Sharaf ad-Dīn al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā (al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā) (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[1] or 1200.[2] 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.[2] He was succeeded by his son, an-Nasir Dawud.
Al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā | |
---|---|
Emir of Damascus | |
Reign | 1218–1227 |
Predecessor | Al-Adil I |
Successor | An-Nasir Dawud |
Born | 1176 Cairo |
Died | 12 November 1227 Damascus | (aged 50–51)
Dynasty | Ayyubid |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
He was respected as a man of letters, and was interested in grammar and jurisprudence.[3] By 1204, Jerusalem was his primary residence.[1]
He ordered and contributed to the construction and restoration of many buildings inside the Ḥaram ash-Sharīf (the Noble Sanctuary), Jerusalem:
He founded these madrasas:
Furthermore, he modified the walls of Jerusalem and Damascus:
In 1198, al-'Adil had his second son, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam 'Isa, invested as ruler of Damascus, a position that included responsibility for Jerusalem.
The other two works of public utility connected with the name of al-Mu'azzam were in fact not directly sponsored by him. One is a cistern built in 607/1210, the other a cistern and kiosk built in 613/1216-17. Their inscriptions identify their patron – i.e., the man who ordered them built – as one Muhammad b. 'Urwa b. Sayyar al-Mausili, but the inscriptions also say they were built "by the benevolence of" (min ni'mat) al-Malik al-Mu'azzam. […It] probably indicates that the prince contributed a sum of money towards the work as a gesture of piety.
Ṣahrīj al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā. 607 / 1210-11. Cistern of al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā
some of the second-hand material used in the arches of the facade includes the sculpted ornament taken from Crusader structures of the twelfth century […] One of the inscriptions on the porch records that the facade of the portico was constructed by the Ayyubid prince al-Mu'azzam 'Isa in c. 609/1217-18.
al-Aqsa Mosque […] the north porch was rebuilt in 1217–18 under the patronage of Salah al-Din's nephew al-Malik al-Muʿazzam.
Under al-Mu'azzam 'Isa [...] The arcade (qanatir) above the south-eastern flight of steps leading to the Dome of the Rock platform was restored (608 / 1211-12), the Nasiriyya Zawiya rebuilt (610/1214)
al-Nāṣiriyya
Al-Madrasa al-Nasriyya