Ten days later, in Damascus.
As the undisputed military and administrative hub of the Ayyubid Dynasty, no matter how wealthy Egypt might be, Saladin had never shifted the center of his rule away from here.
Commerce and industry flourished here; the swords and handicrafts produced were famed overseas, and both the Genoese and the Venetians had established trading houses in this city; besides, many Pilgrims bound for Jerusalem would pass through here in transit.
Like Cairo, it too was praised as a city of a thousand towers—countless minarets, Holy Fire Altars, Fire Temples, and religious schools rose everywhere.
But the Damascus of today was clearly no longer the prosperous city of its zenith.
The townspeople on the streets were gripped by panic; many shut themselves indoors, and even if they had to go out, they walked with heads bowed and hurried steps. Refugees huddled at street corners, their expressions numb as they stretched out their hands to beg food from passersby.
