Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.
Year 1170 (MCLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
The Ayyubid dynasty, also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin had originally served the Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din, leading Nur ad-Din's army in battle against the Crusaders in Fatimid Egypt, where he was made Vizier. Following Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin was proclaimed as the first Sultan of Egypt by the Abbasid Caliphate, and rapidly expanded the new sultanate beyond the frontiers of Egypt to encompass most of the Levant, in addition to Hijaz, Yemen, northern Nubia, Tarabulus, Cyrenaica, southern Anatolia, and northern Iraq, the homeland of his Kurdish family. By virtue of his sultanate including Hijaz, the location of the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, he was the first ruler to be hailed as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, a title that would be held by all subsequent sultans of Egypt until the Ottoman conquest of 1517. Saladin's military campaigns in the first decade of his rule, aimed at uniting the various Arab and Muslim states in the region against the Crusaders, set the general borders and sphere of influence of the sultanate of Egypt for the almost three and a half centuries of its existence. Most of the Crusader states, including the Kingdom of Jerusalem, fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders reconquered the coast of Palestine in the 1190s.
The Zengid or Zangid dynasty, Atabegs of Mosul was an Atabegate of the Seljuk Empire created in 1127. It formed a Turkoman dynasty of Sunni Muslim faith, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from Yemen to Sivas. Imad ad-Din Zengi was the first ruler of the dynasty.
Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī, commonly known as Nur ad-Din, was a Turkoman member of the Zengid dynasty, who ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174. He is regarded as an important figure of the Second Crusade.
The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Ayyubid Dynasty on 25 November 1177 at Montgisard, in the Levant between Ramla and Yibna. The 16-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, severely afflicted by leprosy, led outnumbered Christian forces against Saladin's troops in what became one of the most notable engagements of the Crusades. The Muslim Army was quickly routed and pursued for twelve miles. Saladin fled back to Cairo, reaching the city on 8 December, with only a tenth of his army. Muslim historians considered Saladin's defeat to be so severe that it was only redeemed by his victory ten years later at the battles of Cresson and Hattin and the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187. Saladin did defeat Baldwin IV in the Battle of Marj Ayyun and the Siege of Jacob’s Ford in 1179, only to be defeated by Baldwin again at the Battle of Belvoir Castle in 1182 and the Siege of Kerak in 1183.
Montreal, or Qal'at ash-Shawbak in Arabic, is a castle built by the Crusaders and expanded by the Mamluks, on the eastern side of the Arabah Valley, perched on the side of a rocky, conical mountain, looking out over fruit orchards below. The ruins are located next to the modern town of Shoubak in Jordan.
Asad ad-Dīn Shīrkūh bin Shādhī, also known as Shirkuh, or Şêrko was a Kurdish Mercenary commander in service of the Zengid dynasty, and uncle of Saladin. His military and diplomatic efforts in Egypt were a key factor in establishing the Ayyubid dynasty in that country.
Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Yusuf al-Mustanjid usually known by his regnal title al-Mustadi was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1170 to 1180. He succeeded his father al-Mustanjid in 1170 as the Caliph.
Deir al-Balah or Deir al Balah is a Palestinian city in the central Gaza Strip and the administrative capital of the Deir al-Balah Governorate of the State of Palestine. It is located over 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) south of Gaza City. The city had a population of 75,132 in 2017. The city is known for its date palms, after which it is named.
The siege of Kerak was conducted by the forces of Muslim Sultan Saladin against the Crusaders and the Christian King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem at the Kerak Castle from early November to 4 December 1183. The Crusaders successfully withstood the siege.
The siege of Ascalon took place from 25 January to 22 August 1153, in the time period between the Second and Third Crusades, and resulted in the capture of the Fatimid Egyptian fortress by the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Ascalon was an important castle that was used by the Fatimids to launch raids into the Crusader kingdom's territory, and by 1153 it was the last coastal city in Palestine that was not controlled by the Crusaders.
Pharaoh's Island, whose current popular name is Coral Island, is a small island in the northern Gulf of Aqaba some 250 metres (820 ft) east off the shore of Egypt's eastern Sinai Peninsula. Some scholars identify this island port with biblical Ezion-Geber.
The Salah El-Din Castle is located on Pharaoh's Island in northwestern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, Egypt. The castle is composed from two parts.
Kinana is an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout the Arab world trace their lineage to the tribe.
The siege of Tyre took place from 12 November 1187 to 1 January 1188. An army commanded by Saladin made an amphibious assault on the city, defended by Conrad of Montferrat. After two months of continuous struggle, Saladin dismissed his army and retreated to Acre.
The Treaty of Jaffa, more seldom referred to as the Treaty of Ramla or the treaty of 1192, was a truce agreed to during the Crusades. It was signed on 1 or 2 September 1192 A.D. between the Muslim ruler Saladin and Richard the Lionheart, King of England, shortly after the July–August 1192 Battle of Jaffa. The treaty, negotiated with the help of Balian of Ibelin, guaranteed a three-year truce between the two armies. This treaty ended the Third Crusade.
In 1182, Raynald of Châtillon, the Crusader Lord of Oultrejordain, launched a squadron of ships on the Red Sea in order to conduct raids on Muslim Red Sea ports and to attack the Muslim holy cities of Mecca or Medina.
The battle of Mansurah took place from 26–28 August 1221 near the Egyptian city of Mansurah and was the final battle in the Fifth Crusade (1217–1221). It pitted the Crusader forces under papal legate Pelagius Galvani and John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem, against the Ayyubid forces of the sultan al-Kamil. The result was a decisive victory for the Egyptians and forced the surrender of the Crusaders and their departure from Egypt.
The siege of Alexandria in 1174 was a short and unsuccessful attempt by the Normans of Sicily to overthrow Saladin from Egypt.
Kingdom of Jerusalem