Salaheddin the great builder

"Sultan Al-Nasser Salaheddin Al-Ayyubi... Between Cairo and Damascus" is the first exhibition to embody the German-Egyptian cooperation to display Islamic arts. Nevine El-Aref attended the opening ceremony

Cairo Citadel in 1176; a portrait of Salaheddin; From far left: a bronze coin and the renovation relief of Damascus Citadel from Damascus National Museum; an arch at Prince Taz Palace in Cairo; a ceramic relief from the British Museum;

Last week the atmosphere at the beautiful historic Mameluke Palace of Prince Taz in Saliba Street, usually so quiet and serene, was rather different from normal. Journalists, photographers, archaeologists, German and Egyptian curators assembled in the palace courtyard, which was bedecked with softly lit trees, palms and plants for the occasion. At the core of the courtyard, a violinist, a flautist and an oud (Arabian lute) player wearing formal black ties played soft oriental music. In these enchanting surroundings the German ambassador to Cairo, Bernd Erbel, and secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Zahi Hawass, cut the red ribbon and launched "Sultan Al-Nasser Salaheddin Al-Ayyubi... Between Cairo and Damascus", an exhibition of magnificent Islamic monuments which will run for the next two months.

The exhibition, a co-production of the SCA and the Natural History Museum of Oldenburg in Germany, focuses on the Ayyubid Sultan Al-Nasser Salaheddin (1174-1193), one of the most brilliant and fascinating personalities in history.

Salaheddin fervently pursued his political aim to unite the territories of Islam and reoccupy the areas taken by the Crusaders, including Jerusalem. Yet Salaheddin's fame does not rest on his political perseverance alone, but is also due to his outstanding character. Arab historians described him as honest, courageous and just. He respected the treaties he made, and never refused an honest request. Likewise, European sources described him as a formidable gentleman and perfect knight. Both Arab and European assessment of his historical personality is also touched upon at the exhibition.

More than 80 masterpieces from the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mameluke periods are on display. They include objects from the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin now on view in Egypt for the first time, such as a glazed ceramic table, a large dish with an unusual depiction of a peacock, and a delicate pilgrim flask. The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo has also contributed some outstanding artworks, among them two carved rock crystal bottles, carved wood, metalwork, a rare enamelled and gilded glass vase, and an exceptional mosque lamp which once hung in the famous Madrasa of Sultan Hassan.

The exhibition is further enriched with models of the citadels in Aleppo and Damascus, and Salaheddin's mausoleum in Damascus. Photographs of various portraits of Salaheddin and several of his monuments in Egypt and Damascus are also on show, among them photographs of the Damascus and Cairo citadels and mosques and the mausoleum in Damascus.

The idea of the exhibition, which is generously funded by the German Foreign Office and Mercedes-Benz Cairo, originated in Oldenburg where the Natural History Museum put on a large show on "Saladin and the Crusaders" in March 2006 on the fringe of a joint conference of ICOM-Arab, ICOM-Germany and ICOM- Europe. When the Egyptian delegation visited the exhibition it was decided to transfer it to Cairo, once the capital and economically vibrant centre of the Ayyubid Kingdom.

"This is the first time that the Islamic museum in Berlin has given Egypt some of its collection on loan," said Claus-Peter Haase, the director of the museum, who attended the celebration. He told Al-Ahram Weekly that the museum had lent Egypt five pieces in metal, glass, ceramics and wood that reflected the artistic skills of the Ayyubid period. "This is the first cooperation between the Islamic museum in Berlin and the Islamic museum in Cairo, which we hope will be very fruitful and an indication of a further collaboration in this field," Haase said. He pointed out that negotiations were now on their way to organise an exhibition of Egyptian Islamic objects in Berlin.

SALAHEDDIN was born in Tikrit in Iraq and joined the military at the age of 15, eventually establishing himself as a prominent military leader and devout Muslim. At the height of his power his Ayyubid Dynasty ruled Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz and Yemen. His achievements included the recapture of Jerusalem from the Knights Templar in 1187; the restoration of Sunni Islam in Egypt; and the foundation of schools and mosques. By the time he died in 1193 he had gained a reputation throughout Europe as a great warrior and chivalrous adversary, and was revered in the Muslim world.

The Castle of Damascus is built at the same level as the city ground. The castle architects made up for its being deprived of natural elevation by providing it with alternative features not found in other castles that are fortified with heights. These features include its huge and fortified construction, the height of the towers, and the way they were built.

Salaheddin's tomb is located next to the northwestern corner of the Great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Although Salaheddin died in 1193, he was initially interred at the Damascus Citadel until his son Al-Malik Al-Afdal Nureddin Ali, ruler of Damascus, completed the construction of the mausoleum. Salaheddin's body was transferred to its final resting place in 1195. Soon afterwards, Salaheddin's other son, Al-Malik Al-Aziz Uthman II, ruler of Egypt, decided to construct a madrasa attached to his father's tomb. Thus it is also known as Al-Madrasa Al-Aziziya. The events surrounding the death and burial of Salaheddin are clearly recorded in the historical sources, based on the eyewitness account of Imadeddin Al-Isfahani, who was Saladin's confidant and administrative genius.

The construction of the tomb is typically Damascene with a square chamber with ablaq walls and four arches capped by a cupola. The movement from square room to circular dome is achieved by a transitional drum in two zones: octagonal and 16-sided polygonal. The interior of the tomb chamber is mounted with blue and green Ottoman tiles of the 17th century . More subtle decoration can be seen in the stone-paste floral and geometric designs above the arches.

In the middle of this domed chamber lie two coffins. The white marble coffin was a gift from the German Kaiser William II on the occasion of his visit to Damascus in 1903. Next to it is the original wooden cenotaph, a masterpiece of the linear interplay typical of Ayyubid woodworking. It is decorated with geometric and astral patterns as well as floral and vegetal motifs.

The tomb chamber occupies the southwest corner of the building. A chamber used for Quranic recitation is accessible from its east side and a series of five smaller rooms are found along the north side. As for the building's exterior and its connection to the Madrasa Al-Aziziya, little of this original architecture has survived to modern times.

The original inscriptions have been modernised, but contemporary Ayyubid histories contain accounts of Salaheddin's burial.

Cairo contains several Ayyubid structures, and the Citadel is one of the many popular tourist attractions in Cairo. It was begun by Salaheddin in 1176 and modified and expanded later on by consecutive sultans. The Citadel is famous for its mosques, museums and forts, and most of all the Mosque of Mohamed Ali which was built almost seven centuries later.

Several other structures associated with Salaheddin have survived within modern cities. Among the forts he built in Egypt was a mountain-top fortress and caravansary in Sinai, but the most important military fortifications that has survived is the Ayyubid city wall, also known as the Citadel fortifications.

The Ayyubid city walls were built by Salaheddin between 1176 and 1183 with a view to containing the former Fatimid city and its suburbs, the old city of "Al-Fustat", to reinforce existing fortifications and to create one single solid city wall protecting the whole metropolis from Crusaders. Salaheddin imported new defensive devices from Syria and introduced the concept of cities centred on a defensible citadel. Features such as bent gate entrances and arrow slits reaching the floor were a feature of his fortifications.

al Ahram