The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Its religious importan
Aerial view of the Umayyad Mosque within the Old City of Damascus
Remains of an old Roman-era triple doorway in the exterior southern wall of the mosque
Façade of the prayer hall
Interior of the prayer hall
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, commonly known as Saladin, was a Kurdish commander and political leader. He was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An import
Umayyad Mosque
…lodges) for religious and Quranic studies. In 1173, the northern wall of the mosque was damaged again by the fire and was rebuilt by the Ayyubid sultan, Saladin (r. 1174–1193), along with the Minaret of the Bride, which had been destroyed in the 1069 fire. During the internal feuds between later Ayyubid princes…
Saladin in the sharbush hat of Seljuk rulers, his rallying sign, on a coin: "The Victorious King, Righteousness of the World and the Faith, Yusuf ibn Ayyub". 587 AH (1190–1191 CE).
Coin of Saladin, wearing Sasanian-style merlon crown, dated AH 578 (AD 1182/3).
Ayyubid or Zengid soldiers in Seljuk-type clothes and sharbush hats on the Palmer Cup (1200–1215)
Experimental crossbow mounted inside a shield, in the Tabṣira by Murḍi Ibn cālī Ibn Murḍi al-Ṭarsūsī written for Saladin, late Fāṭimid or early Ayyūbid Egypt, c. 1170 CE (Ms. Hunt.264, f.117, Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK).