Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (96 page)

foundation inscription.
¹⁹³

(1) In the name of Allāh, from what has ordered its construction, the noblest lord (2) Al-Malik
, the victorious, the helper of Islam, the succor of mankind, Sayf (3) al-Dunyā wal-Dīn, sultan of Islam and the Muslims, suppressor of the infidels and the idolaters, (4) Abū Bakr b. Ayyūb, friend of the Commander of the Faithful. [This constuction was done] under the supervision of the noblest amir (5)
al-Dīn Abū
Barghash
in Jumādā I of the year (?) four (?) …

The only surviving figure representing the year of construction is the four. Since
(r. 596/1200–615/1218) was already sultan when the inscription was written,
¹⁹⁴
the year referred to would be 604 or 614, when Karak was governed by his son
.

Ibn Shaddād describes a wave of large-scale construction work during the reign of
. Though the fortress had new buildings added to it, greater emphasis was laid on the development of the town:

¹⁹⁵

… and he gave it [the fortress] to his son
Sharaf al-Dīn
with all that was in the treasury and its supplies, and he enriched it with buildings and strengthened it. And he brought to it master craftsmen to create a town so that he would need no other. And he planted trees in its villages and ran [water] to them from the springs.

Ibn Shaddād states that the work was done in the citadel. He does not mention towers or gates but simply says buildings in the plural.
gathered master craftsmen to carry out the construction work at Karak, as he did when he decided to build the fortress at Mount Tabor.