Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (22 page)

¹¹⁹

(1) In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Ordered (2) the building of this blessed site the (3) amir
al-Din Aybak, the servant (khādim) (4), al-Malikī
, in the year (5) 609/1212 … .

The other two men mentioned in the inscriptions are the amir
al-Dīn Lu’lu’
who was in charge of the construction works and/or the administration on the site between the years 609/1212–612/1215–16.
¹²⁰
His name appears in six inscriptions, below that of the Sultan and his son, followed by the rank of al-Isfāhsalār or Amir al-kabir.
¹²¹
A tombstone found on the site carries a similar name, suggesting he found his death at Mount Tabor.
¹²²
It is very likely that
al-Dīn Lu’lu’ was also a eunuch as the two parts of his name suggest: Lu’lu’ is considered to be a name with a feminine ring and was common among eunuchs. His nasab (“pedigree”) in the foundation inscription was Ibn
, a custom that became widespread mainly among eunuchs probably long before the Mamluk reign.
¹²³

H
Mount Tabor, the reservoir

¹²⁴

(1) In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. (2) Ordered the building of this blessed pool (3) Rukn ad-Dīn Mankūwirsh Jamdār Dawla, and master (?) the Sultan (4) al-Malik
may Allāh perpetuate his rule.

Rukn al-Dīn Mankūwirsh Jamdār Dawla, whose name appears on an inscription commemorating the building of the pool, probably a reservoir (no date is stated), beside that of
, is the third person who supervised the building at Mount Tabor; nothing is known about him other than his rank. An amir Jamdar was the commander of a section of the Sultan’s royal guards.
¹²⁵
Although the title in the inscription does not state he was an amir, he may have served in this corps.

If the Sultan himself actually participated in the supervision of the fortress, this was probably only at the very beginning and not for the whole period of building. Most of the work, which continued over three years, was supervised partly by his son but mostly by high-ranking amirs.

At
, the Sultan may never have set foot there while it was being built.
al-Dīn Usāma was assigned to the work by
in 1184–5; once the fortress was built he remained there as governor.
¹²⁶
It was possibly Usāma who supervised the second phase that was carried out sometime between 1184–5 and 1214. Two more towers were added in the northeast, but neither has an inscription. The third and last phase dates from 611/1214–15 and was supervised by our former acquaintance,
al-Dīn Aybak, who participated in the early building stages of the fortress at Mount Tabor. His name appears in the inscription on the southern tower at
.