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Secondary sourcePhotographc. 1850

Saladin's Mausoleum in Damascus

Félix Bonfils · c. 1850

A 19th-century photograph of Saladin's tomb in Damascus, showing how his memorial looked over 600 years after his death.

This photograph shows Saladin's tomb in Damascus, a memorial built to honor him after his death.

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Black-and-white 19th-century photograph of a stone ruin in Damascus. A tall arch spans the left side, and a domed structure with small windows rises behind a weathered stone wall. A caption at bottom right reads Tombeau de Saladin Damas. Bonfils is signed at bottom left.
Félix Bonfils, Saladin's Mausoleum in Damascus, c. 1850.

About this source

What it is

This is a black-and-white photograph taken by Félix Bonfils around the mid-1800s. It shows the mausoleum, or tomb building, of Saladin in Damascus, with a caption identifying it as his tomb.

Why it matters

Saladin founded the Ayyubid dynasty and was buried in Damascus after his death. This photograph, made centuries later, is not a record from Saladin's own time, but it shows how his resting place was preserved and remembered as a historic site into the modern era.

Look closer

  • What details of the building can you make out in the photograph?
  • Why might a 19th-century photographer have wanted to capture this site?
  • What does the survival of this tomb suggest about how Saladin was remembered?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saladin on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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