Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (23 page)

The policy of nominating a high-ranking amir to supervise fortress construction could be carried out only at times when the Ayyubid Sultan held firmly the reins of both government and army and was in full command of the Sultanate. In periods when the Sultanate was ruled by a weak figure and its territories divided, each local prince made his own decisions as to where and how fortresses were to be built. The building
of
coincided with a period when the Ayyubid sultanate was plagued with feuds and quarrels between the Sultan, al-Kāmil, and the Damascene coalition led by his brother
. Both the first and the second stages of the fortress were built by
, one of
younger sons, who was the governor of Banias. But the initiative, the order and the funds probably came from
who ruled from Damascus.
¹²⁷
One other name that appears on three inscriptions at
, dating to 627/1229–30, is that of Abū Bakr b.
b. Abū Surāqa
. The inscription states that he supervised the building (wa-tawallā
). From his name it appears he did not belong to the military class, but was a civilian who may have been qualified in some specific craft, although there is no mention of this.

I
, Abū Bakr b.
b. Abū Surāqa al-Hamdhānī

¹²⁸

(1) In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Ordered the restoration of this defended frontier [fortress] (thaghr), the sinning, erring servant, (2) needy of Allāh’s mercy,
b. our lord, the great sultan, al-Malik al-‘Ādil, the scholar, (3) the doer of good deeds, the holy warrior, the fighter on the border, the raider, the martyr, Abū Bakr b. Ayyūb, may Allah cover him with his mercy. (4) The beginning [of the wok] on this felicitous tower was in the month of Rabī‘ I, the year 627 (February–March 1230) Its construction was supervised by (5) the servant needy [of Allāh’s mercy] Abū Bakr b.
b. Abū Surāqa (?) al
.
¹²⁹