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Middle Ages
  • An inscription mentioning the Ayyubid sultan al-Malik al-Mu'athim Issa, found near his fortifications in Jerusalem. Photo: Dr. Eyal Meiron
    An inscription mentioning the Ayyubid sultan al-Malik al-Mu'athim Issa, found near his fortifications in Jerusalem. Photo: Dr. Eyal Meiron
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Middle Ages

Building a Wall and Demolishing a Wall

In 1212, Al Malik al-Muathim Issa, Saladin’s nephew, fortified the city wall of Jerusalem, but seven years later, when he heard that the Crusaders were about to return to attack the city, he decided to demolish the wall. As a result, many of the city’s inhabitants abandoned the city, and the wall remained in ruin until the Ottoman period.

A fragment of an inscription mentioning Al Malik al-Muathim Issa, which was found in Jerusalem, attests to his construction of the very wall that he decided to destroy a few years later.