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Al-Mu'azzam Isa

() (1176 – 1227) was the Ayyubid Kurdish emir of Damascus from 1218 to 1227. The son of Sultan al-Adil I and nephew of Saladin, founder of the dynasty, al-Mu'azzam was installed by his father as governor of Damascus in 1198 or 1200. After his father's death in 1218, al-Mu'azzam ruled the Ayyubid lands in Syria in his own name, down to his own death in 1227. He was succeeded by his son, an-Nasir Dawud.

He was respected as a man of letters, and was interested in grammar and jurisprudence. By 1204, Jerusalem was his primary residence.

Legacy

He ordered and contributed to the construction and restoration of many buildings inside the (the Noble Sanctuary), Jerusalem:

  • Extending the by 18 meters westward.
  • Two water-distribution structures: as a donor, not as a patron (one who ordered them built):
  • 1210 or 1211: the , a water tank.
  • 1216 or 1217: the , a sebil (fountain).
  • 1217 or 1218: restoring the arched portico of al-Aqsa Mosque's façade, adding a pendentive dome over the main entrance.
  • The Market of Knowledge (): a Hanbalite prayer place in the southeast corner of the compound; demolished in the 19th century.
  • 1213-14: ten cross-vaulted bays on piers in the central section of the compound's north portico (of the compound's northern wall).
  • 1211-12: renovating the .
  • New door leaves for the Superintendant's Gate and .

He founded these madrasas:

  • 1207: (Grammarians' Madrasa), which is on the extended terrace he made.
  • 1209–1218: al-MuÊ¿aẓẓamÄ«ya Madrasa (al-Hanafiyya Madrasa), Jerusalem: specialized in Hanafi jurisprudence (now ).
  • 1214: an-Nāṣiriyya (an-Nāṣriyya): on top of the Golden Gate; named after his uncle, Saladin (). It no longer exists.
  • al-MuÊ¿aẓẓamÄ«ya Madrasa, aá¹£-Ṣāliḥiyyah, Damascus: also his family mausoleum.

Furthermore, he modified the walls of Jerusalem and Damascus:

  • 1202, 1203, 1212 and 1213-14: repairing Jerusalem's walls' fortifications.
  • 1219: dismantling Jerusalem's walls to preemptively reduce Jerusalem's military strength in case of it falling into the hands of the Crusaders.
  • 1226: rebuilding Damascus's city wall, likely also refortifying it with a tower at the southeastern corner.

References