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al-Karak

الكرك

A city and famous fortress south of al-Balqa', seat of kings of the Ayyubid house and then a refuge for Mamluk amirs. It was taken in 685 from al-Malik al-Mas'ud Khidr ibn Baybars, and al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun was exiled there, then brought back from it to the sultanate in 698 1.

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Region
Levant & Iraq
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Overview

A famous city and fortress south of the Balqa'; it was the seat of kings of the Ayyubid house, then a refuge for Mamluk amirs — taken in 685 from al-Malik al-Mas'ud Khidr b. Baybars — and al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad b. Qalawun was exiled to it, then brought from it to the sultanate in 698 1.

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Site of
Nūr al-Dīn besieges al-Karak· Prince Reynald's treachery — the Kerak lord breaks the truce· Saladin's Karak siege — the rabd taken, the sixty-cubit ditch

People and things also explored

Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub)· Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zangi· Raynald de Châtillon· Nūr al-Dīn besieges al-Karak· Prince Reynald's treachery — the Kerak lord breaks the truce· Saladin's Karak siege — the rabd taken, the sixty-cubit ditch

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 661, 769
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Karak”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/al-karak/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub)

Sultan of Egypt and Syria and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, born at Tikrit in 1137 or 1138 and died at Damascus on 4 March 1193. He became vizier of Egypt in 1169, ended the Fatimid caliphate in 1171, united Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt between 1174 and 1186, and recovered Jerusalem on 2 October 1187.