Nur Ed-Din Mahmud
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
or MALEK AL-ADEL, emir and Sultan of Syria; born in Damascus, Turkey, in 1117. His father, Omad ed-Din Zenghi, originally governor of Mosul and Diarbekir under the Seljuk sultans, had established his independence, and extended his authority ity over northern Syria. Nur ed-Din Mahmud succeeded him in 1145, and changed the seat of government from Mosul to Aleppo. From this time onward his life was one long duel with the Christians-the Crusaders, Hospitallers, Templars, and Knights of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. The most notable incidents in this contest may be briefly summarized. Count Joscelin, in an attempt to recover his capital, Edessa, was signally defeated. This gave occasion to second Crusade. Crusaders were, however, foiled by Nur ed-Din before Damascus, and, defeated in a number of conflicts, abandoned their enterprise. The emir next conquered Tripolis and Antioch, and before 1151 all the Christian strongholds in Syria were in Nur ed-Din's hands. He next took possession of Damascus in 1153. In 1157 the Christian orders suffered a severe defeat near Paneas, but in 1159 regained some lost territories. Nur ed-Din soon won back what had been taken from him, and turned his attention to Egypt. In 1168 his brother, Asad al-Din Shirkoh, overran Egypt, but, dying soon afterward, was succeeded by his nephew, the celebrated Saladin, who completed the conquest of the country, and restored the Sunnite faith. This won for Nur ed- Din the gratitude of the Caliph of Bagdad, who created him Sultan of Syria and Egypt. Nur ed-Din, however, grew jealous of his able young lieutenant, and was preparing to march into Egypt in person, when he died in Damascus in May, 1173.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's dates in 1921 are off at both ends: Nur ad-Din was born in 1118 and died on 15 May 1174, not 1173, and Shirkuh was not his brother but his Kurdish general, uncle of Saladin. The claim that "before 1151 all the Christian strongholds in Syria were in Nur ed-Din's hands" overstates matters badly — he crushed Raymond of Antioch at Inab in 1149 and took Damascus in 1154, but Antioch, Tripoli and Jerusalem all remained in Frankish hands at his death, and it was Saladin who took Jerusalem in 1187. Modern historians, following Nikita Elisséeff's three-volume study of 1967, treat him less as a duellist with the Crusaders than as the organiser of a Sunni religious revival, founder of madrasas and of the famous hospital in Damascus, where his tomb still stands. The cedar minbar he had carved for the day Jerusalem should be retaken, and which Saladin duly installed in the al-Aqsa Mosque, was destroyed in the arson fire of 1969 and has since been reconstructed.
Written for this edition, 2026.