Saladin takes Damascus

October 28, 1174

Three months after Nur al-Din's death, Saladin rode north from Egypt with a small force, was admitted to Damascus by Nur al-Din's friends, and married the late ruler's widow for good measure. Egypt and southern Syria were suddenly in the same hands for the first time in generations. The union of Cairo and Damascus under a single ruler created the strategic encirclement of the Crusader states that would culminate at Hattin.