Saladin in Syria…

This is the beautiful tomb of Saladin (Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub) in Damascus–the mighty general and sultan who fended off the Crusaders and seized Jerusalem. As the PBS documentary Empire of Faith (at the link provided above) explains, “In contrast to the Crusaders’ bloodbath when they had taken Jerusalem, Saladin acted with great magnanimity to the Christian and Jewish residents.”

Having studied and taught the history of the Crusades, I had a hard time believing I was actually in the tomb of this military legend when I stepped inside. Because Saladin’s life, valor and feats were admired and romanticized by Christian and Muslims writers alike in medieval times, in my mind he occupied an almost mythic status. Spending time in his tomb, however, reminded me of how very mortal and real he had been. Of course, the dynamic decoration of alternating colors of stone (ablaq style) paired with beautiful blue mosaic tiles in the interior of this tomb gave my eyes a colorful banquet to feast on too…