volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Takrtt, Birthplace of Saladin. 107
to stop at the modern village of the same name near
the cliff and close to the ruins of the old town.
The site of the old town of Takrit is easily identified
by the ruins of houses and other buildings, the foundations
of which are visible. It was surrounded with
strong stone walls, but was separated from the castle
by a moat, or an arm of the Tigris.^ The ruins of the
castle, which stood about one hundred feet above the
town, were considerable, but the natives were taking
away the stones^ from its outer walls for building
purposes. The first to build a castle at Takrit was,
according to Yakut (i, p. 861), Sapor, the son of Ardashir,
but the position of the town makes it certain that there
must have been a strong city here at a far earlier period.
In the tenth century it contained a strong fortress, but
the bulk of the inhabitants were Christians' who supported
a large monastery ; according to Mas'udi (ii,
p. 32) the Christians were Jacobites. It is possible that
the ruins of the churches which are pointed out to
the visitor are theirs. Ibn Juber, who stayed at Takrit
in the second half of the twelfth century, says that it
was an old and famous city, large and spacious, with
fine bazars and numerous mosques.* Ibn Batutah says
practically the same thing (ii, p. 133), and praises the
character of the people of Takrit and their kindly disposition.
Takrit will be famous for all time as the birthplace
of Salah ad-Din, or Saladin, the son of Ayub, an officer of
theKhalifah of Baghdad, who was bom there in 1137-38.*
^ Rich published a drawing which gives a good idea of the position
of the town in respect to the castle. (Narrative, vol. ii, p. 146.)
^ " Large massive bastions of lime and pebbles, faced with solid
brickwork, abut around the cUff, between which the wall once stood.
On the south face, between the citadel and the modern town and
half-way down the cliff, two buttresses, of the same formation as the
bastions, point out the situation of the gateway. The bricks which
face them have been carried away." Felix Jones, Records, No. 43,
p. 23. For a drawing of the citadel see p. 8.
' Ibn IJawkal, p. 156. * Travels, ed. Wright, p. 234.
^ An excellent summary of the three periods of the life of this
chivalrous warrior is given in Lane-Poole, The Middle Ages, London,
1901, p. 190 ff