Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (20 page)

C
Mount Tabor, the bāshūra

¹⁰⁶

(1)In the name of Allah the Merciful the Compassionate (2) Those who spend their substance in the cause of God, and follow (3) not up their gifts with reminders of their generosity. And he ordered the construction of this blessed bāshūra (4) our lord the Sultan
(5)
b. al-Malik
Abū Bakr b. Ayyūb. The wok began on the 5 of Muharram in the year 610 (23 May 23 1213–14) (6), under the command of the servant needy [of Allah’s mercy]
.

As the inscription was not found in situ the word
bāshūra
may be translated as any one of the following: outer fortifications, barbican, a fortified tower or a gate.
¹⁰⁷

D
Mount Tabor, al-manzil (residence)

¹⁰⁸

(1) In the name of Allah the Merciful the Compassionate. Verily we have granted thee a manifest Victory. That God may forgive thee thy faults of the past and those to follow fulfill His favour to thee and guide thee on the straight way.
¹⁰⁹
(2) Ordered the construction of this blessed (3) residence, [under] the noblest amīr, the great isfāhsillār (general of a cavalry unit)
¹¹⁰
al-Dīn Lu’lu’ in the reign of our lord, (4) al-Malik
Sharaf al-Dunyā wal-Dīn in the year 611 (1214–15) the month …

E
Mount Tabor, al-makhzan (possibly the storeroom?)

¹¹¹

(1) In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. (2) Ordered the building of this blessed al-makhzan (3) our lord the Sultan al-Malik
Sharaf al-Dunyā (4) wal-Dīn in the months of the year 611(1214–15), under the command
¹¹²
of your servant (5) the needy of Allāh’s mercy, may Allāh have mercy upon him
al-Dīn Lu’lu’.

F
Mount Tabor, al-badanah (the curtain wall)