Q 01/05

Saladin was born in Tikrit, in which modern country?

A) Turkey

B) Iraq

C) Syria

D) Egypt

Answer · why

B) Iraq

Iraq. Saddam Hussein, born just outside Tikrit eight centuries later, made much of the shared birthplace and had himself portrayed as a second Saladin...

Q 02/05

Saladin founded which ruling house, becoming the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria?

A) Mamluk

B) Fatimid

C) Ayyubid

D) Zengid

Answer · why

C) Ayyubid

Ayyubid comes from his father's name, Ayyub. Saladin shared his provinces out among relatives, so at his death the empire split between his sons, who ...

Q 03/05

What does Saladin's Arabic honorific, 'Salah ad-Din', mean?

A) Lion of the Desert Sands

B) Righteousness of the Faith

C) Sword of the Almighty

D) Servant of the Prophet

Answer · why

B) Righteousness of the Faith

Righteousness of the Faith was a title, not a name. The sultan was born Yusuf, the Arabic form of Joseph, and to the crusaders' chroniclers his honori...

Q 04/05

Saladin became a hero to the Arab world, but he was born into which people?

A) The Berbers

B) The Kurds

C) The Turks

D) The Persians

Answer · why

B) The Kurds

The Kurds. When Egypt's top post fell vacant in 1169, an ally talked a rival into standing aside for Saladin by arguing that both men were Kurds and m...

Q 05/05

Under which uncle, a mercenary commander, did Saladin's military career begin?

A) Shirkuh

B) Nur ad-Din

C) Turan-Shah

D) Zengi

Answer · why

A) Shirkuh

Shirkuh conquered Egypt in 1169 and became its vizier, but the famously heavy eater died about two months later after one rich meal too many, and his ...