalist for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story
- podcast by PodCastle
- "Where Virtue Lives - Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apr 2009
-
- Finalist for the 2009 Harper’s Pen Award.
Poetry[link]
Ahmed's poetry has appeared in the following journals and anthologies:
- Callaloo Volume 32, Issue 4 (2009)
- Against Agamemnon: War Poetry (WaterWood Press 2009)
- Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry (University of Arkansas Press 2008)
- Margie: The American Journal of Poetry Volume 6 (2007)
- We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon (Interlink Books 2007)
- The Brooklyn Review #19 (2002)
- The Brooklyn Review #18 (2001)
- Big City Lit (2001)
- Mizna Volume 3, Issue 1 (2001)
- Abandon Automobile: Detroit City Poetry (Wayne State University Press 2001)
- Post Gibran: Anthology of New Arab American Writing' (Kitab/Syracuse University Press 2000)
- Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream (Wayne State University Press 2000)
References[link]
- ^ a b Biography of Saladin Ahmed, personal website, accessed Dec. 2, 2010.
- ^ "2010 Hugo Awards Winners," Locus Magazine, Sept. 5, 2010, accessed Dec. 2, 2010.
- ^ 2009 SFWA Final Nebula Awards Ballot, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Inc., accessed Dec. 2, 2010. Archived 1 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ "People and Publishing," Locus Magazine, Sept. 2010, page 8
- ^ "YEE-HAW! I’ve signed with DAW!," Saladin Ahmed's personal website, accessed Dec. 2, 2010.
- ^ Saladin's Blog, January 29, 2010
External links[link]
- Saladin Ahmed official website
- Saladin Ahmed at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Interview with Saladin Ahmed
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ahmed, Saladin |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Arab American writer and poet |
| Date of birth | 1975 |
| Place of birth | Detroit |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Saladin_Ahmed
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin_Ahmed
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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Wiki Summary
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی, Selah'edînê Eyubî) (ca. 1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a KurdishMuslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant. At the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and parts of North Africa.
Under his personal leadership, his forces defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin, leading the way to his re-capture of Palestine, which had been seized from the Fatimid Egyptians by the Crusaders 88 years earlier. Though the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem would continue to exist for a period, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslims and Arabs. As such, Saladin is a prominent figure in Kurdish, Arab, and Muslim culture. Saladin was a strict adherent of Sunni Islam. His noble and chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the Siege of Kerak, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders, he won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart; rather than becoming a hated figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principles of chivalry.
