Editing Saladin (section)

==Early expeditions==
[[File:Palmer_cup_left_attendants_(British_Museum).jpg|thumb|[[Ayyubid]] or [[Zengid]] soldiers in [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]]-type clothes<ref>{{cite book |last1=Behrens-Abouseif |first1=Doris |title=Dress and Dress Code in Medieval Cairo: A Mamluk Obsession |chapter=Chapter 12: Mamluk Dress between Text and Image |isbn=9789004684980 |date=2024 |pages=172–173 |doi=10.1163/9789004684980_013}}</ref> and ''[[sharbush]]'' hats<ref>{{cite book |last1=Contadini |first1=Anna |title=Poetry on Enamelled Glass: The Palmer Cup in the British Museum.' In: Ward, R, (ed.), Gilded and Enamelled Glass from the Middle East |publisher=British Museum Press |date=1998 |pages=58–59 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299579571}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Contadini |first1=Anna |title=Text and Image on Middle Eastern Objects: The Palmer Cup in Context (in A Rothschild Renaissance: A New Look at the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum) |date=2017 |publisher=British Museum Research Publications |page=130 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317006955 |quote=The iconography of its figures is very similar to that on the Palmer Cup, in the design of their robes, in the headgear (sharbūsh) and in the way that walking figures are rendered, with one leg straight and the other slightly bent, with a slim foot slightly raised from the ground. Although the candlestick does not have a date, it is securely datable to the early 13th century, as it clearly belongs to a group of metalwork that has now been established as of that period and coming from the Mosul or North Jaziran area. These elements also confirm the early 13th-century date of the Palmer Cup and further support the region of provenance.}}</ref> on the ''[[Palmer Cup]]'' (1200–1215)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Contadini |first1=Anna |title=Arab Painting: Text and Image in Illustrated Arabic Manuscripts |date=2010 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-18630-9 |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HA55sqqsaoQC&pg=PA11 |language=en |quote=A case in point is the Ayyubid enamelled beaker known as the Palmer Cup}}</ref>]]
Saladin's military career began under the tutelage of his paternal uncle [[Shirkuh|Asad ad-Din Shirkuh]], a prominent military commander under Nur ad-Din, the Zengid emir of Damascus and Aleppo and the most influential teacher of Saladin. In 1163, the [[Vizier (Fatimid Caliphate)|vizier]] to the [[Fatimid]] caliph [[al-Adid]], [[Shawar]], had been driven out of Egypt by his rival [[Dirgham]], a member of the powerful Banu Ruzzaik tribe. He asked for military backing from Nur ad-Din, who complied and, in 1164, sent Shirkuh to aid Shawar in his expedition against Dirgham. Saladin, at age 26, went along with them.{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|pp=6–7}} After Shawar was successfully reinstated as vizier, he demanded that Shirkuh withdraw his army from Egypt for a sum of 30,000 [[gold dinar]]s, but he refused, insisting it was Nur ad-Din's will that he remain. Saladin's role in this expedition was minor, and it is known that he was ordered by Shirkuh to collect stores from [[Bilbais]] prior to its siege by a [[Crusader invasions of Egypt|combined force of Crusaders]] and Shawar's troops.{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|p=8}}

After the sacking of Bilbais, the Crusader–Egyptian force and Shirkuh's army were to engage in the [[Battle of al-Babein]] on the desert border of the [[River Nile|Nile]], just west of [[Giza]]. Saladin played a major role, commanding the right-wing of the Zengid army, while a force of Kurds commanded the left, and Shirkuh was stationed in the centre. Muslim sources at the time, however, put Saladin in the "baggage of the centre" with orders to lure the enemy into a trap by staging a [[feigned retreat]]. The Crusader force enjoyed early success against Shirkuh's troops, but the terrain was too steep and sandy for their horses, and commander [[Hugh of Caesarea]] was captured while attacking Saladin's unit. After scattered fighting in little valleys to the south of the main position, the Zengid central force returned to the offensive; Saladin joined in from the rear.{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|p=14}}

The battle ended in a Zengid victory, and Saladin is credited with having helped Shirkuh in one of the "most remarkable victories in recorded history", according to [[Ibn al-Athir]], although more of Shirkuh's men were killed and the battle is considered by most sources as not a total victory. Saladin and Shirkuh moved towards Alexandria where they were welcomed, given money and arms, and provided a base.{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|p=15}} Faced by a superior Crusader–Egyptian force attempting to besiege the city, Shirkuh split his army. He and the bulk of his force withdrew from Alexandria, while Saladin was left with the task of guarding the city, where he was [[Siege of Alexandria (1167)|besieged]].{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|p=16}}