Ayyubid dynasty

The Ayyubid dynasty was founded by Saladin, a Kurdish commander who overthrew the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt, and later united Egypt and Syria. He defeated the Crusaders at the battle of Hattin and recaptured Jerusalem, which had been in Christian hands since the First Crusade. After his death the empire was divided among members of his family, who often rivalled each other, but they ruled Egypt, Syria, parts of Mesopotamia and Yemen, and supported trade, building and learning. In 1250 the Mamluks, military slaves, seized power in Egypt, ending the Ayyubid rule there. The Mongols took Syria a decade later, but a branch of the family survived in Hama until the fourteenth century.

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