Saladin was born as Yusuf Ibn Ayyub in 1137 in Tikrit, Iraq

He earned the name Al-Malik An-Nasir al-din when he was a great warrior, but it was later shortened to Saladin

He started working in the military around 14 years old

Saladin eventually too control and became Emir of Egypt

Saladin united Islam by 1186

Saladin wanted to remove the Crusaders from the middle east and regain control of Islam

After defeating the crusader army, he started attacking Jerusalem and eventually captured most crusader castles

Eventually, Saladin and the king of the 3rd crusade agreed to a truce

Some historians claim that he had 16 or 17 kids

Saladin died from a fever on March 4, 1193

Islam was one of the largest empires

Poor people lived in tents/mud huts

Wealthy people had large single family homes

They ate a lot of dates, honey, and eggplants

Meat was rare and only for the wealthy

They wore clothes that covered the whole body

Education was really important

Boys studied the Quran along with math, philosophy, astrology, and Greek

Nomads stayed in deserts looking for new pastures and water

Men could have up to four wives, while women could only get married once

There was a wide range of forms and styles of art

They used a variety of designs and patterns

Religion was an influence/they believed using people and animals would result in Idolatry

They commonly used arabesque, which was a form of intricate patterns of leaves and flowers

A major form of art was ceramics, It was great pieces of art using ceramic tiles

A practical form of art was carpets, they were used to decorate important buildings

The most popular type of art was painting miniature

Calligraphy was also very popular

Some battle weapons had patterns on them

The minbar in a mosque is often decorated with carvings